John A. Allen
c/o 98 Ware Street
Kalgoorie
Western Australia
Australia
In Charles Simmons’ calendar/address book, beneath the Christmas hymn “We Three Kings,” is recorded the name and address of John A. Allen.
He is the only Australian in the book.
Charles Simmons’ calendar and address book contains the names and addresses of six Italian families. They presumably provided assistance to Simmons after his escape from Camp 59.
The names are:
Il Signor: Maroni (or Moroni) Nazzareno
M San Martino
____ Molino Prov Macerata
Molino is a small place near to Monte San Martino, and the word before it could be “frazione” which means “fraction,” a denotation that it is a part of the commune of Monte San Martino.
Cesaroni-Arnolfo
Comunanza (Ascoli Piceno)
Italia Marche
(Note that the Italians always put the surname before the first name. So the name in this case if Arnolfo Cesaroni.)
Dema Paopranelli
Comunanza P. Ascoli
Giacomozzi Pasquale
S. Martino al Faggio
(Ascoli Piceno)
If “al Faggio” is the correct place name here (the handwriting is difficult to decipher), there is a San Martino al Faggio in the right area. It’s a frazione of Smerillo—on the hill facing Monte San Martino.
Cesoroni Iolanda
Comunanza
Italia Marche
Provincia di Ascoli Piceno
Iva Perticara
Monte San Martino
P. Macerata-Italia
The P stands for Provincia. There were four provinces at the time in Marche. From north to south: Pesaro; Ancona; Macerata; Ascoli Piceno. (Another, Fermo, has been added recently.)
So these places are all on either side of the county borders of Macerata and Ascoli Piceno.
Many thanks to Anne Copley of Oxford, UK, for her help in reading and interpreting these addresses!
Al Maly provided this photograph of his father, Joe Maly, taken when Joe was in Italy and while he was being sheltered by the Papiri family of Montefalcone.
To the best of my knowledge the writing on the back of the photo reads:
Montefalcone li 25-6-1944 (A. Piceno)
Mio dovere come patriota, lasciarvi a tutti il ricordo
Famiglia Papiri, Nello Papiri
The first line indicates the village name (Montefalcone Appennino), the date (June 25, 1944), and the province the village was a part of at the time (Ascoli Piceno). Montefalcone is today a part of the newly-formed Province of Fermo.
The next two lines translate as “My duty as a patriot,” plus something along the lines of “I’ll leave you all this record [or keepsake].”
And it is signed,
“Papiri Family, Nello Papiri”
According to Al, the first man standing on the left is a son in the Papiri family. Next to the son is Joe Maly, and beside Joe is James Guillary. The other three men in the photo were also escaped POWs. Joe and “Gilly” were both housed in Hut 4–Section 11 of Camp 59.
Al told me his dad “was one of the men who made it out through the hole in the wall and in his group one of the men was shot. They could not go back for him as they were under fire. He never talked much about the war, only little indirect statements when I was young and a little more detail as I got older and more close to him.”
After the escape, Joe fought with the Italian resistance. He eventually made it to the Polish lines.
Joe passed away in January 2000.
An article by Steve Grazier, “WWII vet finally awarded medals 60 years after serving country,” appeared in the online Cortez [Colorado] Journal on October 17. Luther Shields, now 90 years old, received his fine assortment of military service medals at a ceremony at the Vista Grande Inn in Cortez on October 6.
Camp 59 Survivors 
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