DASH FROM ITALY

Auckland Star, Volume LXXV, Issue 63, 15 March 1944, Page 4

DASH FROM ITALY

MANY ADVENTURES

HELPED BY YUGOSLAVS

The story of how he made his escape from an Italian prison camp and spent over three months as a fugitive in Italy and Yugoslavia before reaching Allied territory is told by Corporal B. H. Smith, of Auckland, who has returned to the Dominion. Corporal Smith left New Zealand with the Fourth Reinforcements, and, after being in action in Greece and the desert, was taken prisoner at Sidi Rezegh, in December, 1941. He was taken to the transit camp at Naples and then sent to Genoa. After about 10 months there the prisoners were removed to Trieste, where there were about 1000 prisoners in tne camp, approximately half being New Zealanders and the remainder South Africans, and each day they travelled to an agricultural project to work all day. i

The camp of five acres was surrounded by a barb-wire fence, with sentry boxes placed every few yards. There was one place, however, behind the cookhouse, where there were fewer guards, and here, using tools they worked with on the land, the prisoners cut the wire, and some 300 made their escape, splitting up into groups of two, three or four.

I Corporal Smith and Corporal R. ("Dick") Johnstone, of Invercargill, made for Venice, which, they heard, had been taken toy the Allies. Finding their mistake, they made their way back to Rivignavo, half-way between Venice and Trieste. Here they hid in the bush for about a fortnight, the Italian people bringing them food. It was September, and winter. They had exchanged their Army clothing with the Italians for civilian clothes, and were consequently not fitted out to face the cold. They had several narrow escapes from encounters with the Germans, keeping "just a bit ahead of Jerry all the time." Made for the Alps Deciding to make for the Alps, thev reached Caporetto, scene of the Italian debacle in the last war, and met a battalion of the Yugoslav Army of Liberation (Partisans), who passed them on from one unit to another until they reached safety.

Meantime they lived and fought with the Partisans. Corporal Smithdescribed them as a sincere force, but lacking in organisation and equipment. Their uniforms were captured from the Germans and Italians, or they wore civilian clothes. They were short of boots. Their equipment was mostly Italian rifles, and a few of German make, a large quantity of Italian hand grenades, some machine-guns, and

one or two artillery guns. They relied on what they could capture for replacements and ammunition. Some of these troops were horsemounted, and the remainder on foot. There were women Partisans, living and fighting on equal terms with the men.

These forces made sorties against enemy columns, blew up bridges, roads and ammunition dumps, and generally followed guerilla tactics of attacking the enemy when he retreated, evading him when he attacked, and constantly harrying him. The Partisans lived off * the land, taking whatever they wanted from the peasants, who were in an unhappy state, most of the villages having been bombed or shelled by the Italians before they moved out, and food being in short supply.

There was a political commissar with each battalion, and it was with him that the escapees dealt, speaking in Italian. The commissar would arrange to pass them on to the next Partisan group. Wanted Them to Stay Anyone of British nationality was popular with the Yugoslavs, and the Partisans wanted Smith and his party to remain with them.

The two corporals had met another New Zealander at Caporetto, Captain Dan Riddiford, of Wairarapa, who had' escaped from Germany. He had been wounded when trying to escape once before, and his legs were affected, but during the whole of the 500 miles they walked before finally reaching safety he "never faltered a step." The arrival of the party at Otocac, one of the biggest towns through which they passed in Yugoslavia, coincided with the recognition of Marshal Tito by the British authorities, and they were given a reception. The whole town was scoured for food and drink for the occasion. The meal consisted of pork, a favourite dish of the Yugoslavs, but scarce, also potatoes, carrots, wine and rakia, a spirituous liquor, described by Corporal Smith as the most potent drink he had ever sampled. There was much happy speech-making. Apart from fighting with the Partisans, on one occasion when travelling from one Partisan group to the next they were fired on by the Germans, who opened up with everything they had. By this time the party had joined up with other escaped prisoners and four New Zealanders were either killed or captured in this encounter. On one occasion they lived on nothing but carrots and a few wild apples for a fortnight. Finally, over three months after escaping, they reached Allied territory and safety.