Hi I have recently got my fathers service record which states he was part of the CMF posted to 370 Camp in Italy in 1946. I have his service book which still holds a pass from his Captain dated 17/08/46 allowing him to be absent from his duties from A.D. (Guessing this might mean After Dark?) until 23:59 hours daily, "for the purpose of proceeding to Riccione." Can anyone provide any other details (other than its near or in Rmini) on exactly where 370 camp was, what it was in 1946/47, ie what nationality POW's may have been there, and what was at Riccione he would have needed to go to every evening? Any information would be gratefully appreciated. Jane
Jane. Riccione is just south of Rimini - they were separate but have now merged. It is very near the site of an airport which, in the 1940s, was an airfield. I suspect that the airfield accommodation was used to hold German prisoners of war captured when German forced in Italy surrendered in 1945 to Gen Mark Clark. AD stands for After Duties - once he had finished his military work for that day, he was free to go into Riccione but had to be back in camp by 2359. Regards Frank
Thanks Frank After Duties makes more sense! I wonder why he had to - or wanted to go to Riccione? Maybe beer and Italian ladies had something to do with it!! I have a reference for the camp at the National Archives so can see what information they hold at some point. Thanks for your reply Jane
Hello Jane, Have you seen the following thread on this forum: Do you know about the German POW Camp in Rimini (1945) Regards, Vitellino
Thanks Vitellino I had put in all kinds of searches - buy didn't find this thread. greatly appreciated! Jane
Jane. If you have a Grid Reference from the National Archives stuff, I can quickly work out where exactly it was. Frank
Hello Jane, I found this article on the net and have translated part of it. There are a few photos of the prisoners so click on the link. The location of the camp is shown on the 'Google' map and I've found a contemporary map, both of which you can see below www.cerviaemilanomarittima.org/2017/05/06/rimini-enklave 'The Rimini Enklave or 'La Tagliata' was the largest WW2 concentration camp on Italian soil, accommodating 150,000 prisoners belonging to the defeated nations. In the two years that the camp was open it is estimated that 300,000 prisoners passed through. Each of its 16 sections covered an area of about 1 sq. km, was ringed by barbed wire and overlooked by surveillance towers, and provided tent accommodation for the internees. The only barracks in each enclosure housed the chapel. The registration centre was in Riccione, the depot in Viserba, the provisioning in Miramare together with the bakery and the hospital in Cesenatico. It has been possible to locate the camp thanks to both eye witness accounts and documentation.' Map scale 1:100.000 Forli sheet 100 No scale on this map, sorry, but it relates to the area where C.Sbrozzi is written, just to the west of La Tagliata. Vitellino
Jane, just to let you know that apparently there's nothing left now. The fact that it was all tent accommodation except for the chapels is the reason. It might be worth a look on Google Earth to see if any of these chapel barracks has remained in use as a shed, store etc. Vitellino
Always interesting how you can stumble on something quite by chance on WW2Talk that one has been looking for for some time - so thank you for this thread, as I was not aware that the Cesenatico PoW camp was also known as described above, and now resolves the location of 76th HAA Regt in more detail than I was aware of before, so thank you again! As with other Regts at this time it carried out such duties as providing PoW camp guard duties, in this instance at Cage 13A, Cesenatico, so I thought the passage below from one of a number of letters, this dated 29 May 1945, on the subject by BSM John Kemp of 76th HAA might be of interest in describing one area of the camp: "The prisoners behave remarkably well, although I suppose that’s the only way one can expect them to behave. They have a lot to lose by bad behaviour. Really they are looked after a damn sight better than they deserve in my opinion. They have had a pipeline laid on and so they have a constant supply of water. They get the same rations as we do, though only two thirds of what we have. They get no cigarettes, although I see they have plenty apparently brought in with them. Apart from the rations and the water we give them nothing else. Possibly later there will be some additions. This is unconditional surrender alright. The only part of the camp we do actually look after is the hospital area. For the remainder of the camp they must do all for themselves. They are really ingenious. They have no tents, or at least not by that name. All they have are many and varied ground sheets. They’ve built huts, or what look like very primitive mud dwellings about three feet high covered with ground sheets as roofs. The walls are made of mud bricks. To make these they’ve stripped the ground of every blade of grass. Some of these abodes are quite spacious and look quite comfortable. The only kit they have is what they have carried in here on their backs, so you can see there’s not much. They have improvised amazingly well. All the old tins they have turned into cooking utensils, ladles, and mugs. They have made boilers out of half a forty gallon drum set on brick over a fire – we do give them oil to burn in their cookers. This just astounds them, and they can’t understand it. One of their officers told someone that when the German tanks were going to the front they were driven on pure petrol, but when they came back they drove on a wood or charcoal fire. Lorries on the plains had half petrol and half ersatz, while in mountainous areas they had pure petrol. They say now it would be easier to use wood, but they should know they’ve taken it all – it’s most frightfully scarce here in Italy. These people might not know. They mostly come from Austria and were fighting against Russia. That’s where they’ve learned to build these shacks. The organisation of the camp is done completely by the Germans, and is divided up into Blocks, each with ten companies of approximately 100 men. There is a Major in charge of each Block, and he maintains the most rigid discipline. When we arrive for the roll call they are all waiting in their files of five, standing rigidly to attention. One not feeling disposed to standing to attention had a terrific dressing down by the German Kommandant. They are scrupulously exact and precise in every detail these officers, and practically every one of them speaks good English. The men have the greatest respect and give implicit obedience. The study of the Hun in captivity is most interesting. And one is even liable to lose sight of the fact they were once our enemies and of their ghastly brutalities. Fraternisation is a crime with a high penalty if caught." This and other letters by BSM John Kemp during the Italian campaign can be found in 'Ever your own, Johnnie Siciliy and Italy 1943-45'
