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Private J. D. Caves: The Long Journey Home

Excerpt from Official History of New Zealand in the Second World War

Excerpt from Official History of New Zealand in the Second World War

This passage describes how POWs in Italy including Denis fell captive to the Germans.

Most camp leaders had received the War Office instruction for prisoners to remain in their camps, and had in some made elaborate plans for taking over from the Italians and preventing disorder in the neighbourhood. There was in nearly every camp a reserve of Red Cross food sufficient to last a week or two. Prisoners were acutely aware of the possibility of transfer to Germany and further imprisonment there under unknown conditions; but there was so little reliable information about what was happening outside that it was impossible to decide on a definite plan of action. As time went on the atmosphere at some camps became tense; early hopes of release gave place to suspense and anxiety.

Allied troops landed at Calabria on the Italian mainland on 3 September, the day on which the armistice with Italy was secretly signed. Some camps, for example Campo PG 57, had been kept without newspapers or broadcast bulletins for some weeks, no doubt for fear of demonstrations or even organised rebellion.

The news of the armistice reached most camps in the early evening of 8 September. In many of them excited guards were cheering as they acclaimed the end of the war, at the same time throwing away their arms and preparing to leave for their homes in civilian clothes, though this did not generally happen on a large scale until the news reached them that the Germans were on the way to take over the camp. On the whole it was received by prisoners phlegmatically-almost with disbelief, though among them too there were some scenes of rejoicing and a good deal of toasting where wine was obtainable. A few of them got away in the confusion, some seizing the opportunity to escape, others merely to pick grapes in a nearby field or to sample the local wine. But most men went back to their games of bridge or to their unfinished snacks of supper. It was a sleepless night for prisoners in many parts of Italy, not only because of disturbing thoughts about the future, but also because of much indiscriminate shooting off of firearms, a good deal of it no doubt in celebration of the armistice. Moreover, the whole deadening routine of prison-camp existence had been suddenly broken and men had to use their initiative again in thinking out actions to suit a quite unfamiliar situation. The emphasis was on 'keeping cool', especially in view of the War Office instructions not to move about. Nearly all Italian camp commandants seem to have received instructions that prisoners were to be kept in their camps until collected by Allied forces, but were to be protected from seizure by the Germans. As there were considerable German forces in the vicinity of some camps, it is not clear how this protection was to have been given.

The failure to adopt a sufficiently realistic plan for the release and evacuation of prisoners of war in Italy had most unfortunate results in the two or three days following the armistice. Camp leaders and senior officers were faced with the responsibility of deciding whether to disobey a War Office order in what seemed a potentially dangerous and very confused situation, about which almost no reliable page 88information could be obtained. In such an uncertain position those who decided to carry out the last British order they had received could hardly be blamed; and large numbers of officers and troops, well-disciplined in spite of years as prisoners of war, obeyed the order that was passed on to them. The order was explicit, admitted no alternatives, and had not been modified or cancelled. The gist of the message conveying the order was:

"All personnel were to stay put 'when war ends'; they were to organise themselves into military units and await orders; arms and assistance would be flown in. Officers at officers' camps were to be prepared to take command of nearby other ranks' camps."

The order had been formulated several months previously, and was on 8 September 1943 totally unrelated to the existing military situation in Italy. Nothing could have played better into the enemy's hands. The outcome was the transfer to Germany of tens of thousands of able-bodied British soldiers who might otherwise have rejoined the Allied forces.

Most of the prisoners who obeyed these orders were collected with ease by comparatively small German detachments and sent to Germany; a large number of those whose camp leaders disobeyed them eventually reached the Allied lines or Switzerland. Thus base camps like Campo PG 47 (contained nearly all the New Zealand officer prisoners) and Campo PG 57 (contained the greatest number of New Zealand other ranks) were rounded up almost intact. It was from more remote working camps such as Campo PG 107 or Campo PG 78/1, where the camp leader acted on his own initiative in bringing pressure on the Italians to allow the men to leave, or at others like Campo PG 106/20, where prisoners were released and advised to leave by one of the guards, that the greatest number of our successful escapers in this period was drawn.

Ready for evacuation from Italy to Germany.

Ready for evacuation from Italy to Germany.

At many camps these releases were three or four days after the announcement of the armistice. Italian camp officers seem, with a few exceptions, to have carried out their orders, namely, to keep the prisoners in camps ready to hand over to Allied troops and if necessary release them to prevent their falling into German hands. But German pressure, and occasionally Fascist leanings, undoubtedly induced a few of them to hand over their camps to the nearby German troops. In any case it would clearly not have been feasible for most Italian commandants to have prevented their camps falling into German hands by force of arms. Nearly a week after the armistice announcement a BBC transmission advised prisoners in Italy that it was their duty not to remain in camps but to make good their escape. By that time, according to the German claims, 25,000 had been entrained for Germany, and judging by eye-witness accounts of the numerous trainloads which went north in the few days after 13 September this figure is probably no exaggeration.

The following are the figures (so far as they are known) showing the fate of New Zealand prisoners in Italy at the time of the armistice. Where known, British Commonwealth totals in round figures are given for comparison:

NZ British
Numbers in Italy at time of armistice 3,700 70,000
Successfully escaped to Allied lines 339 12,000
Successfully escaped to Switzerland 108 5,000
Killed while at large 7
Killed in transit north 8
Fate unknown 6
Transferred to Germany (approximate) 5,000 52,000

Near Campo PG 57, which contained some 1500 New Zealand other ranks at that time, a detachment of German troops arrived on the day page 89of the armistice proclamation to bivouac. Next day some of the Italian guards left their posts and went home, but it was not until eight o'clock that night that the Italian commandant announced the armistice to the prisoners. He instructed them to remain quietly in the camp, assured them that there was nothing to be feared from the Germans, who were busy getting out of Italy, and promised in case of any interference that the Italian guard would defend them 'to the last'. Sentries were doubled, but a number of men got away in the early confusion. A chaplain, as the senior British rank, promulgated the British order about not leaving camp, and most men seem to have believed that British troops would soon arrive. For two days there were orders and counter-orders and many wild rumours. At one time the whole camp was preparing to leave in small groups under NCOs, to be led to safety by Italian guides, but this order was cancelled. On the third day the Germans took over the camp without opposition, and on the 13th the first batches of fifty were marched under heavy guard to the Cividale railway station [from where they were transported by train to POW camps across Germany.]

Campo 57 Today

Little remains of Campo 57 today. A chapel is located on the site with a plaque commemorating the English, Australian and New Zealand POWs.

Plaque at Campo PG57 pictured above. It translates as:

United in comradeship the sorrowful long imprisonment From 24 October 1941 to 13 September 1943 Of warrant officers and soldiers This church is erected With their labour and generous concourse Find solace and consolation In perpetual memory The crucified Symbol of redemption and love Is bestowed

17 October 1946

Chapel on the site of Campo 57.

Chapel on the site of Campo 57.

page 90
The view of the mountains from the Campo 57 site which Denis referenced in his letter of 1 May 1943.

The view of the mountains from the Campo 57 site which Denis referenced in his letter of 1 May 1943.

Remnants of a Campo 57 barracks building in Giuliana Campbell's back garden.

Remnants of a Campo 57 barracks building in Giuliana Campbell's back garden.

The lane which was once the main entrance to Campo 57.

The lane which was once the main entrance to Campo 57.

The back of the cross from above the altar, signed by POWs who built the church. Denis' name is not among them (he was not Catholic).

The back of the cross from above the altar, signed by POWs who built the church. Denis' name is not among them (he was not Catholic).

page 91
Cividale railway station in 2005, from where Denis was transported by train to Germany in September 1943.

Cividale railway station in 2005, from where Denis was transported by train to Germany in September 1943.

Romina's house (street address 3 Campo) built after the war onto what had been the camp cook's quarters

Romina's house (street address 3 Campo) built after the war onto what had been the camp cook's quarters

Giuliana Campbell's house built after the war onto what had been the Campo 57 sick bay. Giuliana's father was camp interpreter.

Giuliana Campbell's house built after the war onto what had been the Campo 57 sick bay. Giuliana's father was camp interpreter.

page 92
Article from New Zealand POW Magazine.

Article from New Zealand POW Magazine.

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