Luigi Pinna from Cagliari Sardinia is on a mission. Luigi wrote “Buongiorno, scrivo dalla Sardegna. Mio padre nato il 19 aprile 1915 San Giovanni Suergiu prov. Cagliari. io non ho molte notizie, so che era prigioniero in India poi trasferito in Australia, mi piacerebbe sapere della sua vita di prigionierro militare.” With a handful of photos, Luigi wanted to trace his father’s journey as a prisoner of war in Australia.*
Antioco Pinna : Distaccamento Autonomo Autocentro in Gondar
(photo courtesy of Luigi Pinna)
Luigi explains a little about his father’s military service: “In 1935 he was a soldier until his discharge in 1937. In 1939, he was recalled to arms, embarked and left for East Africa and assigned to the Autonomous Detachment Autocentro in Gondar. This picture [below] is dated October 23, 1940, my father is the first on the left.”
Antioco Pinna [first left] in Ethiopia October 23 1940
(photo courtesy of Luigi Pinna)
Antioco’s Australian Service and Casualty Form, fills in some of the missing details. He was captured at Uolchefit 22nd September 1941 which is to the north east of Gondar. Before his arrival in Australia, Antioco was a prisoner of war in India from 1941 – 1944.
Luigi now knows his father better, with thanks to the army officials who kept these records.
Antioco was allocated on paper to S13 Mt Gambier-Penola-Mt Burr. His assignment was to the Mt Burr forestry sub-camp and hostel. He had been part of the first group to set up this hostel and Vincent Healy, a forestry worker at Mt Burr said, “… and anyhow the army had a whole heap of Italian Prisoners of War from the Middle East who had been in India and they’d, when the Japs looked like taking over India, they stuck them all on a boat and sent them out to Australian and landed… landed them, so we got landed with a camp full of those. But er … they didn’t cut any wood at all, oh they’d cut a few hundredweight that’s all they’d cut a few hundredweight a day and then knock off, it was too hot. It was run by the army, I had no authority over that, that was an army camp. It was our camp and we were to get the wood but er… we got very little wood out of them. See the first week they were there, they put them in this camp and I went out to see the bloke in charge of the camp and I said, “When are we going to get some wood?” he said, “When we get the camp ready,” He had these blokes all painting white stones to make nice pathways round the camp and all this sort of business.” from Vincent M. (Vin) Healy J.D. Somerville Oral History Collection State Library of South Australia
But this memory does not apply to Antioco. Basil Buttery, Captain of S13 Hostel wrote: “An excellent worker and a steadying influence and leader of other P.W… This P.W. is needed again in this hostel on completion of [dental] treatment. His return is requested… Excellent type. Desirous of remaining in Australia.”
Luigi says, “I never heard my father say he wanted to go back to Australia. He was too many years away from his family and had great nostalgia for his land and his friends.” But Antioco’s photos of local residents indicates that the hospitality of locals and the respect he gained from Aussie workers left an impression on him. While Luigi understands more about his father’s time in Australia, he would like to know something more about the people in these photos.
To Jimmy Man from John
(photo courtesy of Luigi Pinna)
Another record in the National Archives highlights that Antioco had an exceptionally good character, was an excellent worker who was industrious and ‘by far the best type in S13 hostel’. Possibly AE Warren from Millicent worked with Antioco in forestry or Antioco worked on the Warren’s farm. With every question answered, there is another question left unanswered.
To Jimmie from AE Warren Millicent
(photo courtesy of Luigi Pinna)
“My father returned to Italy and he has always been a farmer. He worked the vineyard and made wine and also produced tomatoes, aubergines, watermelons and melons. On 25th April 1950 he married my mother GiacominaTrincas,” reflects Luigi. Antioco died of a heart attack in 1976. He was 61 years of age.
Click on the link to read more: Journey of Antioco Pinna
Pinna Family Photo 1956: Antonio, Antioco, Luigi, Giacomina and Lucia
(photo courtesy of Luigi Pinna)
*All prisoners of war have two files available for viewing online at the National Archives of Australia. The documents contain valuable information about movement, places and basic personal details.
Some states of Australia eg Western Australia and South Australia have additional archived documents. The stumbling block for Italians doing research is the process of obtaining copies. It is easy if you read English, but extremely difficult and confusing if Italian is your only language. Following the guides linked in Finding Nonno: Finding Nonno and How to Order NAA Luigi has unlocked a file containing information about his father.
Footprints of Italian Prisoners of War in Australia 