Forgotten Faces Brought to Light

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“Fernanda: Le Foto Ritrovate”—Rare images of Italian rural life

A remarkable group of photographs of rural Italians is on exhibit this month at the Italian Cultural Institute in Edinburgh, Scotland. 

Fernanda: Le Foto Ritrovate brings together photographs taken in the southern Marche between the late 1930s and the mid-1950s—images that offer a rare glimpse into the lives of the contadini, the impoverished sharecroppers who formed the backbone of rural society in this part of Italy.

The exhibition is organized by Casa della Memoria and the Monte San Martino Trust, in collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute of Edinburgh.

For those of us interested in the story of Allied prisoners of war who escaped from Italian POW camps after the Armistice of September 1943, the exhibition has particular significance. These are the very kinds of people among whom thousands of escapees found refuge. The rural families who sheltered them risked imprisonment, beatings, or death by hiding the fugitives, feeding them, and sharing what little they possessed. 

In most photographs of rural Italy, these stalwart people appear simply as figures in the landscape. However, in these images they are the focus.

This collection has been exhibited at other venues in Italy and Britain. In Edinburgh, it will be on display through October 1.

Forgotten in a drawer

The story behind the photographs is almost as remarkable as the images themselves.

After the death of his aunt Fernanda Millevolte, filmmaker Giordano Viozzi was clearing out her house when he discovered a collection of black-and-white negatives that had remained untouched in a drawer for many years. 

Giordano printed the negatives and attempted to learn about the people in the pictures. The photographer is unknown, but research and local efforts to identify the subjects have succeeded in matching names to many of the previously unknown faces.

Much remains to be discovered, but the process of identification is worthwhile. Every name recovered transforms an anonymous face into a person with a family, a home, and a story.

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Escaped Prisoners Morgan Francis and Ronald Holmes Killed While on the Run

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Grave markers for PG 53 escapee Morgan Francis and PG 59 escapee Ronald Holmes, Coriano Ridge War Cemetery, Italy. Images courtesy findagrave.com.

In a previous post, I explained how James Davis had contacted me with information about a downed Wellington Bomber on which his grandfather, Sgt. Robert Charles Davis (644393), served as rear gunner. Read “Vickers Wellington IC DV416 Downed in Italy—Five Crew Members Bound for PG 59.”

James’ own excellent web page about the plane and crew is fettle.org.uk/DV416/.

The plane’s navigator, Sgt. Ronald Percy Holmes (1375674), was shot by fascists after escaping from PG 59. James shared with me several statements from the investigation into the crash, DV416 AIR 81/11245, on the shooting of Ronald Holmes and Morgan Francis.

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Vickers Wellington IC DV416 Downed in Italy—Five Crew Members Bound for PG 59

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Rear Gunner Sgt. Robert Charles Davis—image courtesy James Davis
Second Pilot Warrant Officer Stuart Marshall Cross—image courtesy the Canadian Letters & Images Project

Occasionally I post a query on this site that goes unaddressed for months or years, and then suddenly, out of the blue, the mystery is addressed. This happened to me last week. 

In 2015 I had published a post titled “Italian Helpers—Two Queries.” My friends Anne Copley and Giordano Viozzi were searching for information on Ronald P. Holmes, who had been sheltered by Oreste Belleggia of Piane di Falerone.

At the time I couldn’t help.

However, last week I received an email from James Davis:

“My grandfather’s Wellington Bomber ran out of fuel and landed in Sicily, with at least some of the crew ending up in PG 59.”

It turns out Ronald P. Holmes was the navigator on this downed Wellington Bomber.

“I’m slowly working through archives to find out more of his story,” James explained. “I’m organizing my notes at fettle.org.uk/DV416/.

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A Bibliography Par Excellence

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Bibliography creator Julia MacKenzie on arrival at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome after a month-long walk from La Verna Monastery in Tuscany

I’d like to direct readers to an exceptional list of books by or about Allied prisoners, many of whom escaped from their Italian prison camps.

This bibliography, compiled by my friend Julia MacKenzie, has already been shared through the Monte San Martino Trust website. I’m mentioning it here to further promote it as a resource; without a doubt it’s the most comprehensive list of stories about POWs in Italy compiled to date.

I asked Julia how she came to assemble her bibliography. She said:

“I’ve been interested in the story of the Allied PoWs in Italy since I read John Verney’s two books (Going to the Wars and Dinner of Herbs) about his experiences. A 250-mile walk down Italy from Tuscany to Rome that I did in the month of September 2017, touching on the routes taken by the Allied PoWs as they made their way south to the Allied lines in 1943–44, led me to want to read more of the PoWs’ reminiscences. I started to look for books on the subject and for a list I could refer to. Not finding one, I started to compile my own bibliography as I located books.

“The list, now grown to 277 items, can be found on the Monte San Martino Trust website. It is also available in annotated form (a work in progress) on LibraryThing, with details of the contents of the books and tabs for the different PoW camps and nationalities of the PoWs to make it searchable. I hope it helps those doing research or who want to read more of these fascinating accounts of bravery and endurance complemented by the humanity of the Italian helpers in the midst of war. And if anyone finds a book that is not on the list, please let me know at jcgmackenzie@gmail.com.”

Below are titles taken from the bibliography that highlighting only those books that concern POWs held in the camps of Italy’s Marche region.

Keep in mind that this list is current as of February 2026. Julia continues to refresh her online bibliography with new titles, so consult the full LibraryThing list at any time for the latest additions!

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Albert Douglas—the Long March Home

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Last September, I was pleased to receive a newspaper clipping from Richard Minshull regarding POW Albert “Paddy” Douglas, about whom I’ve written several posts.

Albert Douglas was Richard’s wife‘s grandfather.

The clipping, published in 1992 in Belfast, Northern Ireland, had been overlooked when Richard sent me a wealth of other clippings, documents, and photos several years ago.

The long march home

Philip Orr talks to the unsung heroes of Ulster’s past. This week, escaped prisoner of war Albert Douglas

Ulster News Letter
Monday, October 12, 1992

Albert Douglas is 78, and lives with his wife in Twaddell Avenue in west Belfast.

He was a bus driver for many years, but in the 1940s, while he was a prisoner of war behind enemy lines, he decided one day to make a break for freedom.

This is his story.

“I was born in 1914 in Ninth Street in The Shankill and I went to Argyll Street school. My first job was working in a dairy in North Street, but in truth I was more interested as a young man in the Navy and I joined the Naval Reserve in 1930, going down regularly to train on HMS Caroline which was anchored in Pollock Dock.

“So when the war came in 1939 my friend Billy Hynds and I went down to Clifton Street recruiting office to go fight in the Navy.

“Billy, I’m afraid, was too small to get in and I wouldn’t join without my chum. Instead we headed for the Custom House steps, where you could join up as a merchant seaman, but again there was a problem with Bill’s height!

“So we went to the Army recruiting place in Donegall Street and queued. Now I went ahead and enrolled and I turned to see if Billy was OK but he’d been rejected yet again. There was nothing I could do; I was parted from my chum and I was in the Army now.

“I spent time training in Ballykinler then it was over to Margate in Kent. Then up to Cambridgeshire, by which time I got my first ‘stripe,’ then we were off to the Middle East in November 1940—six weeks through dangerous waters in a huge convoy until we got to Port Said in Egypt.

“Soon we headed into the desert with Wavell’s  8th Army and we were soon under dreadful attack from Rommel’s forces: it was all panic-stations and eventually some of us found ourselves at a desert Fort in Mechile. The Germans shelled us and dive-bombed us. When they finally surrounded and captured us, I remember their officer saying: ‘For you the war is over.’

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The “Alphabetical List”—Royal Canadian Air Force PG 59 Internees

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Royal Canadian Air Force cap badge

Here are officers and airmen of the Royal Canadian Air Force who are listed as PG 59 internees in the “Alphabetical List.”

See ”The ‘Alphabetical List’—PG 59 Royal Air Force Internees” for a detailed description of the list, WO 392/21, in the collection of the UK National Archives.

Officers

Hutchinson, J. A. – P/O [Pilot Officer] – RCAF No. J.16090
Phillips, S. – F/O [Flying Officer] – RCAF No. J.15185

Airmen

Almon, D. W. – F/Sgt. [Flight Sergeant] – RCAF No. R.65355
See “Detailed Accounts of 14 British Escapees.”

E. R. H. Silverman, accompanied by Private A. Kuhn (South Africa), Sergeant D. Almon (Royal Canadian Air Force), and Sergeant R. Rognon (Free French Infantry), stayed in Servigliano area and the southern provinces of Macerata and Ascoli-Piceno until middle of May 1944. They then joined a party of 10, which became 14, and was sent south with a series of Italian guides arranged by an organization.

They were-captured by Germans in the Maiella mountain range and taken north on foot.

They escaped on 13 June 1944 with Sergeant W. Dickson at Giulianova and hid until the Germans moved off. The escapees were sheltered by an Italian for two days, until the arrival of British and Polish forces on 16 June 1944.

Their Italian helper was Aloisi Greatano of Giulianova, Teramo (Abruzzo)

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The “Alphabetical List”—PG 59 Royal Air Force Internees

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Emblem of the Royal Air Force

The “Alphabetical Lists”—WO 392 in The National Archives, UK—are compilations of WWII prisoners of war from all branches of British Forces, including other nationals under British command, held in Germany or German-occupied territory, Italy, and Japan or Japanese-occupied territory.

A publication date of August 1943 given for WO 392/21, a subseries listing Imperial POWs who were reported by Italian or Red Cross sources as being prisoners in Italian hands.

The Italian WO 392/21 is comprised of:

Section 1: British Army. Section 2: Australian Army. Section 3: Canadian Army. Section 4: New Zealand Army. Section 5: South African Army. Section 6: Indian Army. Section 7: Naval Forces and Merchant Seamen. Section 8: Air Forces. 

In 2015—16, I shared on this site POWs from the WO 392/21 subseries listed as being interned in PG 59. However, at that time I overlooked Section 8: Air Forces. I am now correcting that oversight by adding the airmen of the RAF now.

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On the Blenheim Bomber Crew Downed off Greece

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The three surviving crew members of the downed Blenheim Z7800 bomber (left to right, pilot Sgt. Allan John Lee, navigator Sgt. Richard Haggett, and wireless/air gunner Sgt. Ambrose John Comeau—image courtesy Acqui Museum/Associazione Mediterraneo

I wrote a post in August 2018 titled “Sergeant Allan Lee Downed in Greece,” concerning an Allied aircraft, Blenheim Z7800 (Squadron 107, Royal Air Force), which was downed at Kefalonia Island, west of Greece, on 13 December 1941. 

The bomber had been on an operation against Argostoli Harbor.

Most of the crew were killed. Three crew members survived and were captured:

The pilot, Sgt. Allan John Lee, RAFVR (Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve), was interned in PG 59 Servigliano; navigator Sgt. Richard Haggett, RAFVR, first interned in PG 59, was ultimately interned in Stalag VII-A Moosburg; and wireless/air gunner Sgt. Ambrose John Comeau, RCAF (Royal Canadian Air Force), first interned in PG 52, was ultimately interned in Stalag VIII-B/344 Lamsdorf. 

Details for the 2018 post were provided by Greek researcher Thanos Antonelos.

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Jimmy Feehan—Soldier and Father

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Jimmy Feehan in the early 1980s, at ease with his accordion—image courtesy of Pamela Robinson

If you type “Feehan” in the search box on this website you’ll see that references to Australian infantryman James “Jimmy” Feehan have occurred in a number of posts. For years has Jimmy struck me as a particular interesting fellow, so I’m devoting this post exclusively to him.

Jimmy enlisted on 18 June 1941 and served in the 2/32 Infantry Battalion of the Australian 9th Division, which saw action in North Africa in 1942. Jimmy’s military record notes he was reported missing in action 17 July and officially confirmed a POW on 22 October 1942.

The Australian War Memorial website has this description of the conflict at El Alamein where Jimmy was captured:

The war in North Africa had become critical for the British forces. In July 1942 Germans and Italians had reached El Alamein in Egypt, about seventy miles from Alexandra. The 9th Division was consequently rushed to the El Alamein area and held the northern sector for almost four months as the British Eighth Army was reinforced for an offensive under a new commander. 

The division’s orders for the first attack were issued on 7 July. Moving inland from the coast, the 2/32nd and 2/43rd Battalions (comprising the 24th Brigade) would attack along the ridgeline from Trig 22 and approach Ruin Ridge. The 2/32nd would lead the attack, advancing from Trig 22 to the Qattara Track. The 2/43rd would then proceed towards Ruin Ridge. 

The attack began on 17 July at 2.30 am. The 2/32nd captured the Trig 22 and linked with the 2/43rd but the Germans resisted fiercely and counter-attacked with tanks. The 2/32nd suffered heavily: nearly half its number were either killed or wounded and nearly 200 became prisoners of war. The fighting continued for several days.

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A Guest in Two Rectories

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Don Antonio Di Pietro

By way of my friends Gian Paolo Ferretti and Antonio Ferretti I’ve learned of a British officer who was sheltered in the comune of Roccafluvione in late 1943.

The officer, Major Patrick Clayton, was the guest of two Catholic priests: Don Antonio Di Pietro, who served the parish in Osoli, and Don Giuseppe “Don Peppe” Ciabattoni, who served the parish in Marsia, both within the comune of Roccafluvione.

The road distance from the Roccafluvione villages (frazioni) of Osoli and Marsia is 6.8 kilometers (about 4 miles)—Google Maps

Antonio Ferretti had previously shared segments of Don Peppe’s chronicon diary, in which the priest briefly mentions Patrick Clayton. (See “Don Giuseppe Ciabattoni—A Hero of Faith.”)

Now Antonio has accessed the chronicon of Don Antonio Di Pietro, which is housed in the Archivio Diocesano.

Paolo notes that Osoli has two churches—one dedicated to San Martino and the other to San Giovanni. Both are outside of the village, and San Martino was chosen as the church of the parish because it is nearer to Osoli.

Today Osoli is under the parish of Marsia.

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