an important relic of war

 piastrina di riconoscimento

Craig Douglas from Regio Esercito History Group has a specific interest in the history of the WW2 Italian armed forces.  Craig is my go-to-man when I need clarification about a particular battle in North Africa or unit in the Italian armed forces.

An item that found its way to the Regio Esercito’s collection is an  ID Tag. Interesting is the information on this tag: Number, Name, Name of Parents including maiden name of mother, Year of Birth, Home Town and Province.

The ID tag also brought up a number of questions.  Did the Italian POWs wear their tags in Australia or did they keep them in their kit?  Do Italian families still have their father’s or grandfather’s ID tags? I wonder if any farming children in Australia, who had Italian POWs on their farms, have memories of an ID tag?

Italian ID Tag for Luigi Moltedo

(photo courtesy of Regio Esercito History Group)

Belonging to Luigi Moltedo, the details regarding how the ID Tag came to Australia emerge.  A major in the Italian army and a lawyer in Italy, Luigi Moltedo was taken prisoner of war in Libya.  He was sent to India as a POW in November 1940. He married a British national in India and in March 1951 together with their two children arrived in South Australia.  You can read more of Luigi’s story at Immigration Place 

Luigi Moltedo

(NAA:D4878)

The Regio Esercito History Group is based in Brisbane and is an historical research group which attempts to bring alive the Italian forces of 1940-45.

***********UPDATE***********

Luigi Moltedo’s family has been found.  They are most grateful to Craig Douglas for keeping safe this important item belonging to their dad.  The impossible has been made possible.

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