MADRID'S ITALIAN PRISONER

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 1, 2 January 1937, Page 21

MADRID'S ITALIAN PRISONER

The Spanish Ambassador in London recently presented to the Foreign Office a statement which had been communicated by the Spanish Government to their Embassy in London. It says: "An Italian soldier, Luigi Corsi Siliberta, a native of Villa Costelli, in the province of Brindiso, was taken prisoner by Government forces on November 1, near Parla. on the Madrid front. "The soldier belongs to the 10th Artillery Corps in Rome. He joined his regiment on April 19 last, and, according to Italian law, should remain in the ranks for eighteen months—that is to say, until October 10. 1937. "Luigi has stated that neither he nor his companions went to Spain voluntarily, but were compelled to do so by orders from Comendador Luigi, who commands the 10th Italian Artillery Corps. The comendador, after haranguing them in Rome, picked out fifty men for the expedition to Spain, not one having volunteered. On the day of their departure (continues Corsi's statement) each man was given 200 lire, and on their arrival at Caceres Lieutenant Ravello, their commanding officer, gave them 200 pesetas.

, "Luigi Corsi has stated that they | embarked at Genoa in the last days of September under the orders of the aforementioned Lieutenant Ravello and two other lieutenants. They disembarked at Vigo at the beginning of October. "The vessel," adds Corsi, "carried fifteen guns and fifty cases of ammunition, each containing ten 65/17 shells. From Vigo they went to Toledo by" way of Salamanca, Caceres, Talavera, and Torrijos. This has been verified from the notebook carried by the prisoner. "Corsi states that in Caceres he saw fifteen armoured cars, all 'Italian and driven by Italian soldiers. The prisoner declared that the six guns whose emplacements he was employed in constructing were in the Illescas line. Every gun (continues Luigi Corsi) was in charge of an Italian officer and the loaders, gunners, and assistants were of the same nationality. The vessel which took them from Genoa to Vigo was Italian, and the captain, officers, and crew all belonged to the Italian navy. Upon their arrival in Spain Luigi Corsi was promoted by superiors to sub-omceE. ' I