Welsh POW Ronald McCurdy’s daughters Rona Crane and Jeannie Hendra made a physical and emotional journey early this summer that they had long anticipated.

With the help of Janet Kinrade Dethick and Professor Giuseppe Zucca, their adventure led them on a search for the internment camp where their father labored and from which he escaped, as well as to places where he hid while he was on the run.

Finally, they followed his passage through the Alps to safety in neutral Switzerland. (Read “Ronald McCurdy—Escaped to Switzerland.”)

Janet recounts the days they spent together in the following essay.

A Strange Coincidence

Janet Kinrade Dethick, July 2025

Several years ago, as a result of a contact I made through the WW2Talk forum, I got to know Professor Giuseppe Zucca, whose book about prisoners of war in Lomellina—the rice-growing area to the south west of Milan in Lombardy—I subsequently translated. It tells the story of how his mother, Giovanna Freddi, had helped three escaped South African prisoners of war to reach neutral Switzerland after the declaration of the Armistice on 8 September 1943.

Prof. Zucca’s second book on this theme, I Giusti di Lomellina, (The Righteous of Lomellina) which examines the role local people had played in hiding and helping the escaped prisoners, came out late in 2022, and my husband Enzo and I were invited to its presentation in Vigevano in January 2023. Not only did this visit strengthen the professional link between myself and Prof. Zucca, we have now become firm friends.  

Towards the end of 2024 I began helping Penny Hayes, the daughter of Trooper John Richard Shaw, to find out who had assisted her father before he left Lomellina for Switzerland on 14 November 1943. Trooper Shaw had been transferred from PG 59 Servigliano to Lomellina in June 1943.  In this case the name Angelo Comelli, cited in Trooper Shaw’s Escape Report, appears in a list held in the Commune of Vigevano of persons who had been awarded the Alexander Certificate. Prof. Zucca had obtained a copy of the list when researching his book, and he soon found Carla Liliana Comelli, granddaughter of Angelo, who is now corresponding with Penny. 

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This photo of British gunner Ronald McCurdy (left) and fellow prisoner John Richard Shaw. The photo was apparently taken in PG 59, as evidenced by the address on the back side.

Ronald’s address on the photo bears the numbers 14/48. Occasionally, the return address on a postcard from PG 59 will include a hut number. In this case, I believe the numbers 14/48 refer to Hut 14, Section 48.

Another example of referring to huts and sections—and even bed numbers—is in “Douglas Allum’s Camp 59 Prisoner List.”

Ronald’s daughter, Rona Crane, explains, “My Father was born and brought up in North Wales. Chester is not far over the Wales/England border.

“My Grandparents moved to Chester just before the war due, I think, to my Grandfather’s work. They returned to North Wales after the war.

“I now live in South West Wales due to my Husband being originally from the area.”

Rona shared what she knows about Ronald’s POW experience:

“My Father escaped and got to Switzerland, where he was housed in a hotel and then sent home.

“When he escaped he went with a few others, but they were tracked by the Germans with dogs. He and his friend got away by getting into a river, and the others got split up and I think were either captured or shot.

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