I have written about the sheltering in Falciano of escaped prisoners of war from Camp 59 in 1943–44, but I have not had the pleasure of seeing the village in person.

When Gian Paolo Ferretti—great-grandson of Antonio Ferretti, who helped to protect the escapees—invited my friend Anne Copley to Falciano for a tour, I was excited for her, but wishing I could join them.

So I was delighted when, a few days later, Anne sent me notes on her visit and a slideshow of some 20 images she took while there.

“Paolo pointed out that in the ’40s there was no road to the village, just footpaths and mule tracks,” Anne explained. ”It would have been pretty safe as a hiding place, as it would have taken the Germans an hour to reach Falciano from Aquasante Terme. The two spies in the village would have only been able to deliver information that would have been out-of-date by the time they got down into the valley.

“At its height there were over 100 people living up in Falciano. All the now heavily-wooded land would then have been cultivated—everywhere terraced for growing crops. The locals mostly owned their land, rather than working it as sharecroppers. It’s a very different landscape to where I live in Montefalcone—very steep hills and nowhere available as actual fields. 

“There are lots of little waterfalls and fonte, where a stone trough was carved out to capture the water. And there are amazing rock formations making grottos where produce was stored and animals kept—and where the escapers were sheltered, with villagers bringing them food on a rota system. Each overhanging rock was fashioned (carved by hand) so that a lip prevented the rain running down inside and ruining the stuff stored there. Since they were taxed according to the number of animals they had, a few were hidden away in these grottoes!