AN EXTRAORDINARY ITALIAN IMPRISONMENT

The Brutal Truth of Campo 21, 1942-1943 is the sub-title. As Rommel began to achieve Axis victories in north Africa, thousands of Allied POWs were transferred to camps in mainland Italy. An estimated 35,000 prisoners were taken after the Allied defeat at Tobruk, with the result that conditions in the camps were notoriously insanitary and overcrowded, with Campo 21 at Chieti one of the most degrading. In spite of that, the POWs kept up the tradition of maintaining morale with attempts to escape, organised sport and theatrical entertainments. Superficially the camp looked modern to the new arrivals but they found it was structurally unsound with primitive sanitary systems and the water supply frequently non-existent. The security officer in the camp, Captain Mario Croce, was soon identified as a vindictive gaoler, while the camp commandant, Barela, was a keen Fascist. The first Commandant personally beat up one recaptured escaper. A pilot was murdered by an Italian guard following his escape attempt. The British Lieutenant Jack Hodgson was a talented artist and his drawings of the camp, many of which are reproduced here, give us an unparalleled insight into what it was really like, while the cartoonist Gordon Horner has left us impressions of the personnel. Among the early intake Tony Maxtone Graham became chairman of the Dramatic Society. He was family man who missed his wife, author of the wartime Mrs Miniver books, and three children, though the marriage did not survive the war. The musician Anthony Baines recreated the score of HMS Pinafore from memory for the prisoners to perform, and sport was also a major distraction, with England Cricketer Bill Bowes and rugby international Tony Roncoroni leading the field. Amateur dramatics not only gave the prisoners a focus for their lives but also provided camouflage for escape attempts, with the wardrobe section creating German uniforms and the timber for scenery used for shoring up tunnels. The first uniformed escape was by Joseph Farrell, who had good Italian but was caught on the railway without a ticket. Subsequent attempts became ever more sophisticated, with one notable break being made by an officer who impersonated Captain Croce himself. 251pp, photos.