french foreign légion POW camp 66 and 77

Discussion in 'Prisoners of War' started by zede, May 13, 2019.

  1. zede

    zede Member

    Hello,
    I received the response from the Red Cross and my grandfather was interned in Capua PG 66 PM 3300 (his name is on a map dated March 8, 1943) and from March 18, 1943 his name appears on a prisoner's list from PG 77 PM 3400.
    There is no other mention of his name in the Red Cross files so I’m not sure that he has moved to PG 82.
    I did not find much information about Camp 77.
    Could some of you give me more information especially of this camp from September 1943, the percentage of escape ...
    Merci d’avance
    Estelle
     
  2. vitellino

    vitellino Senior Member

    Hello Estelle,

    Attached is a photo I took at the site of PG 77, Pissignano. It was a tent camp. I have also attached a Red Cross Report describing conditions.

    On 28 February 1943 there were 221 prisoners in PG 77, all of whom were classed by the Italian War Ministry as 'White De Gaullists'. According to campifascisti.it at the end of March the number of French had risen to 1,344. The Red Cross report of 3 April gives a total of 1, 370 men, of whom 6 were English non-commissioned officers and 22 were South African.

    One of the men transferred from PG 77 to PG 82 was Pierre Dutremont:POWs and “escaped” (6' puntata)

    Do you know what happened to your grandfather at the time of the armistice?

    Vitellino

    1.  PG77 labelled.JPG PG 77 Pissignano Red Cross Report p.1.jpg PG 77 Pissignano Red Cross Report p.2.jpg
     
    Last edited: May 13, 2019
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  3. zede

    zede Member

    Hello, thank you for your answer. in my « user présentation » I explained that my grandfather was Belgian and that he may have been internal to Laterina. he was working outside the camp from which he escaped. in May 1944 he crosses the English lines and he integrates the 13th DBLE to continue the war and the campagne of France. in January 1946 he left for the war of Indochina and he left the foreign legion in 1951.
    About laterina I can not believe that some legionnaire could survive if he was betrayed because in July 1944 the 13th DBLE is completed with a lot of legionnaire-prisoners escaped from the Italian camps.
    Affaire à suivre...
    Estelle
     
  4. vitellino

    vitellino Senior Member

    I have read your original post again. I will have another look on campifascisti.it to see if I can find where the French Foreign Legion from Pissignano were sent.

    Vitellino
     
    Last edited: May 13, 2019
  5. zede

    zede Member

    hello, I put a file attached. It’s an extract from the book L’épopée de la 13ème demi-brigade de légion étrangère of André Paul Comor. there is a passage on the integration of legionaries imprisoned in Italy and who after their escape joined the 13th in June and July 1944. Unfortunately I don’t know which camps they escaped nor how long their escape lasted.
    Do you know if in the book Deportazione ed internamento in Umbria. Pissignano PG n.77 (1942-1943) mention was made of the prisoners of the Foreign Legion. Because the number of « de gaulliste » increases a lot for this camp during the first quarter of 1943.
    I'm sorry for my english.
    Thanks
    Estelle
     

    Attached Files:

  6. vitellino

    vitellino Senior Member

    Hello Estelle,

    Thank you for posting these two pages.

    I have looked on the Italian website campifascisti.it but there is no documentation after March 1943.

    The other book you mention - Deportazione ed internamento in Umbria. Pissignano PG n.77 (1942-1943) - does not make any reference to Allied prisoners of war but is about political prisoners from the Balkans - Yugoslavia, Montenegro etc.

    I am sorry that I can't help you any further.

    Best wishes,

    Vitellino
     
  7. zede

    zede Member

    Bonjour Vitellino,
    Thank you for the research and details on the book.
    I found a book "En 1940 je n'avais pas 18 ans" written by Andre Elen a former Belgian legionnaire who recounts his captivity in Italy after being captured in Tunisia (same regiment and battle as my grandfather).
    He explains that he was interned in Tunis, then transferred by boat to PG66 (the wounded arrive in February), then to P.G. 77 and finally by train to P.G. 82. Same information that I found on my side. He gives some details on the fact that in Laterina the French were separated from the English, and how they all escaped after the Italian armistice in September 1943. I joined a few pages, the rest of the book talks about their journey in Italy during their escape if it interests you I can scan them too
    Best wishes,
    Estelle 0001.png 0001.png
     

    Attached Files:

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  8. Tricky Dicky

    Tricky Dicky Don'tre member

  9. vitellino

    vitellino Senior Member

    Thank you very much Estelle I can read French but won't attempt to write it. Could you please send me the rest of the pages describing the journey south? You can send me them in a private message

    I will translate the important parts into English and add them to my Laterina website.

    Best wishes,

    Vitellino
     
  10. zede

    zede Member

    Good evening,
    Pages of the book sent!
    If other people cross legionaries or French in their research on the prisoners of the PG 66, PG77 and PG82 that interests me.
    A bientôt,
    Estelle
     
  11. I'm looking for a prisoner of the PG77

    Good Morning
    I am a nephew of Arturo Cabrera (aka Martin Antonio) Spanish who joined the Foreign Legion and was fighting in North Africa.
    My uncle fell prisoner and the last news we have of him is April 1943, the date on which he sent us a letter from the PG77 PM3300 prison camp (attached copy of the letter in Spanish)
    My uncle was deemed "disappeared in combat" and we have never heard from him ...
    I am writing to you, in case you could help me find out about your fate.
    Thank you
    Vicente Calero Cabrera
    vcalero@deisa.net
     

    Attached Files:

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  12. vitellino

    vitellino Senior Member

    Hello Vicente,

    I have replied to you other post. Your uncle would have been in the group sent from PG 77 to PG 82 Laterina. As I have said, the men still in the camp on 8 September 1943 were sent to Germany. There is no exisiting list of these men.

    As I suggested on the other page your only hope is to send to Geneva to the International Red Cross to see if they have a record for him.

    Regards,

    Vitellino
     
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  13. zede

    zede Member

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  14. vitellino

    vitellino Senior Member

    Hello Estelle and Vicente,

    The place is likely to be Fontebuona to the north of Florence.

    This would mean that he was in hiding there and had escaped from PG 82 Laterina at the Armistice.
    I will see what I can find out about what happened nera Fontebuona on the 4th of April.

    Vitellino

    Edited: I found this on a website belonging to the Insitute of the Resistance in Tuscany

    On April 4, 1944 about thirty partisans lying in wait at the station of Montorsoli, had decided to assault the train which, according to the timetable, should have been arriving at 19.20. The convoy was made up of twenty wagons carring commuters, students and workers returning to Mugello from Florence, but above all German officers and fascist soldiers.

    The action was carried out by the local partisans with great fanfare and a good dose of inexperience: the boys «with red handkerchiefs around thier necks were heading to the station, to occupy it, isolate it and lock up the stationmaster and family in a room.

    However, things did not go as planned. In fact, it seems that some fascists on the train had noticed the men hidden on the edge of the tracks. Partisan Carlo Carmonini, already on the train with the task of helping civilians to clear the convoy at the moment of the assault, was identified and killed. A violent shoot-out followed, with civilians used as a shield by the fascists, who shot at the windows on the first floor of the station killing two men and injuring four. The partisans, in turn, managed to machine gun and bomb the stationary cars. The train left immediately after stopping at Fontebuona station, where the numerous injured were rescued.
     
    Last edited: May 9, 2020
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  15. Hello Vatellino and Estelle
    Thanks for the information you are providing me ...
    I hope you can provide more information, if you can get it.
    A hug.
     
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  16. vitellino

    vitellino Senior Member

    Hello Vicente,

    I will try to find out if any unknown soldier was recovered from Fontebuona by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission,

    Vitellino
     
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  17. vitellino

    vitellino Senior Member

    Hello again Vicente,

    The Commonwealth War Graves Commission have told me that did not collect any soldier from Fontebuona. You need to get a copy of his records,

    Best wishes,

    Vitellino
     
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  18. Hello again Vitellino,

    Thank you very much for your attention.
    I have followed your advice and have asked various organizations for information about my uncle ARTURO CALERO

    In any case, if it were in your hands, I would greatly appreciate any new information that you can provide me.

    My sincere thanks.

    Vicente
     
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  19. tedfromscrubs

    tedfromscrubs Junior Member

    Talk of the Foreign Legion reminded me of an extract from Frank Unwin's book "Escaping has ceased to be a Sport". Frank was in PG82 Laterina and witnessed a mass breakout by the Foreign Legion. Attached is an extract from page 56 of his book. If Frank's memory is correct, it took place on 10th September, 3 days after the Armistice.

    "A second compound had been completed alongside us which was occupied by a couple of thousand South African and French Foreign Legion troops. The latter were a desperate lot, something which became apparent during the afternoon. Showing as little concern as possible, hundreds of them had congregated along the side of their compound bordering on the river. At a signal, they crossed the trip wire and threw themselves bodily on the first wall of barbed wire. This gave way under the pressure and tilted over towards the rear curtain of wire, trapping the sentries in a little triangular area under the wires. They were petrified and took no action as an enormous wave of men ran up the tilted wire, jumped from its top and went wading across the nearby River Arno.

    Soon after, they came into sight as they started to climb the hill in front of them. Soldiers and Carabinieri came rushing from the Italian quarters armed with rifles and started to fire at the many figures scuttling up the hill some hundreds of yards away. Occasional rounds were sizzling across our compound. As we could not tell where they were coming from, it was wise to keep out of the way. A great many men must have been successful, but we later saw a lot of dejected looking fellows being hauled back into their compound"
     
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