Location of Camp 55/6 Busseto Italy

I am researching for my Brother who's father in Law Ernest Warris Pte 5th Btn East Yorks Regt escaped from Camp55/6 Busseto on 8/9/1943.He was captured on 29/6/42 at Mersa Matruh North Africa.He eventually arrived at the transit camp at Bari no 75 on 3/8/42.He stayed here until17/8/42 when he was then taken to Fermo no 70.staying here from 19/8/42 until30/4/43.He finally arrived at Busseto no55 on 30/4/43 and moved to a satellight camp 55/6 at S.Antonio La Costawhere he was employed making wooden wheels for farm carts.On 8/9/43 when the Italians surrendered a young lady at the farm asked if he wanted to escape and he and two others agreed.She told them to stay at the farm overnight and next day let them go.The following morning 18 others escaped but the rest were taken by the Germans who had arrived quickly in the areaThe Italians endeavoured to defend Cremona under a great deal of bombing and shelling and as the Germans started to sweep the countryside they moved on on foot to Romanengo .Here they met a Carabinieri Captain who with 5000 men was preparing to defend the plain outside Romanengo.They joined his party but shortly on his advice they moved on towards Switzerland.He wanted them to arrange with a British Consul for supply of amunition.They were taken by train to Darfo by a guide who deserted them and they then had to make their way over the mountains to Torino via Schilpairo and across the frontier helped by a smuggler.They were then taken by the Swiss and detained in the castle at Ceaux.We have his Escape report with the route and the resistance names of the people who helped them but do not have any information about the camp 55/6.As my brother is making a special journey in September to Italy to try and find the camp and as near try to follow Ernests route to Switzerland we wondered if anyone could help us find this camp.We have come against a brick wall in trying to find information with regards to camp 55 and its satellight camps.Is the camp still accessible and if so can anyone give directions.My Brother has tried to E-mail the local information people but all he gets are a list of hotels and places to eat.Also is it possible to ask the Red Cross in Switzerland for details.I think he did do this once but got no reply.Perhaps you have an address?Any information on the camp and also if this escape route was a regular one used at the time would be very much appreciated.Many Thanks

 

I am struggling to read this. Can someone put in some paragraph breaks?

 

A search, in Italian, reveals the following links

I CAMPI FASCISTI - Dalle guerre in Africa alla Repubblica di Salò
There is some info on the camp history but no deailed map, but I didn't look at all the documents linked on that page
BUSSETO nothing better to do
Is on some research by a local school group that did some research back in 1997, following the diari of a British POW held at villa pallavicino , you coould try contacting the school. The diary pages are in English and contains some info and a picture.
Villa Pallavicino is currently being restored
patrimonio sos: in difesa dei beni culturali e ambientali


It looks like the camp was mostly for Jougoslav POW.

 

Many Thanks for replies up to now but unfortunately i dont speak Italian so cannot translate but it looks interesting.Perhaps someone knows of an English version ?

 

Many Thanks for replies up to now but unfortunately i dont speak Italian so cannot translate but it looks interesting.Perhaps someone knows of an English version ?

I will try to translate the highlights ..... and any contact info.
The first link is part of a research project on all fascist era camps, they give the following contact info on the site, it looks like they are mostly interesting in discovering abuses but they also seem to have collected a lot of data so they may have maps and the like.
AUDIODOC
via Rodi, 25
00195 Roma

tel. 06.39722230

audiodoc@audiodoc.it

The documents on the site identifies PG 55 as an officer camp with a capacity of 165, so placing it in the Villa may make sense.
The number of recorded internees is aligned with that data but most seem to be Greek or Yougoslav officers.There are numbers of internees by date and copies of the reportts those numbers come from.

5 P.G. il 1 marzo 1942
44 P.G. il 1 aprile 1942
189 P.G. il 1 maggio 1942
40 P.G. il 1 giugno 1942
68 P.G. il 1 luglio 1942
99 P.G. il 1 agosto 1942
96 P.G. il 1 settembre 1942
106 P.G. il 30 settembre 1942
108 P.G. il 30 novembre 1942
110 P.G. il 31 dicembre 1942
195 P.G. il 31 gennaio 1943
198 P.G. il 28 febbraio 1943
206 P.G. il 31 marzo 1943

P.G. (Prigionieri di Guerra) is POW the dates are easy to understand

Second site is more interesting, forget the Italian translation, just read the diary pages in English if you click on them they are quite readable, the pictures at the end of the diary sure look like it's a villa.

 

I will translate it for you when I've got time.

 

I've just done the translation as the post interest me. The bit you need to know is as follows:

The situation in Camp PG55 at Busseto on 31 March 1943 was as follows:
Total number of internees 206, of whom 167 Greek Officials considered to be civilian internees, and 38 non-commissioned Greek offficers or ordinary troops considered to be prisoners of war (a Serbian offical considered to be a prisoner of war needs to be added to this list) (see DPG36)

It would seem that a work camp was also attached to Bussetto camp but this still has to be verified:

On 22 April 1942 permission was given for a nucleus of 50 prisoners of war to be taken from camp PG 62 at Grumello del Piano and sent to the comune of San Rocco al Porto (Piacenza) to the agricultural estate owned by nobleman Luigi Boselli. The responsibility for the running of this detached work camp was given to camp no. 55 at Busseto (See PGGR03).

Regards,

Vitelliino

 

Thank you Vitellino for your translation.It would seem then that Camp Busseto no 55/6 was indeed a work camp probably a small farm on the estate of Luigi Boselli.
It Looks as if the camp had mostly other nationalities when first opened but i guess that once the Allies had been over-run at Tobruck then the camps became swamped with Allied prisoners and this would be how Ernest became imprisoned at Busseto.We are still curious to know which of the camps was called S.Antonio la Costa,this being the actual place he escaped from.Is it still possible to gain entry to the Villa ?I think from reading the Bombardiers account it would seem that the ordinary soldiers were incarcerated in the stable block to this villa.I look forward to any other information, we have certainly moved frward in the past few days and are gratefull for the help recieved Many Thanks

 

The villa is probably owned by the Busseto municipality, you could try contacting them (thoughI understand they haven't been very helpful so far you can now be more specific).
Tourist office contacts
tel. 0524/92487 – fax 931740
Open
Novembre to Febbr:
Tuesday to Sunday 9.30/13.00 – 14.30/17.30
Closed on mondays
March, April, May, Sept, Oct.
Tuesday to Sunday 9.30/13.00 – 15.00/18.30
Monday 9.00/12.00.
June, July August:
Tuesday to Sunday 9.30/13.00 – 15.00/18.30
Closed on mondays
E-mail
info@bussetolive.com

There is a S.Antonio church near by, and a residence of the same name that looks like it was built out of a previous structure so that may be it though it looks a bit too far away for a satellite camp.
residence Sant'Antonio Sissa

The tourist office may also know if there is a location called S.Antonio la Costa.

 

Thank You Tired Old Soldier for your reply.I seem to be having a problem opening the pages to the diary Nothing Better to do .I managed it at first but now it just comes up Unable to open Website.Would it be at all possible for you to send them to me direct at my E-mail address.Sorry to be a pain Many Thanks

 

Hello,

I read with interest this thread and the help provided by TiredOldSoldier and Vitellino with the translation. I would have provided you the same link already suggested, too; Campi Fascisti is the best website currently available on the topic. I am sorry not to be of more help.
I may suggest you to visit Busseto, I know it's a little and pretty town.

 

Hi,
I am researching my own fathers escape and picked up on your mention of Darfo in the Valle Camonica and in particular the POW camp at Plemo P62/51which is a few kilometres north of Darfo.
I believe that the town mentioned in your original post would have been Tirano and not Torino and also the place in Switzerland may have been Caux not Ceaux.
The reason being is that my fathers route was in line with your relations and out of the four reports I have of prisoners from Plemo two were interned in Caux.
One crossed in the same area Tirano/ Campocologno and the other was transported by rail to Como.
I would be very interested in knowing who was the person or organisation was that helped in Darfo

 

Thank you Trevor for your reply.Ernest made his escape on 8/9/43 from camp 55/6 at Busseto along with three others.Others escaped the following day but were quickly taken by the Germans.They hid in a wood and then on the 9/9/43 they decided to move quickly on as the Germans were sweeping the countryside.They went on foot to Romanengo where they met a Carabinieri Captain who had 5000 men with him and was trying to defend the plain south of Romanengo.They joined up with him but as things got a bit hot he advised them to move on.At some stage they were assisted by a Ricardo Antolioli whose address is shown on the escape report as living in San Antonio la Costa,Cremona. He accomodated them for 4days and gave them money.We do not know if this is his real name only that this information is in the escape report, as Ernest gave very little information to anyone about the escape before his death some years ago.
We do know that they cycled at some point beside the Po river.After leaving the Carabinieri Captain who we learn was called Ritzi and he provided money food and civilian clothes and kept them for a week, they were taken by train to Darfo by an un-named guide who deserted them there.They were helped by a lady called Vera S Halbritter who was Swiss and two addresses are given for her one is Romanengo and the Swiss address is 135 Reiserstrassie Olten(my brother has found this house on Google earth).She gave them food ,accomodation money and maps and they stayed for one night.
The final helper was Martina Moresclu address Silminore vi Scalve Pezzolo Bergamo.He (we think it is a man)Showed them the way over the border and they paid him 100lire each and three army jerseys.Over the mountains they made their way to Torino via Schipairo and finally over the frontier directed by smugglers.
Over the border they were detained by the Swiss and taken to a camp at Wald on the 4/10/1943 then to Vevey on the 17/10/1944.On the 7/5/1944 they moved to Caux(sorry my spelling mistake before) where he became a cook in the camp which was a very large hotel.
On the 30/10/1944 they were all sent to Vevey Prison we think this was to receive their final papers before being returned to England.The Swiss information comes from Ernests Red Cross report.It may seem from the information you have that this route he was sent on was a regular route used by others before.We are at an early stage in finding out information, as like many of these brave men they didn't discuss this with their families.However in the past couple of weeks we have moved on with the help from info received on this site .I would love to hear your account of your father's escape as it sounds as if from Darfo they may have travelled a similar route.Many Thanks Margaret.

 

Hello Trevor, Do you know how to find out the names of the satellight camps as in Camp 55/6 Busseto.There were suposedly four satellight camps to the main camp at Villa Pallavicino.In Ernest's escape report it says that he escaped from San Antonio La Costa(we think this was a farm).Don't know if this is near Busseto or Cremona as one of his Italian helpers is shown as from San Antonio La Costa, Cremona.Perhaps someone can clarify this for me Thanks.

 

Hi Sorry I cant help you on the above request regarding the satellite camps however I sent a copy of your original post to my friend in Darfo and he has sent back the following.
A.“…..the final helper was Martina Moresclu ….adress Silminore vi Scalve Pezzolo Bergamo…..” there are few mistakes:
1. Check if it is written Martina (female) or Martino (male), I personally reckon it is Martino (much more common name in this area…).
2. Moresclu sounds like Rumanian and not Italian, I bet it is more likely to be Moreschi (very popular in this area too)
3. address is Vilminore di Scalve Pezzolo (Pezzolo is a small borough of the small village named Vilminore).
B. “….they made their way to Torino (Tirano) via Schipairo and… “obviously here is my opinion is Tirano and not Torino and Schilpario and not Schipairo

 

Thanks Trevor for your reply,The spellings are from the original report but as these would be taken by an English person probably the spelling may have got a bit skewed.It does help though when you are looking at a map with the view to travelling to that area.The last person to help was Martina Moresclu which i would have said was a woman but for some reason my brother thinks Ernest may have indicated that it was a man.Also Silminore vi Scalve is shown but as you say this should read Vilminore.In the report it also definately shows Torino and not Tirano.We shall therefore alter our records as when map reading to trace a route it is vital to have the correct spelling.Thanks for your help please be in touch if you get any more details of this route or if you know anyone who may be able to help with the names of the camps attached to 55/6.Best Wishes

 

Pleased to report that my brother has managed to get hold of a second hand copy of the diary Nothing Better to do from a book shop advertised on the net.Also think we may have found the village of Sant Antonio near to Cremona and a farm named La Costa.The report was obviously a bit skewed so gave the impression that we were looking for a farm called S'Antonio in La Costa near Cremona.We also think that we have seen in another book a partisan helper called Martino Moresebi which could be our Martino Moreschi.As some of these escape reports were not taken for many months after the men reached safety it would appear that spelling mistakes, names of places etc have been recorded incorrectly which is understandable but can be rather confusing when you are researching.However we are more than pleased at all the help and information we have been given in such a short time and would like to thank everyone who has taken time to help.Best Wishes

 

Have you tried writing to the Partisans and veterans associations, and moreover to the majors and councillors near Cremona? Of course in Italian - the most part of the elderly witnesses won't understand English, I mean.

Kind regards,

Marco

 

As I cannot find a forum about PG75 in Torre Tresca Bari, and PG75 is mentioned in this forum, I apologise for asking my question here.

I am visiting Italy in June and visiting PG52 and PG57. I have recently found that my fathers first camp was PG75 but it is proving hard to find its exact location.
Field Facists has it in Strada Torre Tresca a little south of Via Privata Frati Cappuccini. Looking on gog\ogle earth Via Bitritto looks another interesting site.

Does anyone know where PG75 was? I understood that it may still be there as an internment camp.

 

Hi have at this site which Brian Sims has put the information on all Italian camps.The camp you are after is under work camps
Note introductory statement
http://www.pegasusarchive.org/pow/frames.htm