Freedom - A Short Walk In The Abruzzo Hills
In the summer of 1943 it was apparent that the Italians would not remain in the war much longer and that negotiations for an armistice could usefully be made.
Expecting an armistice to be likely, secret orders were conveyed to senior British officers in the prisoner of war camps in Italy to the effect they would be best advised to keep the soldiers in the camps and await the arrival of allied troops.
The order included the permission to Institute disciplinary actions against prisoners attempting escape.
It was a controversial order and opinions differ as to who was the person or persons principally involved. The original of the order has disappeared from official records.
An armistice was indeed agreed on the 3rd of September 1943 and made public on the 8th of September.
The effect of this on the camp where my father was a prisoner was that the Italian guards of the camp escaped themselves, no doubt feeling at risk should they still be in place if and when the Germans arrived to take over the camps.
Following the guards escaping the senior British officer Colonel Marshall chose to obey the 'Stay Put' order to the letter and detailed some of his own men to guard the camp preventing escape.
My father records in his Diary :
'Sept 8th ( 1943) We are refused permission to leave the camp'
The effect of this was that astonished German troops turned up at Chieti to find the allied prisoners locked up guarding themselves.
The Germans wasted no time in transferring them to a camp at Sulmona and then by train to Rome for further transport on to German held territory.
It was on a train from Sulmona possibly at the small town of Goriano Sicoli that my father and three friends, Stan Grey, J.Smithson and Jack Butterworth made their break for freedom.
There is no mention in the diary of how well they were prepared for this in terms of food, clothing, maps or any kind of a plan for their journey towards the allied lines.
Dad's diary simply lists a series of towns and villages the route that they followed you can see them marked on the accompanying satellite image.
The villages are as follows Cocullo, Villa Lago, Scanno, Frattura, Bisegna and Pescasseroli.
As you can see from the satellite image that the area they traversed covers mountainous terrain with probably basic roads, farm tracks , shepherds paths etc.
I am guessing they had to follow roads and paths dodging any vehicles that they heard coming as they headed South towards the front lines and the Allies.
It was the end of September so presumably not yet too cold and there might well have been wild food or cultivated crops available. Perhaps food from farms and help from Italians who for the most part were not at all sympathetic to the Germans who were busily stealing all available food for themselves.
There is a curious comment about the small village of Frattura being deserted. Would love to know more as to what that meant, if anyone reading this has any ideas please contact me
There is also a line in the diary relating to the escape which I have had trouble making sense of after the name of the town Cocullo are the words Pepens(o) Bennedetto , I'm guessing a name of someone who helped them and then Nonni Italian for grandparents.
They were a long way from the Allies and one has to wonder what chance they actually had of reaching the Allies as in due course they would get got closer to the front line they would meet up with higher concentrations of German troops.
After a month of freedom they were captured by a German officer maybe by this point they were tired and hungry and ready to give themselves up or maybe just bad luck, wrong place, wrong time.
Soon afterwards at Colleferro his making another attempt at escape suggests the latter was the case.
By all accounts Abruzzo is a beautiful mountainous part of Italy it being early autumn I hope that their month of freedom in such surroundings had it's own rewards regardless of its eventual ending.
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The information in Dad's diary about his escape is made up mainly of bare facts and I am indebted to the following authors for their interesting books on the subject of Italy and Allied Prisoners of War.
Their work has enabled me to gain a better understanding of the conditions and experiences of people like my dad particularly in relation to his escape and time in the Italian countryside
Brian Lett : An Extraordinary Italian Imprisonment.
Tom Carver: Where The Hell Have You Been.
Eric Newby : Love and War In The Apennines.