PRISONER OF WAR IN ITALY

Timaru Herald, Volume CLV, Issue 22786, 10 January 1944, Page 4

PRISONER OF WAR IN ITALY

Daily Routine Described

Experiences Of Dominion

Officer

A description of routine during a typical day in a prisoner-of-war camp before the armistice between the Allies and Italy was given during the course of a broadcast talk last evening by Lieutenant-Colonel Clifford D. A. George, of Wellington, who was taken prisoner at El Alamein in July, 1942, when commanding the Twentyfifth Battalion of the Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force. Colonel George recently returned to New Zealand after a daring escape from a prisoner-of-war camp in Italy and the title of his talk last evening was “In and Out of a Prisoner-of-War Camp.” In the escape from Modena in the north of Italy and the subsequent long journey through the country—and the German lines—to the Eighth Army front, Colonel George was accompanied by Captain G. Gerard, of Northland, and Flight Lieutenant R. D. Campbell, of Opunake, and the description given last evening by Colonel George of their eventful trip through German-occupied Italy was similar to that published in "The Timaru Herald” last week.

He was among the first occupants of the new prisoner-of-war camp at Modena, which later became known as one of the best camps in Italy, said Colonel George, and could not be compared in any way with the terrible camps in North Africa where there were no sanitary facilities and men died from dysentery and suffered from hunger. The commandant of the Modena camp was a good type of Italian and the prisoners had much for which to thank him. The camp was cool in summer and, with stoves provided, could have been warm in the winter had there been sufficient firewood, said Colonel George. One rose in time to be jn parade for roll-call at 8 a.m. when strict discipline of dress and behaviour was imperative. This not only was good for morale, but impressed the Italians. An Italian major checked the attendance and was assisted in this by its regularity. Time was also saved (it took only minutes compared with hours in the North African camps) and it was therefore easy for the prisoners to fake the count enabling escapees to go unnoticed for days before their absence was discovered. There were two sittings of breakfast, and when one half were eating the others chatted in the sun. After breakfast the speaker attended an education class conducted by a university professor from Cape Town, the men being given the choice of a wide range of subjects. Then followed morning tea and a basketball match in a limited area which provided excellent exercise under the conditions. The men then took a cold shower and sat down to lunch.

Parcels Appreciated A word of appreciation of the contents of the Red Cross parcels was given by Colonel George who said that it was these parcels that made morning and afternoon tea possible in the camp. After lunch he took a book from the collection of 3000 in the camp library which had been compiled from the books sent to the men. He would not be reading for long before two officers, who were working on their escape, would call on him in his room, and after turning the key in the door they would discuss the matter and add the ■ final touches to their maps. They would have afternoon tea and then attend a challenge soccer match between two teams from the camp. Before the evening meal all would attend the afternoon roll-call. That night they went to see a play “French Without Tears,” in the modem little camp theatre. It was produced from practically nothing, some of the men making glamorous "actresses” with their flaxen hair created from the twine with which the Red Cross parcels had been tied. After the show they went to bed about 10.30 pun. The Italian orderly officer then made his rounds to be sure that all the beds were occupied. He was accompanied by an Italian sergeant interpreter. “What is the 8.8. C. news to-night?” Colonel George asked him. "Good,” replied the sergeant. “For whom?” “For you, of course,” the Italian said.

Italians Were Happy “The Italians were a very happy people when the armistice between their country and the Allies was signed,” said Colonel George. “We received news of the British landings on both coasts of Italy, and the camp commandant told us that we would oe free within 48 hours. But before we knew where we were the Germans had surrounded the camp.” Colonel George had his bags packed for some days and when firing broke out on both sides of the camp he made a hasty departure with his companions from the back of the camp. After climbing high and difficult walls surmounted by barbed wire they reached the fields. All the time they expected to hear rifle-fire behind their backs, but luck was with them, and for two days they hid in a patch of maize five miles from the camp. They were urged to remain by the peasants “unt.il the British come” but from the 8.8. C. news they learned that the British had not landed in the north, but 500 miles to the south. The peasants gave them civilian clothes and hid their uniforms and after a few days they met some Italian soldiers in mufti “going home to 'Rome.” They were helped by these Italians after impressing them that they were high-ranking officers of the British Army and assuring the Italians that there would be gold medals awarded for their assistance.

“We made it our policy to keep off roads, away from towns and to wade through or swim rivers,” continued Colonel George. “Only once did we cross a bridge and after that experience we agreed that we would not do that again. It was a long bridge in the valley of the Sango river and when we were on it we saw a light flickei at one end. We could not return because lights appeared at the othei from which we had entered. It was too high a structure from which to jump into the river below and so we continued on, prepared for a struggle. There was no one at the end when we reached it and we agreed that the flicker must have been caused by someone who struck a match and walked on.” The most exciting time experienced was when they passed through the German lines. The.v rested for only two hours in 22 and it took eight hours to cover two miles. “You can imagine the welcome sound of the voice of the British sentry who challenged our approach to the Eighth Army’s lines,” concluded Colonel George. Looking back on our experience. it does not seem real that we are back in New Zealand, but here we are!”