Author Archives: Dennis Hill

Arnold Chessell’s Portrait from Camp 59

This photo of Arnold Chessell was sent to me by his son Roger Chessell of Lincoln, UK. Writing on the back suggests that it was taken in Camp 59 and sent home to England, perhaps as proof of his captive status:

FROM:
CHESSELL
ARNOLD
PRE No 7264690. HUT 8.
CAMPO P.G. NO. 59. PM 3300
(ITALIA)

Arnold Chessell served in the Royal Army Medical Corps (R.A.M.C.) of the British Army.

Roger wrote of his father that “Like most men of that period he didn’t give us much detail about his war experiences, but he did say that he was captured in Tobruck [Libya] and ended up in a P.O.W. camp.” That camp was, of course, Italian P.G. 59.

Roger continued, “He told us a story that he was one of many that had walked out of the camp during the 24 hour period between the Italians leaving and the Germans arriving.”

Arnold’s medical records indicate that he had been bayoneted at some point in time.

His army records indicate that he was missing and believed a P.O.W. on December 12, 1941, identified by the International Red Cross as a P.O.W. on February 2, 1942, and repatriated to 15 F.H.S. (Field Hygiene Section), which was based in Alexandria, Egypt, in June 1943.

This last date of June 1943 seems an error, as the mass escape from Camp 59 occurred three months later, in September 1943. However, Arnold’s story of walking out of camp before the German’s arrived to take control fits the Camp 59 escape episode.

Edward Smith of the Buffs

Rodney Smith’s grandfather E. G. Smith, served in the British Buffs regiment during WW II. He was captured in North Africa and thereafter was transferred from prison camp to prison camp for a period of over two years.

He was in Camp 59 from December 30, 1942 until he was transferred the following February to Camp 53 (Sforzacosta).

At Servigliano he was housed in Hut 10—Bed 1158.

Here is a timeline of his internment in various camps:

Capua—from January 2, 1941
Behgasi—from December 17, 1941
Tripoli—from December 23, 1941
Camp 59, Servigliano—from December 30, 1942
Camp 53, Sforzacosta—from February 24, 1943
Camp 82, Laterina—from April 8, 1943
Camp 72—from April 19, 1943

He was repatriated from Italy on June 6, 1943.

Rod owns a book of poems and drawings that his grandfather compiled while in Camp 59.

Interestingly, the poems Rod typed out and sent to me are ones that also appear in Robert Dickinson’s journal, “Servigliano Calling.”

The poems and authors are:

“Army Slang”
By C. G. Hooper Rogers and A. Forman

“ENGLAND”
By D. Crooks

“A Prisoner Son”
By F. Chiltern

“Escarpment Escapade”
by Cpl. D. Nevitt

Jack Davies’ First Aid Book

Jack Davies is another of the 20 men whose addresses are recorded in Robert Dickinson’s “Servigliano Calling” journal:

Jack Davies
11. Clent Avenue. Maghull.
Off Dods Lane. Liverpool.

I heard from Lorraine McLoughlin in October of last year. She wrote:

“I am just writing, with much excitement I must say, to find that I have information about POW Jack Davies of Camp 59.

“My mother was Jack’s daughter-in-law.

“Jack’s son, Rick Davies, was my mum’s (Ivy Davies nee Hindley) first husband.

“My mum is now 94 years of age but still remembers nursing her father-in-law, Jack, at 11 Clent Avenue, Maghull, before he died.”

A second note from Lorraine, two months later, informed me that her mother had passed away in early December.

Lorraine kindly shared scans of the covers of Jack’s St. John’s Ambulance First Aid Book. She wrote that it “was obviously with Jack during his time at the camp—as it has the camp address in the back cover.”

The inscription reads:

Davies
John
Pte 7597368
Campo P.G. No 59 3 Secttro 3 A/34
PM 3300. ITALIA

Jack was in the RAOC (Royal Army Ordnance Corps), a corps of the British Army that dealt exclusively with supply and maintenance of weaponry, munitions and other military equipment.

Memories of Fred Druce


Fred looking very dapper on his motorbike in the desert, presumably before his capture and imprisonment in Italy.

Fred Druce was one of 20 POWs whose addresses are listed in Robert Dickenson’s prison camp journal, “Servigliano Calling”:

Frederick Druce
Sunny Side. New Road. Tyler’s Green.
High Wycombe. Bucks.

Many thanks to Anne Copley of Oxford, UK, for having found information on Fred Druce for me.

Anne’s inquiry to the Penn and Tylers Green blog, a site dedicated to news about Fred’s home village, yielded two photos of Fred and some amusing stories about Fred in his youth.

For some unknown reason his nickname was “Wedger.”

Here are the comments:

“Knowing his personality as a teenager when he was a ‘bit of a lad’, I can understand why he was a successful evader.”

“You are right about Wedger being a character, I can remember him and a friend, standing up in the swing boats at Penn Fair and working them way past the horizontal position. Also, I believe, he took on one of the professional boxers who used to challenge all comers at the fair.”

“I’m afraid I can’t add much to the facts about Fred Druce but oh what memories it brings back of such a character. As a kid delivering vegetables for my Uncle Bob Long in the 1950’s from his market garden up near Penn Church I used to stand listening to Wedger who was a gardener nearby. My young eyes popped out of my head as I learnt swear-words that I’d never heard before and was told endless unbelievable tales. Thank you writers for reminding me of happy days long before political correctness was invented.”


In later years—Fred Druce and his wife Betty at a wedding dinner.

Frederick Solberg 2009 Video Interview

Frederick Solberg, World War II veteran and a POW of Camp 59 and Stalag 17B, was filmed by the nonprofit Stoneham Theatre (Stoneham, Massachusetts) in 2009.

The short film was one of a series of interviews with “Greatest Generation” veterans from the Boston area shown in conjunction with the theatre company’s production of Studs Terkel’s The Good War: A Musical Collage of WWII.

While on a bombing mission during the war, Frederick’s plane was shot down. He and his companions were captured by the Italian forces. They were interrogated and then imprisoned in Camp 59.

After three months in camp, Frederick and two comrades “went over the fence.”

They roamed Italy for three months, assisted by sympathetic Italians. In winter the men were recaptured by Germans and sent to Stalag 17B (Krems, Austria). Near war’s end, the POWs were liberated by American forces.

Link to this excellent Interview with Frederick Solberg on YouTube.

Sadly, Frederick passed away earlier this month. I’m pleased to honor and remember him on our site with this video.

Luther Shields Recognized for Service

Sometimes recognition for meritorious service is quick, and sometimes it comes unexpectedly after a long passage of time.

For Luther Shields, much delayed honor came last October at in a Vista Grande Inn ceremony in Cortez, Colorado. He was presented with a half-dozen medals earned during World War II.

Read the story, WWII vet finally awarded medals 60 years after serving country, in the Cortez Journal online.

Also, several posts on Luther’s fascinating escape story are available on this site.

Robert Alvey Newton—Close to Home

The “Golden Book” honors members of the Indiana University community who served in wartime.

I received an unexpected email from Robert Newton of Hillsboro, Oregon, on
June 16, 2008.

He wrote, “My uncle by the same name was in Camp 59.”

In a second note that day, he added, “By the way, my uncle was from Logansport, Indiana, and attended IU before he was drafted and trained at Fort Knox.”

From my office window I can see the the tall limestone gates that mark the main entrance to Indiana University. Just beyond is the “Historic Crescent” group of early IU buildings Robert would have known as a student when he attended here in 1938–40.

During my 30 years at Indiana University I have walked daily over the paths he would have traveled as a student. I am very familiar with buildings where he attended classes.

I’ve learned through University Archives that Robert’s presence here is documented in yearbooks.

I like to imagine the excitement he felt on coming to college—an opportunity few young men and women had in the late ’30s. But, I am saddened to think how Robert’s education was interrupted by war and that he never returned to school and the full life that he might have led.

In the Indiana Memorial Union there is a room called the Memorial Room.

It is a chapel of sorts, with centuries-old stained glass windows from Europe and an elaborately carved wooden mantel that supports a large, open book—the “Golden Book.” The volume contains the names of “sons and daughters of Indiana University” who served in the nation’s wars.

The room is dedicated to “remembering that the cataclysm of war has entered into the lives of many members of this University.”

Last week I asked that the book be turned to the page that bears Robert’s name.

The names around Robert’s are those of other men who were killed in action during WWII—in Normandy, Germany, the Pacific, and other battlefields.

The inscription for Robert reads:

Newton, Robert Alvey
Ex 1944
Logansport
U.S.A. Tank Corps
Killed in Action in Italy, March 9, 1944.

Robert is long gone, and yet here is a reminder that he was once a student—young and hopeful. And here he will ever be remembered as a son of Indiana University.

The Story of Robert Alvey Newton

Tank crew members of the U.S. Army’s 1st Armored Division.
Left to right—Robert A. Newton (Logansport, Indiana), Everett Gregg (California), Lee C. Kaser (Detroit, Michigan), and Philip Caldwell (Tennessee).

Corporal Robert Alvey Newton served as a gunner in the tank corps of the U.S. Army’s 1st Armored Division. He was captured in North Africa during battle with German forces at Sidi Bou Zid on February 15, 1943.

Of the men in the photo above, Everett Gregg was also captured. Lee Kaser was killed instantly when his tank was hit. Phil Caldwell, who was following well behind in a tank destroyer, retreated when the American forces turned back.

Robert A. Newton’s nephew of Hillsboro, Oregon—also named Robert A. Newton by his father in memory of his beloved brother Robert—told me:

“The tank driver that day was Sgt. Gregg, who was ordinarily the tank commander. But he drove when Captain Winkler was in the command tank. The assistant driver was Al Urbanoski. That was why Phil Caldwell was in a tank destroyer and not in the spearhead of the attack.

“My uncle was burned on the face and hands by the same shell that killed Lee Kaser and blinded Winkler in one eye.

“My uncle and the others were rounded up and taken to Sfax, Tunisia. From there, he and many of the wounded were evacuated to a hospital in Bari, Italy. It was actually a converted convent. A month or two later, he was taken by train up the coast to Camp 59. Everett Gregg was sent to a camp in Germany.”

Continue reading →

“Servigliano Calling” Poem #20

This poem, an expression of longing and adoration for “the girl I love the most” by C. G. Hooper-Rogers, is this site’s Valentine’s Day feature.

C. G. Hooper-Rogers wrote two poems and co-authored a third that are recorded in Robert Dickinson’s prison camp journal.

To the Girl I Love the Most

I am a soldier in khaki dressed,
Defending my country from East to West,
And as I lie in defence of a post,
I think of the girl I love the most.

When I was on leave in London’s smoke
I bragged of things to my parent folk,
But least of all was my proud boast,
Of the beautiful girl, I love the most.

When I went abroad to foreign lands,
And trekked for weeks through desert sands,
I braved the sun’s fierce holocaust,
For the sake of that girl I love the most.

Continue reading →

Armie Hill—A Final Chapter

Left: Armie met Eini Seppa on while on leave in Chicago after his return from Europe. The two became engaged and soon after married in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, on August 13, 1944. This is their wedding portrait.

Right: Armie and Eini enjoy a warm day at Spectacle Lake in Phelps, Wisconsin, October 1999. Armie died in April 2000.

On this site I’ve posted most of the war interview material I recorded with my father, Armie Hill. This last account covers the time he spent at the end of the war as a guard at the Port of Embarkation in New York City.

This portion of the interview picks up where “Escape—Armie Hill’s First Account” ends. The recording was done in 1976.

To New York City

After the 30 days I reported to Fort Sheridan. It was like going back into basic training again. I had to fill out all of my papers because they had been lost. And I had to have all my shots again and take some basic training.

As I was trained as an army engineer, they looked for an engineering unit that I could be assigned to. Finally the sergeant in charge said that I would be assigned to Fort Bragg, North Carolina. There I was to report to the 325th Engineer Battalion. They were called the 100th Division. Many of the fellows there hadn’t had much training. A few of them had had overseas training. I was in Company A. When I reported in at the camp it was a Sunday and a lieutenant was in charge.

He asked me, “Which outfit were you with before you went overseas?”

Continue reading →