Sent: Thursday, November 15, = 2018 at 6:56 PM
From: "POWs Italy" <powsitaly@lamsdorf.com>
To: powsitaly@mail.com
Subject: Fwd: POW

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Karen <kbonatti@b= eld.net>
Date: Mon, 6 Jun 2016 at 18:45
Subject: POW
To: <powsitaly@lamsdorf.com>

Hi,

I just read a book by Eric Newby, entitled "Love and War In the Apenni= nes".
He was a prisoner at PG 49. I read it because my father lived in Fide= nza
at the time, and helped 3 British prisoners for a time. They were hid= ing in
a ditch on my father's uncle's farm; my father would whistle "= South of
the Border"
to let them know it was him, and bring them food and wine. A ma= n named
Harry
Spence (I believe he was a captain in 1943) continued to write to my father=
throughout his life, and recommended the book to him, saying it was<= br/> "all about
our escape from Fontanellato".
Was PG 49 the only camp in that area? One of the other
men was a Captain Benson, and he mentions someone named Reggie. They may be the same person, but I have no idea.
In one of his letters he mentions a "secret war diary" which he apparently donated to the
War Office. Some quotes:
= ; 23/10/43 Left Benson in chalet and went south
with Neil Stanford of the 17/21 Lancers.
= ; 27/10/43 Captured by Italian fascists at Tizzano
by Signor Pattinati of ill fame.
= ; 1700 hrs Taken to Parma and handed over to the
Germans.
= ; Ransom of 2800 lire paid to Pattinati.
= ; 17/10 to 1/11/43 The Citadel Parma
= ; 1/11/43 By wagon to transit camp at Mantua where
I stayed for a little time before
= ; going to Mooseberg then on to Brunswick my
permanent home.

He also mentioned that Eric Newby and his wife, Wanda, were "rapidly becoming TV stars";
this was in 1985. No doubt a result of the books he wrote.

There is no record of who was held there? That's what I was hopin= g to find!

Hope this helps!

Karen Bonatti