Category Archives: South Australia Italian POWs

Welcome… Benvenuto

2 Replies

Welcome to Footprints of Italian Prisoners of War a comprehensive archive of documents, artefacts, testaments, photographs and research relating to this compelling chapter in Australian history.

This is an international community history project involving Australian and Italian families from sixteen countries who have shared their stories so that this history is not forgotten.

The website operates as a ‘virtual museum’.

Sneath Murray Bridge

Over 18000 Italian Prisoners of War came to Australia from 1941 – 1945. Captured in theatres of war in North Africa, East Africa and Europe, they were transported to Australia  via staging camps in Egypt, Palestine and India.

This research features Italian prisoners of war and their farming families in Tasmania, Western Australia, South Australia, Queensland, Victoria and New South Wales. Articles cut across a range of topics: the battles in Libya, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Greece; the movement of prisoners from the place of capture to prisoner of war camps in Egypt and Palestine; interment in the camps of India; transport to Australia; repatriation from Australia and arrival in Naples.  

The stories and memories of Italian and Australian farming families gives this history a voice.  The diversity of photos and relics shared personalises what would otherwise be a very black and white official report.

The articles featured on the project’s website brings colour and personality to this almost forgotten chapter in Australia’s history.

list-of-articles-may-2021-2Download

The Italian prisoners of war were more than just a POW.  They were fathers, brothers, sons and husbands from across Italy and from diverse backgrounds and occupations.

Follow their journey…. Walking in their Boots

 

The Footprints Project

1 Reply

Footprints of Italian Prisoners of War Project is a community project supported by Australians in six states and Italian families in sixteen countries.**

Did you know?

The website operates as a ‘virtual’ museum and library.

Over 300 articles have been written for the website.

The website has a wide reaching readership to over 120 countries.

What makes this research unique and diverse?

Perspective.

Contributions have come from far and wide:  farmers, farmers’ wives, farming children, the town kids, families of Australian Army interpreters, children of Italians who were prisoners of war, Italians who were prisoners of war, the local nurse, the mother of an ex-POW, government policy and reports.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

What does the research encompass?

Website: italianprisonersofwar.com

Facebook Page: Prigionieri di guerra Italiani in Australia

Music Book: Notations for songs and dance music by Ciccio Cipolla.

Farm Diary: daily notations regarding farm life during war time including information on Italian POWs and Land Army Girls.

Feature article in Corriere della Sera [Italy] in March 2021.

Memories in Concrete: Giuseppe Miraglia from Enna Sicily and Adriano Zagonara from Bagnara di Romagna Ravenna.

Donations to the Australian War Memorial of two artefacts made by Gympie Italian prisoners of war

Two publications: Walking in their Boots and Costanzo Melino: Son of Anzano (in collaboration with Rosa Melino)

Journey of two Italian families from Italy to visit Queensland and ‘walk in the footsteps of their fathers’: Q1 Stanthorpe and Q6 Home Hill

POW Kit Bags: Adriano Zagonara and Sebastiano Di Campli

The Colour Magenta: The Australian prisoner of war uniform for Italians, Japanese and Germans.

Theatre Productions: Details of  plays performed by the Italians

Handbooks: L’Amico del Prigioniero, Pidgin English for Italian Prisoners of War, Piccolo Guido per gli Italiani in Australia

Voices from the Past:  testimonials from Italian soldiers who worked on  farms.

Letters written by Italian prisoners of war to family in Italy, to their Queensland farmers and to the children of farmers, written by mother of an Italian POW to a Queensland nurse, written by the Italians to their interpreter, Queensland farmer to Italian, letters written between Italian POW places in different states.

Photographs of Italian soldiers in full dress uniform, Italian soldiers in Italian and Libya during training, Italians as POWs with their farming families, Italians on their Wedding Day and with their families, Italians in POW camps in India.

Handmade items: embroideries, wooden objects, cellophane belt, silver rings, paintings, cane baskets, metal items, chess sets, art work, theatre programs.

Contributions by Italian families whose fathers and family returned to Australia as ‘new Australians’.

Identification of buildings used as prisoner of war accommodation.

Publication of three guides for Italian families to assist in their search for information about their fathers and grandfathers.

Collaboration with numerous Italian and Australian families; local museums and family history associations; journalists; translators; collectors of historic postal items; local libraries.

Discussion about our Queensland research at conference in Catania Sicily May 2019 on prisoner of war experiences.

My Wish List

In the beginning:

I had one wish, to find one Queensland family who remembered the Italians working and living on their farm. Thank you Althea Kleidon, you were the beginning with your photos and memories of Tony and Jimmy.

My adjusted wish list, to find three photographs of Italian POWs on Queensland farms. Then came Rosemary Watt and Pam Phillips with their collection of photos, a signature in concrete and a gift worked in metal.

….

Now:

To have the three Finding Nonno guides translated into Italian.

If I win Gold Lotto, to have Walking in their Boots translated into Italian or an upgrade to the website.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

**Background

What started out as a personal journey to read about the Italian POW Camp outside of Home Hill has resulted in a comprehensive, diverse and rich collection of stories, letters, photographs, testimonies, artefacts, music, newspaper articles spanning over 80 years: the battles in the Mediterranean and in Libya 1940 to the present.

Over the past seven years, I have heard these words many times over, “but you have it wrong, there were no Italian prisoners of war in Queensland”.

And this became a focal point for the research: to record this chapter in Queensland’s history before it was completely forgotten.

But like ripples in a pond,  Queensland’s history of Italian POWs expanded across and was part of a greater history and so the project extended and expanded: to other Australia states and to Italian families in sixteen countries around the world.

Join the journey and follow the footprints of the Italian prisoners of war.

Uniform Regulations

Leave a reply

Article 12 of the PW Convention, inter-alia, reads:-

“Clothing, underwear and footwear shall be supplied to prisoners of war by the detaining Power. The regular replacement and repair of such articles shall be assured.  Workers shall also receive working kit wherever the nature of the work requires it.”

What the records tell us

All prisoners of war were allowed to wear their badges of rank and insignia on their uniforms.

Clothing items, except for pyjamas, could not be purchased from the Canteen.

Clothing Issue

1 hat (a)1 hair brush
1 overcoat (a)1 shaving brush
2 coats, medical detachment (a)1 toothbrush
2 pairs of trousers, medical detachment (a)2 pairs of short cotton underwear (b)
1 pullover, labour detachment (a)1 comb
1 pair of trousers, labour detachment (a)2 pairs of woollen and cotton underwear (c)
1 pair of shorts (a) (b)1 jersey pullover (c)
1 pair of shoes1 safety razor with blade (d)
1 pair of laces2 flannel shirts
1 pair of braces2 cotton singlets (b)
2 pairs of woollen socks2 wool and cotton singlets (c)
2 towels3 cotton handkerchiefs
  • (a) Dyed burgundy
  • (b) Summer
  • (c) Winter
  • (d)One new blade a week in exchange for old blade

N.C.O.s and other prisoners of war

This group received a free issue of clothing and necessaries.

All articles were replaced free of charge when necessary.  Facilities were provided for repairs to shoes and clothing and prisoners of war employed as bootmakers, tailors, cobblers.

Prisoner of War Officers

Officers and men of equivalent rank must provide their own items and paid for at their expense. The clothing was manufactured in Australia and issued by authorities. Replacement officer uniforms were made after measurements were taken.  Completed uniforms were made in a venetian grey material, and cost approx. £5 each. The exception was for Japanese officers who were supplied with magenta dyed Australian Military Forces uniforms only but were allowed to wear any national uniforms they had in their possession.

Guerre 1939-1945. Myrtleford. Camp 5 B. Prisonniers de guerre italiens.

Camp 5B Myrtleford June 1943 ICRC V-P-HIST-03290-33A

Merchant Seamen Prisoners of War

Both officers and other ranks merchant seamen were provided with clothing and other items free of charge. Merchant Seamen officers and other ranks did not receive a payment as did other prisoner of war. When arrested, they had been in the employment of shipping companies. There was no agreement with the Italian government to provide a stipend (payment) for merchant seamen.

For this group, the seven first articles on the above list were replaced by a peaked cap, an overcoat, a vest and a pair of trousers suitable for merchant marines.  The material used was a dark green cloth.  The two flannel shirts were grey and had two collars each.  A blue tie was also issued.

What do the photos from Myrtleford Camp tell us

Guerre 1939-1945. Camp de Myrtleford. Groupe numéro 27. World War 1939-1945. Myrtleford camp. Group number 27.

Non regulation overcoat possibly made from government issue blanket (centre)

Group Number 27 Myrtleford Camp ICRC V-P-HIST-01882-27

Guerre 1939-1945. Camp de Myrtleford. Groupe numéro 23. World War 1939-1945. Myrtleford camp. Group number 23.

Non regulation fleecy winter vests Group Number 23 Myrtleford Camp ICRC V-P-HIST-01882-32

Guerre 1939-1945. Camp de Myrtleford. World War 1939-1945. Myrtleford camp.

Handmade plaited belt?

February 1945 Myrtleford Camp ICRC V-P-HIST-01882-19A

Guerre 1939-1945. Myrtleford. Prisonniers de guerre italiens.

Regardless of being a prisoner of war, the officers wore their uniforms with pride

Myrtleford Camp ICRC V-P-HIST-03290-36A

It starts with hope

1 Reply

Maria Pepe from Oppido Lucano (Basilicata) hoped for the impossible and that one day, she might discover information about her father’s time on a farm in Australia.

Michele Pepe’s journey as an Italian solider and prisoner of war is like thousands of others: captured at Bardia Libya, sent to British POW Camps in India, arrived in Australia, sent to work on a farm, repatriated and arrived in Italy in 1947. But every Italian prisoner of war took home with them unique memories and sometimes photos.

Maria hoped that two photos her father kept, might help her locate the farming family. It is remarkable that not only has the Bruce family been found, but that both families have kept safe the same two photos. Mr KW Bruce from Riverton South Australia employed Michele to assist him on his mixed farm .  “The broadacre crops grown on the farm were wheat, barley and peas.   Mick helped to milk 25 cows every morning and evening.  The farm also had 100 pigs, 500 sheep and about 100 chickens.” Heather Jackson (nee Bruce) recalls.

Michele’s Service and Casualty Form records that he was sent to farm work on 13.5.44 and left 7.3.46.

Pepe Michele and Bruce Family

Michele Pepe with the Bruce family Riverton SA c. June 1945

(photos courtesy of Maria Pepe and the Bruce family*)

The two photos captured Michele with his farming family.  In one photo he is happy, nursing a baby and standing with the farmer and his children. The other photo has Michele with Mr and Mrs Bruce and their four children. Maria Pepe writes, “My father always spoke about those three children so close to him.  He often spoke about the suffering of leaving them to return to Italy.  He told me, … [the young girl] cried when he left for Italy.”

Heather Jackson (nee Bruce) is the little girl in the photo and has provided invaluable information to Maria Pepe.  “Michele (or Mick as the family called him) lived in a 4 room cottage in which he had the use of 2 rooms and a bathroom.  This cottage was about 30 metres from the family home.  Mick joined the family to eat all his meals,” Heather remembers. Maria remembers her father talking about, ‘the great humanity of Mr and Mrs Bruce who took Michele as one of the family.’

The Bruce siblings remember and reflect upon Sundays and Mick’s journey into town to attend church as Heather recounts: “Mick borrowed a horse and sulky to travel 5 kilometres into Riverton alone to attend the Roman Catholic Church service at 8 am on Sunday mornings.    He would park the sulky and horse in the Methodist Church yard and walk to his Church.  The Bruce family were Methodists, so he felt it only correct to park the horse and sulky in the Methodist Church yard. The Bruce family’s Methodist church service was much later in the morning, well after Mick returned from his church.”

A gesture of respect from a prisoner of war to a farmer.

The documenting of this history can be sometimes, one sided: an Australian farming family memories OR an Italian family memories.  It is special when this history can connect both families.  Maria has shared with the Bruce siblings, a little about Michele’s life after his return to Italy, and Heather has shared with Maria and her brothers details about farming life in the 1940s and special memories of Mick.

Pepe Michele and Elena 1948

Wedding Photo: Elena and Michele Pepe 1948

(photo courtesy of Maria Pepe)

And Michele’s reflections of his time in Australia and being a prisoner of war will resonate with many Italian families: “Australia was  beautiful and rich, but here in Italy, I feel like a king in my home.” (Maria Pepe)

* Heather Jackson (nee Bruce) believes that the photos were taken around the time of Michele Pepe’s birthday.  The baby girl was born in April 1945 and Michele Pepe’s birthday was in June.  This would have been Michele’s 28th birthday.

 

Legacy: Rabbit and Spaghetti

1 Reply

It is over 70 years now since Italian Prisoners of War who worked and lived in Australia for up to six years, left Australia for their homes in Italy. Their legacy is lasting in many ways and a poignant tribute is “Rabbits & Spaghetti” as is highlighted by the label below.

“Rabbit & Spaghetti” is a wine label from the vineyards of South Australia. This wine pays tribute to the Italian Prisoners of War who worked in the grape growing industry in the state.

The label reads: “As WWII swept across Northern Africa, the idyllic landscape of Australia’s wine regions must have seemed a strange place of incarceration for a prisoner of war. And yet this is where scores of captured Italian soldiers found themselves labouring on farms and vineyards in place of a generation of young men far away at war.  Without this help many a grape grower could not have endured these times.  In return for their labour, the farmers shared their homes and tables with their ‘prisoners’. Rabbit and spaghetti was a staple and from those shared meals, traditions and friendships were born that have outlasted the war.” (Naked Wines Australia Limited, 2014)

 rabbits-and-spaghetti

 Rabbit & Spaghetti Label

(Naked Wines Australia Limited, 2014)

 

Rabbit and spaghetti was a well remembered meal made by the Italian prisoners of war on farms.  Rabbit was also referred to as ‘underground mutton’.

Saluto alle amicizie

Leave a reply

Ermanno Nicoletti and Agostino Marazzi were brought together by war.

Together they arrived in Australia on the Queen Mary 27th May 1941 and were transported by train to Hay Prisoner of War Camp.

While at Hay, Agostino Marazzi (standing 2nd left) is photographed beside Ermanno Nicoletti (standing 1st left).

Hay, NSW. 9 September 1943. Group of Italian prisoners of war (POW) interned at No. 6 POW Group. In this group are known to be: 45513 Francesco Del Viscio; 46331 Ermanno Nicoletti; 45852 Italo Gramiccia; 46320 Natale Nunziati; 46207 Valerio Mezzani 45498 Giovanni Di Pinto; 45496 Giuseppe Di Pilla; 46199 Agostino Marazzi; 46511 Alfonso Patrizi and 48922 Sergio Galazzi. Note: The number is an assigned POW number.

Not long after the photo was taken Ermanno Nicoletti was transferred to Cowra Camp and farm work in the Macksville district of New South Wales and Agostino Marazzi was transferred to Wayville South Australia and to farm work in the Mt Barker district.

But they stayed in contact.

Recently Amedeo obtained a copy of his father’s extra Australian file. Another connection between Agostino and Ermanno is realised. 

On 12th February 1944, Agostino wrote a letter to Ermanno and a section of the letter was kept in his file. Agostino wrote, “Here I have found all that I desired; solitude a beautiful little house surrounded by trees and a splendid garden… the food is very good.”

Decades later in Italy Agostino Marazzi and Ermanno Nicoletti reconnect.

Agostino Marazzi and Ermanno Nicoletti (photo courtesy of Amedeo Marazzi)

Agostino shared with the Nicoletti family the memory of Ermanno Nicoletti’s kindness and concern for other Italian soldiers. Ermanno was a talented artist and he would exchange sketches for food and medicines for other prisoners.

Family celebrations brought the two families together.  On the occasion of Amedeo Marazzi’s confirmation, Ermanno Nicoletti was his sponsor.  

Ermanno and Amedeo (photo courtesy of Amedeo Marazzi)

Alessandra Nicoletti remembers that her nonno, Ermanno and Agostino were close friends. The Marazzi family attended the wedding of Ermanno’s daughter, while Ermanno and his wife Maria attended the wedding of Amedeo Marazzi, Agostino’s son.

Wedding of Maria Luisa and Amedeo Marazzi 8th June 1981.  

Maria Luisa, Amedeo, Maria, Ermanno and Agostino. (photo courtesy of Amedeo Marazzi)

Seventy-five years later, the Marazzi and Nicoletti families continue to be connected to a shared history.

You have a deeper connection with people who you have shared experiences with and shared pain. Negash Ali

Contented prisoner of war returns

9 Replies

by Joanne Ciaglia

Angelo Marino Macolino was born in San Lupo on 31/3/1912 to Antonio Macolino and Filomena Cesare.  Angelo Marino worked on his family’s farm in San Lupo and did quite well on the land.  On 24/10/1935 he married Marietta Vaccarella in San Lupo.  Marietta was the youngest of five children and the only girl.

All her brothers went to America very young and they sent the family packages of clothes and money.  This would have made life a lot easier for the family in San Lupo.

Angelo Marino and Marietta had a daughter, Filomena Macolino, who was named after her paternal grandmother and was born in 1938.

Postcard sent to Marietta and Filomena when Angelo Marino was in training (photo courtesy of Macolino family)

Angelo Marino then went into WW2 fighting for Italy. While in the army he played a trombone.  He loved his music and dancing, although years later, Angelo Marino didn’t have time to go dancing as he was too busy working.

Angelo Marino Macolino with his trombone (photo courtesy of Macolino family)

Angelo Marino spent the first eight months fighting in Tobruk, Libya and then went to Bardia, Libya.  On 3/1/1941, during the Battle of Bardia, he was captured after hiding for three days in a fox hole.  He was sent from Libya to Sydney on the Queen Mary on 27/5/1941.

While in Australia Angelo Marino worked at Cook which was the No 3 Labour Detachment on the Trans-Australia Railway Line SA and WA.  He then returned to Hay POW camp in NSW. 

On 23/11/943 he left Hay by train and travelled to South Australia. He was allocated to farm work in four farming districts: Mount Barker 23/11/43, Mt Pleasant 14/4/44, Murray Bridge 18/7/44 and Clare 22/2/45.  Angelo Marino had one breach of discipline registered on his record card. While at his Murray Bridge farm, he left his place of employment without permission and was awarded 15 days detention. 

On 7/11/1946 Angelo Marino boarded the Strathmore for repatriation to Italy.  He arrived in Naples 6/12/46. Angelo Marino had spent five and a half years in Australia as a POW. 

During those years, Marietta had been left on her own with her three year old daughter.  She had to take over all the household duties and work the farm.  She lived in fear of the war and San Lupo was invaded by the Americans.  The American’s dropped a bomb near where she lived and her house was raided.  Food and clothes were scarce. 

After Angelo Marino came back to San Lupo, he and Marietta had Uliano born 1948, Tiziana born 1952, Lucia born 1955 and then he emigrated to South Australia with his family.  He thought so much of South Australia from his time spent there as a POW.  They went on to have one more child in Adelaide, Eduardo born in 1959. 

When his children were old enough, he asked them to help him find all the farms he had worked at while a POW.  He wanted to track them down to find the owners as they had been so good to him.  When they went to Murray Bridge and Gumeracha, they remembered him! Angelo Marino assisted his granddaughter Sandra with a school project and recounted his memories of his time as a soldier and prisoner of war. His memory was remarkably accurate when compared with his Australia prisoner of war card.

Sandra Mancini’s School Project: Grandpa’s Story (photo courtesy of Macolino family)

After arriving in Australia he got a job at British Tube Mills in Kilburn, Adelaide.  He was a storeman.  They were the only Australian factory making precision steel tubing for products such as hypodermic needles, milking machines, locomotives, golf clubs, vacuum cleaner pipes and bicycles.  He did shift work, working day shift for one week and night shift for the following week.  He loved his job and his nickname at work was Frederick.  He stayed there until he retired at the age of 65. 

Angelo Marino loved to dress like a gentleman all the time.  There was never a day that he never wore a necktie, regardless of the heat.  He even did the gardening well dressed.  He liked his children to dress well and he used to go clothes shopping with Marietta and would pick out amazing dresses for her to wear.  He loved fashion like all Italians do.  He also loved studying the world globe and would show his children where he had been.

Angelo Marino, Marietta and Tiziana (photo courtesy of Macolino family)

Angelo Marino sponsored paisani and friends from San Lupo to come over to Adelaide and they would spend a lot of time together.  They would live with Angelo Marino and Marietta until they found work.  His siblings also moved to Adelaide.

A year after arriving in Adelaide, Angelo Marino built a new house, with the help of tradies.  Angelo Marino had a huge garden out the back.  He grew grapes and tomatoes, amongst other fruit and vegetables, and used this to make wine and sauce every year.  His daughter Filomena still makes wine and sauce and his daughter Tiziana, still continues the tradition of making sauce with her children.

Angelo Marino died in Adelaide on 6/10/2002 and Marietta died on 26/10/2013.

What have you done with your beautiful beard?

Leave a reply

Guido Motolese was a surgeon serving on the Romolo in 1940. From June 1940 until November 1946, Motolese was interned as a prisoner of war in Australia.

In October 1949, Dr Motolese was now working on the Italian liner Toscana and returned to Australia.

The newspaper article from Age reports the meeting of the former prisoner of war and major from Loveday and Myrtleford POW Camps with the former army captain and paymaster of Loveday Internment Camp.

Mr Gallasch welcomed Dr Motolese with the words, “What have you done with your beautiful beard?”

What have you done with your beautiful beard?

Myrtleford, Australia. 5 November 1943. Group of Italian officer prisoners of war (POW) interned at No. 5 POW Camp. Back row, left to right: Gregorio Castigli; Bruno Grazioli; Vittoria (aka Antonio) Vagnini; Crita; Renzo Conti; Vittorio Poggioli. Front row: Lino Gardenghi; Broge; Guido Motolese; Vittorio De Nicola; Alberto Ferrari; Aldo Smeraldi. (AWM Image 030152/03 Photographer Geoffrey McInnes)

1948 and the first former Italian POWs return

Leave a reply

In 1948, there were 40 escaped Italian prisoners of war ‘hiding out’ in Australia. These men wanted to remain in Australia and had found themselves jobs. Eventually, all but 17 were captured or surrendered. These 17 had evaded being ‘found’ and were granted temporary Alien Registration.

1948 also saw the return of former Italian prisoners of war. Armando Cervi and Domenico Molino returned to Adelaide on 30 November 1948 as assisted migrants.

“They had come back to Australia ‘because it was the best country in the world.'” Their passages were paid by Victor Harbour dairymen for whom they worked on parole from Loveday. Mr. HH Collins who paid 167 pounds for Domenico’s fare, said it was the one way he knew to get a good worker.” [News (Adelaide, SA: 1923-1954), Tuesday 30 November 1948, page 1.

It is estimated between 10 to 20% of Italian prisoners of war returned to Australia to begin new lives.

Some of the men who returned in 1949:

Pietro Driussi returned on the Ugolino Vivaldi to marry his fiancee Miss Eina Oliver of Murwillumbah NSW.

Vitale Iacus returned on the Cyrenia accompanied by his wife, daughter and son to work from Mr TH Fisher of Mumballup near Donnybrook WA.

Alfonso Gerardi and Giuseppe Morabito returned on the Toscana into Sydney. Gerardi was nominated by Jack Booth Armidale NSW and planned to bring his wife and daughter to Australia as soon as possible. Morabito would work with his uncle in a fruit shop in Oxford Street Sydney NSW.

Angelo Pin and Vincenzo Agostino returned on the Napoli. Agostino returned to work on a farm at Gunnedah NSW.

Antonio Scarpato arrived on the Napoli. He would work with Mr H Nahrung a orchardist in Stanthorpe Queensland.

1950

Giovanni Cecire took a unique approach to find a sponsor to assist him return to Australia:

Ex-Italian P.O.W. .I Wants to Come Back

“The Land” has received a letter from Giovanni Cecire, of Salerno, Italy, who wants to come to Australia. He says that he spent five years as a prisoner of war in Australia, part of which time he did farm work, and now wishes to return here to work and become an Australian citizen. Giovanni is aged 32, and he wants someone to make an application for his entry, which can be secured if he has a job to come to. If anyone is interested, “The Land” will supply further particulars on application by letter. (The Land (Sydney, NSW: 1911-1954 Friday 2 June 1950, page 23)

An electrician, Giovanni arrived in Australia on the Toscana under the Italian Australian Migration Scheme.

Memorial at Cowra Prisoner of War Site listing the names of ex POWs returned to Australia

(Photo courtesy of Maria Schattinger)

At the last minute…

Leave a reply

The last main repatriation ship to leave Australia was the Orontes which left Melbourne 21st January 1947.  The official records document that there were 779 Italian prisoners of war onboard: 19 officers and 760 ORs. German prisoners of war were also onboard to be disembarked at Cuxhaven.

The Italians arrived at Station Pier [Port of Melbourne] on six special trains which had come from Sydney, Adelaide and Victorian country centres.

Station and Princes Pier Port of Melbourne 1939 from Victorian Places (https://www.victorianplaces.com.au/node/64947)

An Argus newspaper article reported that “a few Italian prisoners who had been missing, surrendered to Russell Street police station [Melbourne]” at the last minute.

Another two escapee Italians ‘surrendered at Station Pier Port of Melbourne’ on 21st January 1947.  Nicola Boraccino (b. 1916 Barletta (Bari)) had escaped from Liverpool Camp in NSW on 20.4.46.  Pasquale De Masi (b. 1912 Oppido Mamertino (Reggio Calabria)) escaped for a second time from Liverpool Camp NSW on 10.10.46.

1947 ‘LAST CALL FOR ORONTES’, The Daily News (Perth, WA : 1882 – 1955), 24 January, p. 4. (CITY FINAL), viewed 26 Jul 2022, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article78552469

A Perth newspaper published the above cartoon in Daily News on the 24th January 1947. In the bottom corner of the cartoon, you can see a man hiding with another man hiding in the trees at top right.  The Australian military, in an effort to get escaped prisoners of war to surrender to authorities emphasised this was a last opportunity for a ‘free’ trip home to Italy. Additionally, if they surrendered, they would still be considered for migration to Australia at a later date.

The newspaper article on 24.1.47 explains that the majority of escaped Italian prisoners of war were in Western Australia. These men were given the opportunity to return to custody to board the Orontes.

1947 ‘LAST CALL FOR ORONTES’, The Daily News (Perth, WA : 1882 – 1955), 24 January, p. 3. (CITY FINAL), viewed 26 Jul 2022, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article78552469

An additional three escapee Italian prisoners of war did surrender themselves to military police at Karrakatta Camp WA on 23.1.47 to be boarded at Gages Wharf Fremantle Harbour. 

They were Antonio de Matteis (b. 1917 Cubertino (Leece)) : escaped 22.7.46; Desiderio Greggio (b. 1918 Possonovo (Parma)) : escpaed 23.10.46 and Carmine Buonocunto (b. 1920 San Giovanni a Teduscio Napoli): escaped 23.10.46.

Carmine Buonocunto NAA: K1174