New Zealand P.O.W's Escape Campo 78/1

Discussion in 'Prisoners of War' started by limegreencamo, Nov 7, 2019.

  1. limegreencamo

    limegreencamo Member

    My Grandfather was a P.OW. in the above camp. Does anyone know of their escape through the hills back to Allied lines.
    Private Gordon Hamilton Logan
    24th Infantry Battalion NZ
    Screenshot_20191107-141007_Samsung Internet.jpg
     
  2. vitellino

    vitellino Senior Member

    Good morning and welcome Limegreen,

    What do you know so far about your grandfather's escape?

    There's quite a lot on the net about the escapers from PG 78 though some of it is in Italian - I will see what I can find.

    Vitellino
     
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  3. GeoffMNZ

    GeoffMNZ Well-Known Member

    Hi Limegreen,
    Welcome to WW2Talk. My Dad was also in 24 Battalion & captured at Sidi Rezegh. I see from the Auckland Online Cenotaph that your grandfather was in A Company, do you know what his role was?

    A good place to start would be Bill Rudds "Anzac POW freemen in Europe" website @
    Welcome Letter | ANZAC POW Free Men in Europe
    The list there includes some details of your Grandfather;
    " PO I/E FM of Srvce No. Last/First/Rank Unit Returned to AL Date of Death Cause Buried Grave Discharge Date Cmp Cmp Escape Mean Notes/Comments
    1907 P Italy 24130 LOGAN George Hamilton 24 Bn 16 March 1944 9 September 1944 78/1 Was in as # 29706. (?)"

    You will find there a lot of knowledgeable and helpful people on this site.
    Cheers
     
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  4. GeoffMNZ

    GeoffMNZ Well-Known Member

    Hi, I found this on Papers Past @
    https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/n...ippet=true&sort_by=byDA&start_date=01-01-1939

    AUCKLAND STAR, VOLUME LXXVI, ISSUE 304, 24 DECEMBER 1945
    Private Gordon Logan (24th Battalion): "I was taken prisoner in 1941. We were torpedoed off the coast of Greece in an 'Iti' ship. They put us in a castle for a start and then into a pen we called 'dysentery acre.' It was exposed and the ground was frozen. On Christmas Day we were given watery macaroni, the water the meat had been boiled in, and two small loaves. An 'Iti' major turned on a couple of cases of currants at his own expense. There were 2000 men there and we got a spoonful each. 'Dysentery acre' was about two miles out of Patras."


    This suggests that he was on the Jason, and again from Bill Rudds site;

    "A few days later, on 9 December, 1941, the "Sebastiano Veniero" (formerly the Dutch "Jason") with 2,000 POW among her cargo, was torpedoed by the British submarine "Porpoise" and was subsequently beached off Novarino."

    Quite a story!

    Cheers
     
  5. vitellino

    vitellino Senior Member

    Last edited: Nov 8, 2019
    limegreencamo and JimHerriot like this.
  6. limegreencamo

    limegreencamo Member

     
  7. limegreencamo

    limegreencamo Member

    There was something I found online my Grandfather was Tenacious being the 2nd NZ'er to reach Allied Lines. Thankyou for the excerpt from the Auckland Star:peepwalla: I do know the ship he was on was torpedoed. I don't know much more. I have all the information re: Auckland Museum Cenotaph. I do wonder what Medals he gained. He was also promoted to Corporal G H Logan. Screenshot_20191113-012955_Gallery.jpg Screenshot_20191107-142828_Samsung Internet.jpg Screenshot_20191113-012955_Gallery.jpg
     
  8. limegreencamo

    limegreencamo Member

     
  9. limegreencamo

    limegreencamo Member

    It say's Screenshot_20191101-182800_Chrome.jpg George Hamilton LOGAN the name is wrong as it's supposed to be Gordon Hamilton LOGAN but strangely enough 24130 was His Service Number.
     
  10. limegreencamo

    limegreencamo Member

  11. limegreencamo

    limegreencamo Member

    I am 99% sure this is my Grandfather with fellow members of the 24th Infantry Battalion.
     
  12. limegreencamo

    limegreencamo Member

    This Book is the key. I had it once. Sadly no more. If any members or families have this in their possession they are sitting on a Goldmine. 20191113_022033.jpg
     
  13. limegreencamo

    limegreencamo Member

    WipeOut06_02_2019_030657.729000.jpg My Grandfather was first taken as a P.O.W to Campo 65. He then got moved to Campo 78/1 where he succeeded in his escape .
     
  14. limegreencamo

    limegreencamo Member

    This photo shows Campo 65 I have tried to decipher the writing above the entrance to no avail. Oh I have written to the NZDF for Gordon Hamilton Logan's Service History. But what is strange is the wrong Christian name as "George" same 24130 number though. Suppose to be Gordon. Maybe there is information about this "George" also?? Thankyou to Geoff MNZ hope that is correct. And Vitellino. And anybody else I have inadvertently lacked mention there of.
     
  15. vitellino

    vitellino Senior Member

    What you can read over the doorway in PG 65 dates from the period after the armistice of September 1943, when the camp was being used to train Slavs for undercover work in Yugoslavia.

    Vitellino
     
  16. limegreencamo

    limegreencamo Member

    Intriguing thankyou for clarification on that. I had wondered.
     
  17. limegreencamo

    limegreencamo Member

    You have been most helpful and very kind to me in my quest to keeping Corporal Gordon Hamilton Logan's heroism alive so I can proudly talk to my Children Generations Y and Z. :angel:
     
  18. GeoffMNZ

    GeoffMNZ Well-Known Member

    Limegreencamo,
    I do indeed have a copy of this book. My mother bought it for my father in 1980 when it was published and it passed to me.
    Your GF appears in the list for No.9 Platoon, A Company on page 22, and there is a photo of the platoon on page 27.
    Do you want a scan of these?

    Cheers
    Geoff
     
  19. limegreencamo

    limegreencamo Member

    Absolutely Geoff I always thought it a long shot but here you are messaging me with a missing piece of the puzzle. Would you please email the copies to
    juliannelogan@yahoo.com
     
  20. GeoffMNZ

    GeoffMNZ Well-Known Member

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