In July 2020, I wrote a post titled “Seeking John Jarrett’s Italian Father,” which concerns an Italian POW who was interned on a farm in East Sussex during WWII.

Last month, I received a message from Patricia Jones, who had come across the post while doing an online search. She wrote, “I live in Mountfield in East Sussex and look after Mountfield’s archive, whilst also researching local topics. During lockdown I researched all the names on our War Memorial and wrote biographies of them all.

“I’m currently putting together an exhibition/display for Mountfield’s VE Day celebrations on 10th May, which was why I was checking for any more information about the Prisoners of War here and came across the Jarrett story this afternoon.

“You may find [the following] extract from the biography of interest.”

Harold George Anstey was the farmer at Poppinghole Farm. He was born near Lurgashall in the west of Sussex and was generally known by his second name, George. His father, also a farmer, had moved to Lurgashall from South Molton in Devon. George married Elsie Carver in Petworth in 1928 just before moving over to east of Sussex to take over Poppinghole Farm, where their son John was born in 1929. The V-1 commonly known as a doodlebug, a flying, pilotless bomb was deployed against London and the south-east. They were first launched on 13 June 1944, one week after and prompted by the successful Allied landings in Europe. At the peak, more than one hundred V-1s a day were fired at south-east England. It became the practice for Allied fighter pilots to ‘tip’ the bombs, using their wing tips, to deflect the V-1’s gyroscopes and send the doodlebugs off course. This was what happened on 27th June 1944 when the deflected bomb exploded on the edge of the Parish of Mountfield. At 8.30 pm George, assisted by an Italian prisoner of war, Giovanni Di Valentino, was taking advantage of the light evening and fine weather to gather in his harvest with his tractor and hay rake. A V-1 was deflected by a fighter, most probably from Headcorn Airfield, then known as RAF Lashenden. The bomb killed both men instantly and completely destroyed the machinery. George was aged 40 and Giovanni, 29. Giovanni was buried at Brookwood Cemetery in Surrey. George’s final resting place is proving very difficult to locate. For 75 years he has been incorrectly remembered on Mountfield’s war memorial as ‘J’ Anstey; this was corrected in September 2020. He is also remembered on Sedlescombe’s war memorial as George Harold Anstey. As a consequence of this incident, at least one local farmer subsequently refused to work in his fields without a look out.

“Poppinghole Farm is the next farm to Walters Farm,” Patricia wrote, “so Giovanni could have been at Walters Farm, but it could just as easily have been another Italian POW. There were several Italian prisoners of war working on farms in this area—we’re still very rural. They were based at prisoner of war camp 145 at Normanhurst Court just outside Battle. It was a mixed German and Italian camp, but prisoners from there were billeted at various locations in the area nearer to where they were working. Giovanni would have been at the Italian hostel in Bishops Lane in Robertsbridge. (The Germans were in a hostel at Hurst Green and whilst some also worked on farms, many worked in the Gypsum Mines here in Mountfield).

“I don’t think there’s anyone still alive that would have any details about Giovanni. George Anstey had a son, but I’ve been unable to trace him.”

Giovanni’s tombstone reads:

Soldato Giovanni Di Valentino
Nato il 26 Ottobre 1914 / Deceduto il 27 Giugno 1944
Esercito Italiano
Morto per la Patria

Private Giovanni Di Valentino
Born October 26, 1914 / Died June 27, 1944
Italian Army
Died for the Fatherland

Giovanni was born in Abbateggio, Provincia di Pescara, Abruzzo, Italy. His service number was T/87719. He was originally buried at Battle Cemetery, East Sussex, England, but he was relocated to Brookwood Cemetery on 16 July 1957.

Today I heard again from Patricia:

“Whilst continuing my research for our VE80 display, I also came across this, which it might be interesting to add. A similar incident happened just over three weeks later, on 19th July, when a deflected V-1 hit a tree at Scalands Farm, Brightling Road in Robertsbridge, just north of the border with Mountfield Parish. No deaths resulted from this explosion but two men, including Italian POW Giuseppe Nocerino, were injured and the farmhouse and outbuildings were seriously damaged.

“Scaland’s Farm is probably less than two miles away from Poppinghole Farm, as the crow flies.”

To learn more about Italian prisoners of war, read “The POW Camp Up the Road” and visit the Footprints of Italian Prisoners of War in Australia website.