List of World War II prisoner-of-war camps in Italy

There were a number of Axis prisoner-of-war camps in Italy during World War II. The initials "P.G." denote Prigione di Guerra (Prison of War), often interchanged with the title Campo (field or military camp). The Italian Armistice, declared on 8 September 1943, ended Italian administration of the camps, many of which were resecured by the Germans and used to hold new prisoners and numerous recaptured escapees.

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Camp	Location	Notes
German
Dulag 226	Pissignano, Campello sul Clitunno	Is elsewhere named "C.C. 77."[1] See P.G. 77 below.
Dulag 339	Mantua	Formerly 337, elsewhere listed as a stalag.[1] Distinct from P.G. 339 below
Stalag 339	Trieste	Distinct from P.G. 339 below
Italian
P.G. 5	Gavi-Serravalle Scrivia	Piedmont. Some 20 miles (32 km) north of Genoa.
P.G. 10	Acquapendente	Viterbo
P.G. 12	Vincigliata	A 13th-century castle near Florence, used to hold about 25 high-rank prisoners, notably several British generals including Major-General Sir Adrian Carton de Wiart, Air-Marshal Owen Tudor Boyd, Lt-Gen. Richard O'Connor, Lt-Gen. Philip Neame, and New Zealand Brigadiers Reginald Miles and James Hargest. There were several escape attempts—one successful with six officers through a tunnel, four being caught soon after. Brig. Miles and Hargest escaped to Switzerland, but only Hargest eventually escaped to England via Spain. After the Italian Armistice in September 1943, 11 officers and 14 other ranks escaped with Italian partisan and SOE help. Most officers made the Allied lines, whilst many NCO's and other ranks were rounded up by the Germans and consigned to camps in Germany until the end of the war.
P.G. 17	Rezzanello	Near Piacenza
P.G. 19	Bologna
P.G. 21	Chieti	An old conventused as an officers' camp. After the Armistice, anybody wishing to leave the camp was forcibly prevented from doing so by the orders of the Senior British Officer who was following to the letter the orders of Allied HQ to remain in the camp and await the arrival of Allied forces.[2] Consequently, the Germans were able to capture them all. They were subsequently transferred to P.G. 78, just outside Sulmona, and thence to camps in Germany where they remained until the end of the war.
P.G. 23	Vestone near Brescia
P.G. 26	Cortemaggiore	Piacenza
P.G. 27	San Romano	Pisa
P.G. 29	Veano	Piacenza
P.G. 32	Bogliaco Garda lake near Salò, Brescia
P.G. 35	Certosa di Padula	Monastery, near Salerno
P.G. 38	Poppi	Monastery near Arezzo, Province of Caserta
P.G. 41	Montalbo
P.G. 43	Garessio	Cuneo
P.G. 47	Modena	Officers, mainly from New Zealand
P.G. 49	Fontanellato	Orphanage near Parma. For 500 Allied officers and 100 other ranks. After the armistice all 600 men marched out with the connivance of the Italian commandant and guards an hour before the Germans arrived.[3]
P.G. 50	Caserna Genova Cavalleria - storage centre	Rome
P.G. 51	Altamura Villa Serena	Bari - Transit camp
P.G. 52	Chiavari
P.G. 53	Sforzacosta	Macerata. Over 10,000 prisoners.[4]
P.G. 54	Passo Corese, Fara in Sabina	35 km (22 mi) from Rome. 4,000 lower-ranked British, South African and Ghurka prisoners, mostly from the surrender of Tobruk, were held in two compounds of tents,[5] with very poor conditions and food shortages. Many prisoners escaped into the Apennine Mountains when guards deserted as the Italian Armistice was announced on 8 September 1943.[6] It was reorganised by the Germans, became a transit camp and was completely evacuated in January 1944 ahead of the Allied advance.[7] The 1,100 British, South African and American prisoners of war were put on a train to be taken to a camp in Germany. On January 28, 1944, they were crossing the Orvieto Railroad Bridge North in Allerona, Umbria, when the American 320th Bombardment Group arrived to bomb the bridge. Unaware that there were Allied prisoners on the train, they dropped their bombs on their targets. The Germans left the prisoners locked in the boxcars and fled. Approximately half the men were killed by the bombs, or when the cars ultimately tumbled into the river below.[8]
P.G. 55	Busseto	Near Piacenza. 4 satellite labour camps.
P.G. 57	Grupignano	Near Udine, at Cividale del Friuli. Mostly Australian and New Zealand other ranks.
P.G. 59	Servigliano prison camp	Ascoli Piceno[9] Up to 5,000 at a time (Greeks, Maltese, Cypriots, British, Americans, French, Slavs)
P.G. 60	Colle Compito	Lucca
P.G. 62	Grumello del Piano	Near Bergamo. Mostly Indians and Cypriots. Seven satellite work camps, including Gamba, Cremona and Torbole
P.G. 63	Marinaro Aversa	Near Arezzo, Province of Caserta. Mostly Indians.
P.G. 65	Gravina-Altamura	Bari
P.G. 66	Capua	Transit camp.[10]
P.G. 68	Vetralla
P.G. 70	Monteurano	Near Fermo Ascoli Piceno
P.G. 71	Aversa	Near Naples
P.G. 73	Fossoli di Carpi	Near Modena.
P.G. 75	Torre Tresca, Bari	Transit camp. One work camp.
P.G. 77	Pissignano, Campello?	Tent camp - Foligno
P.G. 78	Sulmona	Campo 78 at Sulmona served as a POW camp in both World Wars. During World War I, it housed Austrian prisoners captured in the Isonzo and Trentino campaigns; during World War II, it was home to as many as 3,000 British and Commonwealth officers and other ranks captured in North Africa. This camp remains intact.[11] In September 1943, as the Italian government neared collapse, the inmates of Sulmona heard rumors that the evacuation of the camp was imminent. They awoke one morning to discover that their guards had deserted. On 14 September, German troops arrived to escort the prisoners northwards, to captivity in Germany, but not before hundreds of them had escaped into the hills. One such escapee was the South African author, Uys Krige, who described his experience in a book titled The Way Out(1946). The nearby Villa Orsini was used to house senior British and Commonwealth officers including; Major-General Sir Adrian Carton de Wiart, Lieutenant General Sir Philip Neame, Air Marshal Boyd, General Sir Richard Nugent O'Connor, Brigadier Reginald Miles, and Brigadier James Hargest.
P.G. 78/1	Aquafredda	Work camp Many New Zealanders.
P.G. 80	Villa Marina	Near Rome
P.G. 82	Laterina	Near Arezzo, Province of Caserta. 8,000 prisoners. 50% escaped. (2,720 from secret Italia armi document SMRE Stato Maggiore dell'Esercito Italiano)
P.G. 83	Fiume
P.G. 85	Tuturano	Transit camp.[12]
P.G. 87	Stalia	6000 in camp
P.G. 89	Gonars	Udine
P.G. 91	Avezzano
P.G. 97	Renicci di Anghiari	Arezzo, Province of Caserta
P.G. 98	San Giuseppe Jato	Sicily
P.G. 102	Near Aquila	Transit camp
P.G. 103	Monigo	Treviso
P.G. 103/6	Ampezzo	Udine
P.G. 103/7	La Maina	near Ampezzo, at Sauris.
P.G. 106	Vercelli	25 work camps, mostly Australians and New Zealanders
P.G. 106/20	Arro	Salussola
P.G. 107	Torviscosa	Udine - Five work camps, including Prati, San Donà di Piave, Torre di Confine, La Salute. Mostly New Zealanders and South Africans
P.G. 107/2	Prati
P.G. 107/4	San Donà di Piave
P.G. 107/5	Torre di Confine
P.G. 107/6	?
P.G. 107/7	La Salute di Livenza
P.G. 110	Carbonia
P.G. 112	Turin
P.G. 113	Avio (Trento)	Near Marsciano, Rovereto
P.G. 115	Marciano	Near Perugia
P.G. 118	Prato all'Isarco	Near Bolzano
P.G. 120	Chiesanuova	Padova - work camps at Fattoria Bianco, Cetona, Abano, Fogolana.
P.G. 120/4	?
P.G. 120/5	Abano
P.G. 120/8	Fogolana
P.G. 122	Cinecittà	Near Rome - several work camps
P.G. 127	Locano Canavese	Aosta
P.G. 129	Montelupone	Macerata
P.G. 132	Foggia
P.G. 133	Novara
P.G. 136 C.A.R.E	Bologna
P.G. 145	Campotosto, Montorio al Vomano	(Province of Teramo)
P.G. 146	Mortara	Pavia
P.G. 148	Bussolengo	Near Verona. Labour camp for 250 prisoners, mostly New Zealanders, but also English, Scottish, Egyptians, South Africans, Americans, Indians. 14 satellite work camps at Isola della Scala, Lazise, Mozzecane, Vigasio at San Bernardino, Montecchia di Crosara in the Cava Basalti stone farm, Legnago/Vangadizza at Rosta, Zevio at Villa da Lisca, San Martino Buon Albergo, Bonavigo, Oppeano in the Mazzantica Village, Mozzecane near the church, Angiari. Closed following the mass outbreak of prisoners in the days after the Italian Armistice was announced on 8 September 1943.[13]
P.G. 201	Bergamo	hospital in an almshouse
P.G. 202	Lucca	hospital in a monastery in Bergamo district.
P.G. 203	Bologna	hospital in Castel S Pietro
P.G. 204	Altamura	hospital in a school
P.G. 206	Nocera	hospital near Rovello
P.G. 207	Milan	hospital
P.G. 339	Pisa
P.G. 454	Brindisi	Mainly Indians

An English prisoner of war camp reportedly existed near Caoria - Canal San Bovo (Trento). It was closed on 8 September 1943.

In fiction

• Von Ryan's Express

References

Notes

1. Samuelsen, W. David (2008). "List of POW camps". USGenWeb Archives. Retrieved 22 May 2012.
2. Rollings, C. (2007), p. 281
3. Ian English, Home by Christmas?, Eric Newby, Love and War in the Apennines, 1971, Tom Carver, Where the hell have you been?, Malcolm Tudor, Beyond The Wire - A True Story of Allied POWs in Italy 1943-1945, 2009, Emilia Publishing, ISBN 9780953896455
4. Collinson, Roger (2009). "June 1943". Diaries written by Roger Collinson whilst a prisoner of World War II, 21st February 1943 to 18th May 1945. Retrieved 22 May 2012.
5. "History - Campo P.G. 54 - Fara Sabina". pg54.org.uk. 2012. Retrieved 22 May 2012.
6. Mallen, John (2006). "Gunner John Mallen - P.G. 54". pegasusarchive.org. Retrieved 22 May 2012.
7. There are several eyewitness accounts of Camp P.G. 54 on the Allerona bombing website
8. Dethick, Janet Kinrade (21 September 2011). "The Bridge at Allerona - 28 January 1944". bombedpowtrain.weebly.com. Retrieved 22 May 2012.
9. "The History of the Servigliano Camp". casadellamemoria.org. 2001. Retrieved 22 May 2012.
10. Collinson, Roger (2009). "March 1943". Diaries written by Roger Collinson whilst a prisoner of World War II, 21st February 1943 to 18th May 1945. Retrieved 22 May 2012.
11. Johnson, Graham (2010). "Pictures of Campo P.G. 78, Sulmona (taken in 2003)". gcjonline.co.uk. Retrieved 22 May 2012.
12. "Il Portale di Tuturano (BR) - Il Campo P.G. 85". tuturano.com (in Italian). 2012. Retrieved 22 May 2012.
13. "Prigionieri di guerra in Italia". mauroquattrina.jimdo.com (in Italian). 2012. Retrieved 22 May 2012.

Bibliography

• Foot, M.R.D. & Langley, J.M. (1979). MI9 Escape & Evasion 1939-45. London: The Bodley Head.
• Hargest, James (1945). Farewell Campo 12. Michael Joseph Ltd. (Contains a sketch map of Castello Vincigliata, route of capture, and escape route : Sidi Azir to London).
• Lamb, Richard (1994). War in Italy 1943-1945 : A Brutal Story. New York City: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 978-0-312-11093-2.
• Leeming, John F. (1951). Always To-Morrow. London: George G. Harrap and Co. Ltd. (Tells of the authors' experiences as a prisoner of the Italians during WWII).
• Leeming, John F. (1951). The Natives are Friendly. New York City: E. P. Dutton & Company. pp. 195–222. (Book of his WW2 prisoner-of-war experiences).
• Neame, Philip (1947). Playing with Strife: The Autobiography of a Soldier. London: George G. Harrap and Co. Ltd. (Written whilst a POW, a narrative of Vincigliata as Campo P.G. 12, contains a scale plan of Castello di Vincigliata, and photographs taken by the author just after the war).
• Ranfurly, Hermione (1994). To War with Whitaker : The Wartime Diaries of The Countess of Ranfurly 1939-1945. London: William Heinemann Ltd. ISBN 0-434-00224-0.
• Rollings, Charles (2007). Prisoner of War: Voices from Captivity during the Second World War. London: Ebury Publishing. ISBN 9780091910075.
• de Wiart, Adrian Carton (1950). Happy Odyssey. Jonathan Cape. ISBN 1-84415-539-0. (Foreword by Winston S. Churchill)

External links

• Wartime Memories project
• Autumn 2006 Newsletter at The National Ex-Prisoner of War Association (UK)
• Italian POW camps at pegasusarchive.org