Officers escaped from Fontanellato - looking for information

Hi,
i'm Michele from Parma, Italy
I want to tell you what we have discovered:
Enrico Vescovi, the grand-grandfather of my wife, was the owner of the inn at Castellonchio, near Berceto (Parma, Italy) during the war.
Looking in some old paper from our grand-grandfather we stumbled on a puzzling letter.
It has written "Inglesi" (English people) on it, and the letter itself was:

"To: The Area Commander
ALLIED FORCES
The undermentioned family at the inn at Castellonchio gave food & shelter for one night to four officers P.O.W.s liberated from campo di concentramento 49. I request that they be paid therfore
Signature
true copy by Spr. R. Gelles R. E"

I'm wondering what happened and if there can be a way we can find who was this four officiers!
You can hel us?

Thank you very much!

I hope this infos can be useful for someone!

 

I can tell you he survived the war, he's not recorded on CWGC.

 

Thank you! Wondering if he or some relatives are still around...

 

He may have completed a POW Liberation Report held at the National Archives, only around 50% of soldiers did but it could be worth a look. A couple of forum members have access to Ancestry.co.uk and may be able to look further for family etc but that's not an area I know much about so you may not have enough details

 

Hello Michele,

Would it be possible to scan the note and post it so that we can have a look at the handwriting and check on his surname?

I can't find him in either of the two prisoner of war lists I have - WO 392/21 or in its German equivalent WO 392/1.

If he was released from PG 49 we can presume this was following the Armistice of 8 September so he has a good chance of being on the Italian register ( we know it is incomplete..)

I seem to remember having looked for this man before.....

Regards,

Vitellino

 

I have a theory about this letter.
The text says that 4 officier stayed at the inn, but R.Gelles wasn't an officier, and the letter says "true copy by Spr. R. Gelles".
So, my theory is this:
4 officiers escaping from Fontanellato going south stayed one night sheltered at the inn, leaving a letter, signed by one of them.
After some times (1 year if i'm not wrong) the Allied Forces reach Castellonchio, and my ggf show them the letter.
Maybe the request to bring the original to some officiers, and they make a copy on the moment to let him have some "proof" of his aid. So R. Gelles wasn't a POW but a soldier that have reached Castellonchio with the army.

It's a theory! But i'm going to follow your advice and try to find some other info about Gelles!

Here the letter!

 

Richard George GELLES
Born : 3rd April 1908
Died : 4 Q 1985 Camden, London.

Of interest, he was born in Wiener Neustadt, Austria and was granted exemption from internment on 29th November 1939. Lawyer by profession, training to be a hairdresser.



London Gazette 14th September 1948 p. 4967

 

Hello,
Enrico Vescovi, the grand-grandfather of my wife, was the owner of the inn at Castellonchio, near Berceto (Parma, Italy) during the war.
Looking in some old paper from our grand-grandfather we stumbled on a puzzling letter.
It has written "Inglesi" (English people) on it, and the letter itself was:

"To: The Area Commander
ALLIED FORCES
The undermentioned family at the inn at Castellonchio gave food & shelter for one night to four officers P.O.W.s liberated from campo di concentramento 49. I request that they be paid therfore
Signature
true copy by Spr. R. Gelles R. E"

I'm looking for any information about who may be the four officiers that stayed at the inn!

Thank you!

 

Sapper R Gelles Royal Engineers – searching for information

Sapper R Gelles Royal Engineers – searching for information

Sapper R Gelles Royal Engineers – searching for information

TD

 

What was Gelles doing in Italy? Were people like him in the regular army?

Vitellino

 

Michi
You should look at the Monte San Martino Trust, an English charity which exists to publicise the help given by Italians to escaping Allied PoWs. Many of the members are descendants of officers who escaped from Fontanellato. The Trust would be very interested to hear from you. The Monte San Martino Trust - Monte San Martino Trust

I am a Trustee and am happy to help you get in touch. You can write in Italian if that is easier.

Anne

 

Hi, i have news about this matter: i have found the original letter with the original signature.
Unfortunately i cannot dechipher it... i understand that one of the officier was a Capt. of 2nd Battalion Parachute Regiment.
Could some of you elight me?

 

England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007
Name: Richard George Gelles
Death Age: 77
Birth Date: 3 Apr 1908
Registration Date: Nov 1985
Registration district: Camden
Inferred County: Greater London
Volume: 14
Page: 1724

TD

 

This passed me by in June 2023.

Leaving the Italian prisoner of war camp Fontanellato - The National Archives blog

It's a fair introductory piece.

Came upon it when, of all things, looking up Gaeta in relation to Alan Lyle-Smythe and the report here:

Actors, Politicians, and Celebrities

Kind regards, always,

Jim.

 

I have read the article 'Leaving the Prisoner of war camp....'

I quote one sentence: Yet had the escapers know it, there was little need to escape. In 1943 the situation changed....

To my way of thinking this sentence is misleading, in that it suggests that there were successful escapes before the armistice. The Italian records show that there were very few successful ones, which are on my website here.
The National Archives have records for SIX and in addition there were Brigadiers James Hargest and Reginald Miles who made it to Switzerland.

Also, Jim, Samuel Lyle-Smyth was being held in Gaeta? There was a top security prison there at one time (must check) but not a prisoner of war camp. Interesting stuff all the same.

Regards.,

VItellino

 

Some refugees from Germany & Austria (most being jewish or anti nazi) served in the British Forces. Initially they were only allowed to serve in the Pioneer Corps, but later they were transferred to various corps and regiments & even the RAF. As the war went on & with the expected occupation of Germany their knowledge of the German language & customs was essential.
Royal_Pioneer_Corps

In the case of Sir Ken Adam the film set designer, he had arrived in UK ten years or so before the war he spent 1940/41 in the RPC & then left for RAF pilot training.
Ken Adam - Wikipedia

Travers

 

Hello Janet, the (possible) reasons for Alan Samuel Lyle-Smith being sent to Gaeta, and not a POW camp in Italy are all within the paperwork here:

Actors, Politicians, and Celebrities

It was highly likely the Italians thought him a spy (it appears he was!) and hence incarcerated at Gaeta once on the mainland. There are even questions/points raised/observations made in the hand written exchanges within the paperwork as to the suitability (correctness maybe?) of awarding The Military Cross to a spy , discussed in minute/file note 2 as;

"I don't think this officer really comes within our ken. He was an MI6 agent though the report does not specify if he was wearing uniform or mufti when he was captured. At all events he was not sent to a P/W Camp but to a Civil prison".

Pretty much ISLD acknowledging that he was even a step further removed from their world, and I would hazard a guess that he was in "mufti" when first captured in Tunisia, and looked upon by the Italians from the outset as a "spy".

He appears in the main to have made his own luck but I'm of the opinion that the armistice came at the right time for him and spared him from being shot as a spy.

I have an open mind on it, and will be happy to be beaten down on this if I've interpreted the paperwork incorrectly.

Kind regards, always,

Jim.

P.S. And I agree with you entirely regarding the TNA Fontanellato blog piece. Somewhat naive in description of events.

 

Thanks Jim, I have read the paperwork again and agree with you.

As I suspected, there was a military prison at Gaeta. However I don't know what offences justified the incarceration of someone there.

Janet

 

Do you know if it was within the old fortress there Janet? Maybe thought of as perhaps a "maximum security" place?.

I'm intrigued to know if any inmate escaped from there during the war, especially if it is the old fortress. It looks a formidable place.

Kind regards, always,

Jim.

 

Jim, I believe it was.

I have seen it from the outside...As to escapes from there, I don't know!