WITH PARTISANS

Auckland Star, Volume LXXVI, Issue 199, 23 August 1945, Page 5

WITH PARTISANS

FOUGHT FASCISTS Whangarei And Devonport Men In Guerilla War N.Z. Press Association—Copyright Rec. 10 a.m. LONDON, Aug. 22. Gunner H. J. Banton, of Whangarei, and Private S. B. McFarlane, of Wellington, who are now In London awaiting repatriation, joined the Italian Partisans and waged guerilla warfare against the Germans and Fascists after escaping from a prison camp at Arro, in Verceli Province, on September 8, 1943.

Both were captured at El Alamein and taken to the north of Italy. They escaped with Privates G. A. Schultz (Taranaki), R. V. Howe (Devonport, Auckland) and W. J. Clements (Masterton) and two Australians.

All linked up with the Partisans and fought and sabotaged behind the enemy lines. Later they joined the British military mission at Proupper, in Piedmont, with which they remained until the Allied occupation of North Italy. Gunner Banton was dressed in mufti. Aided by his knowledge of the Italian language, which he picked up in prison camps, he lived for a long period at Biella, which was then garrisoned by Germans and Fascists, slipping out at frequent intervals to transmit information to the mission's mountain headquarters. The work of Gunner Banton and his fellow escapees was highly commended by the commander of the mission.