Antonio Ferretti—A Welcome in Falciano

Antonio Ferretti (seated, far right, with handlebar mustache) with a few of the villagers of Falciano. Falciano had a population of 110 residents in 1940. Today the village has 15 residents.

My good friend Gian Paolo Ferretti, who lives in Ascoli Piceno, was born in Falciano—a small village within the comune of Acquasanta Terme, Italy. His family moved from Falciano in 1975, when Paolo was very young.

Paolo’s great grandfather was one of many Falciano villagers who assisted a group of escaped POWs—including Keith Argraves—who turned up in their village in the fall of 1943.

(See “Keith Argraves and Friends—‘Prisoners and Fugitives’.”)

“American soldiers who were escaped prisoners from Camp 59 were given refugee in my small village. Tales of them are becoming legend,” Paolo wrote. “A cave/stable where they slept is on the property of my family. The book Keith Argraves, Paratrooper has been the start of all my research.”

I asked Paolo about the spelling of the village name, because on today’s maps the village is spelled Falciano, but Keith Argraves refers to it as Falgiano. Paolo answered, “In the past the village name was Falgiano, now Falciano. These are changes in the language. Also, those with the name Brandimarte now spell it Brandimarti.” (As you will see, Captain Saturnino Brandimarte figures prominently in this village rescue saga.)

“The soldiers were in a wood of chestnuts. They slept in a cave or stable on the property of my family. During the day they came to the village and stayed with local people. The soldiers helped with farm work.

“One of those villagers was my great grandfather Antonio Ferretti. The prisoners usually talked with him, because Antonio once went to work in the U.S.—in Pittsburgh—during the 1908–1914 period.

“My father, Francesco Ferretti, told me that a family each day went to bring food to the soldiers. When the villager neared their refuge only one man was there. That man whistled and all the soldiers arrived from many directions—from trees, caves, et cetera.

“I know for sure they lived in caves—or stables made in caves.”

Caves where the escapees sheltered at night

“All the local villagers protected the soldiers,” Paolo explained, “but in the main village nearby were fascists who tried to catch them.

“Some locals were beaten up, but not one of them revealed anything about the American soldiers. One in the village was Saturnino Brandimarte. All the locals were poor, illiterate farmers. However, Saturnino, after being a captain of the Royal Army, was now a teacher.”

In his memoir, Keith Argraves acknowledges the key role Captain Brandimarte played in coordinating the villagers’ aid to the escapees.

Antonio Ferretti’s Helper Claim

After the war, Antonio Ferretti filed a helper claim with the Allied Screening Commission requesting compensation for having assisting the escapers. These helper claims are now held by the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). I requested a digitized copy of Antonio’s claim.

On one page of the claim, compensation listed was for sheltering eight POWs for the night of 2 October 1943 and full meals to the eight POWs for one day—as well as tobacco and liquor!

The eight POWs are listed: Warren Decker, Mahlon J. Black, Francis ”Tony“ Cole and his brother Dannie Cole, Alfred Nastasi, Keith Argraves, Jack Hughes, and Ira Powers.

Perhaps it was after the one night of sleeping indoors at Antonio‘s home—which may have been their first night in the area—that the prisoners decided it was best to spread out and sleep in the woods or in caves in order to best evade recapture.

Another page of Antonio’s claim lists “6 psw x f x 1 wk : 1720,” or 6 prisoners of war x food x 1 week : 1720 [lire]. We know from Keith’s memoir that two of the POWs continued south; six remained in the Falciano area.

And elsewhere in the claim Antonio is credited with having provided a total of 50 meals. One meal a day for six men for a week would have equaled 42 meals; adding that initial meal for eight men would bring the total to 50 meals.

As we know from Keith’s memoir, the six escapees attempted twice, unsuccessfully, to be rescued by boat on the Adriatic coast, some 50 kilometers (31 miles) from Falciano. The six were also were involved in guerrilla activity that fall in the mountains around the village of Rochetta.

By December the group had returned to Falciano. It was in Falciano that they were recaptured in early 1944.

Under a section titled “Points for further investigations (briefly),” is written for “proof, see claims 16014, 16015,16037, 16068, 15985.” Apparently, these are claims of other Italians in Falciano who helped the POWs.

A compensation of 3,000 lire was authorized on 31 May 1946—to be made to Antonio’s daughter, Giovanna Ferretti, as the “claimant is dead.”

Paolo told me, “Giovanna was my grandmother. She died in 1995.”

Paolo has been talking with Italians who were old enough to remember the sheltering of the POWs. “I interviewed an old woman of my village last week,” he said. She said she only remembered two names, Tony and Jack.”

Paolo’s father said that he remembers as a child—age seven in 1943—sitting on Tony Cole’s knees.

In his memoir, Keith Argraves mentions ”a fellow trooper named Powers” who was a part of his larger group of escapees. He doesn’t mention John Hughes by name. However, at a point when the Cole brothers both sustained injuries while fleeing a fascist entrapment, Keith says:

Though [Dan and Tony Cole] understood the gravity of the danger that threatened them should they be left alone in their painful condition, they urged their comrades to push on to the safety of the Allied lines while they would follow as best they could.

Two of the men pressed on, reached the safety of Allied lines, and were sent home to the United States. But Keith and three of his companions stayed with the injured men.

Surely the two who pressed on were Jack Hughes and Ira Powers. The NARA POW database indicates that Jack Hughes was not recaptured after his escape from PG 59, but crossed the Allied lines.

And, in a 5 July 1944 newspaper article, Ira Powers indicates he made contact with the Allied forces in central Italy while making his way south. (See “News of Ira Power’s Captivity and Escape.”)

Antonio’s house was destroyed during the devastating earthquake of 2016.

Today the older section of Falciano is deserted; everywhere there is evidence of earthquake damage.

I found enlistment and POW records for Jack Hughes:

Jack was born in Tennessee. At time of enlistment his residence was Mingo County, West Virginia. He enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps at Fort Hays in Columbus, Ohio; his stated terms of enlistment was “the Hawaiian Department.” He had four years of high school education, and on enlistment he was “single, no dependents.”

Ira Powers’ Italian POW record is something of a mystery. There are two Italian POW cards for him (see below). One, with the serial number 35100087, is for “Ria Powers” and their other, with serial number 35100057, is for “Ira Powers.” Other than that, the information on these cards is identical, including names of parents, date and place of birth, and date of capture. The cards seem to be duplicates, with Ira‘s first name spelled wrong on one. The “Ria Powers” card lists the prisoner as having been been interned in PG 98 on Sicily, whereas the “Ira Powers” card, while not listing PG 98, indicates the prisoner was in PG 53 Macerata for several months before being transferred to PG 59. Offhand I can’t think of any other Americans who were in PG 53; more often Americans were transferred directly from PG 98 to PG 59.

To complicate matters, a “Sgt. Oria Powers” is listed in the NARA POW database with the serial number 35100087. The database indicates he was captured 10 December 1942. That’s the same capture date as is on both Powers Italian POW cards. Oria Powers seems to be the same man, but now with a third first name!

The Escapee’s Italian POW Cards

Below are the Italian identity cards for seven of the Americans who sheltered in Falciano. The cards are held by the U.S. National Archives. Unfortunately, the card for Alfred Nastasi is missing from the collection.

Keith Argraves
SCHEDA PERSONALE P.G.
[PERSONAL CARD of PRIGIONIERO DI GUERRA, prisoner of war]

Cognome e nome [Surname and name]: Argraves, Keith
Paternità [Father]: Jack
Maternità [Mother]: Elsie
Grado [Rank]: Cpl.
Matricola [Service number]: 39302734
Arma-Corpo [Service unit]: Paratroop Medical
Data e luogo di nascita [Date and place of birth]: 7 August 1914, Illinois, U.S.A.
Nazionalità [Nationality]: American
Stato civile [Marital status]: Single
Religione [Religion]: Adventist
Professione [Occupation]: Timber
Domicilio [Residence]: 532 S.E. 20th Ave., Portland, Oregon, U.S.A.
Data e luogo di cattura [Date and place of capture]: 27 December 1942 Tunisia

Giorno/Mese/Anno/Variazione [Day/Month/Year/Change]
1 January 1943 Guinto a questo campo proveniente dalla Tunisia [coming to this camp from Tunisia] C.N. 98

Mahlon Black
SCHEDA PERSONALE P.G.
[PERSONAL CARD of PRIGIONIERO DI GUERRA, prisoner of war]

Cognome e nome [Surname and name]: Black, Mahlon
Paternità [Father]: Ralph
Maternità [Mother]: Augusta
Grado [Rank]: Pvt.
Matricola [Service number]: 13049014
Arma-Corpo [Service unit]: Paratroops
Data e luogo di nascita [Date and place of birth]: 19 August, 1922, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.
Nazionalità [Nationality]: American
Stato civile [Marital status]: Single
Religione [Religion]: Presbyterian
Professione [Occupation]: Glass worker
Domicilio [Residence]: Utahville, R.D. 1, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.
Data e luogo di cattura [Date and place of capture]: 27 December 1942 Tunesia