PG201 POW hospital at Bergamo

John,
The general description of PG201 Bergamo on the web is misleading and often repeated.

It was in a modern (by 1942 standards) building previously used as an Old Peoples Home rather than the misinterpreted 'old' almshouse.

Welcome to the forum

 

Geoff

Thanks for this. Looking at my photographs I was beginning to work out that must be the case. I have now found a few with 'C. C. 201' stamped on the back. They show a substantial 'new' building in the background, very different from the stalag sheds and huts in the other photos. I've attached one in case anyone recognises the faces. It must have been taken sometime after July 1943.

 

Hi Prof John
Yes, sorting dates is difficult. As was pointed out to me - by Geoff I think - often the recorded dates on their records are the dates that Headquarters found out about the event - ie taken POW rather than the actual date the event happened. With the help of the people on this site I have found out a lot, and been pointed in the right direction for further reading etc. I now have a folder full of information about each place my Grandfather was at, and I hope to put together a scrapbook for my boys - if they or their children are ever interested. It has been so hard for me because my Grandfather died just after the war and my Mum was only a little girl so has only slight memories and of course, didn't know details and my Grandmother died when I was five, so I never got to talk to her about it either.

I think my GF mentions in one of the letters that have survived that the food was good at 201 as well. It must have been pretty horrible really, but his letters don't give too much away, he just complains about my GM not writing enough, although she says she writes every week - seems the post took a long time to get to them, if it ever did.

Lucky you to have some photos. My only war photos of my GF are one in the garden (on my profile pic here) and an official one of his unit before they left NZ. Nothing else and as I didn't know him it is very hard to know if he is in any of the other photos I see on various sites. Good luck with your research.

 

Belinda, thanks for this. The camp seems to have been one of the better equipped ones. In a letter from the British Senior Medical Officer there, dated April 29th 1943, he wrote:

'The Hospital is really one of the best POW hospitals in Italy and you can be sure that this is not just propaganda. When I say that, the food according to Italian standards is really good and Red Cross parcel stocks are abundant. . . . This is the only POW Hospital where the British are allowed to do their own surgery, and we have much more control of the patients and Hospital in general than at any other place.'

I think I've probably reached a dead end now. Like you, I'll put this together for the kids so at least they'll have some idea of what their grandparents endured and what the world was once like.

John

 

In the last letter I have of my GF to my GM dated 23 March 1943, "everyone is feeling the dullness of this life at present and we don't know what to do with ourselves. The cards and concerts have lost their attraction" He also says that while he was in the hospital ( he had a hernia operation I believe) a shipment of battle dress arrived but he missed out and there are only large sizes left which are too big for him but as his pants are worn through on the seat, he will try and get a new pair.

Have you read Barbed Wire in the Sunset by Edwin Broomhead. It was recommended to me here and I had to but it secondhand as it isn't being reprinted and our library didn't have a copy. It is worth the read.
Best of luck with putting it all together. I am still struggling to think how I can put all the information together in a cohesive way for future generations to understand.

 

Thanks - will try and get hold of 'Barbed Wire . . '. Meantime, maybe you can spot your GF on this one. It's the only other one I have, taken roughly the same time as he may have been there. I only know of two people on it - my father and a Major Keith Moore, both on second row. It's the same background as the previous photo. John

 

Hi John

I think that my GF may be the man in the top row on the RHS as you look at the image. I will print a copy out and take it and show my mother and see what she thinks. Oh so exciting, thank you.

 

Hi John
My Grandfather John Martin (Jack) Storey, a British tank commander with 1 Royal Tank Regiment was injured and captured at Tobruk on 20 June 1942. He was transferred to Bergamo Hospital Campo 102 for medical treatment, after which he was transferred to the Padula PG 35 officers POW camp. I am trying to identify the location of Bergamo Campo 102 hospital but so far have been unable to do so. I have found various vague references on the internet but nothing conclusive. If you have any pictures of the buildings that could help to identify it, or have an address for me, I would really appreciate that. Pictures of buildings sometimes provide valuable clues that help to identify them and determine their location.
I have been able to identify the exact location of Padula PG 35 Officers POW camp and Bologna PG 19 POW Camp, from where he escaped, but frustratingly cannot find the location of Bergamo Hospital Campo 102.
If anybody else that reads this message is able to provide any insights on the location of the Bergamo Hospital Campo 102 I would also really appreciate it.
Regards
Andrew

 

Hello Andrew.

Bergamo Hospital had the numeric designator 201.

PG 102 was work/transit camp L'Aquila.

See: Campi Per Prigonieri Di Guerra In Italia | Monte San Martino Trust Archives

And some photographs here: I CAMPI FASCISTI - Dalle guerre in Africa alla Repubblica di Salò (from the right hand dropdown alphabetical menu just select "Bergamo")

Kind regards, always,

Jim.

 

Hi Jim, My mistake.
Thanks for your prompt feedback.
I meant to type 201 and not 102. Oops
I have previously seen both of those links and drilled down into them (fascinating pictures) but still cannot find a definitive physical address for Bergamo Hospital PG 201. Maybe I am missing something but have been quite thorough in my search.
Have you by any chance spotted an actual address somewhere?
Regards
Andrew

 

Well I had high hopes for the zoomable map Andrew, but ultimately it put me in the lake within Parco Marenzi!

I CAMPI FASCISTI - Dalle guerre in Africa alla Repubblica di Salò

So now I'm not sure if this is the right area of Bergamo even.

Contacting the good folks at the "I camp fascisti" website and asking if they have a (wartime) address for the hospital might be your best shot - unless forum member Vitellino knows already maybe.

This is the contact email address:

info@campifascisti.it

Kind regards, good luck with your research, always,

Jim.

 

Hi Jim
I have zoomed into various maps where the location is supposedly pinned (as you have just done) and they all seem to be general location markers. Some of the markers are quite far from each, one in a park that existed before the war and another at an intersection of a main road. No buildings in the vicinity of the markers look like suitable candidates for the PG201 Bergamo POW hospital. Not to say that they haven't been demolished since, but unless I can find a precise address I will not be able to determine that. Thanks for your help and the contact email. I will send them a request and let you know if I get something back from them.
Much appreciated.
Regards
Andrew

 

Hi,
Some years ago I wrote the attached document as part of my research into PG202 Lucca Hospital.
From memory I concluded that the Old Peoples home became the POW Hospital and that was replaced after the war with the more modern Hospital that existed today. I may be mistaken, but.

Google maps
Google Maps..

 

Thanks Geoff. I am surprised that I have not been able to find a single reference to an accurate physical location or address anywhere for the PG201 POW hospital in Bergamo. All recent internet based references to the location are vague and contradictory. I have not been able to find a single WW2 memoir, Red Cross document, monument or anything else that provides a definitive address or site location. This is the last of the significant locations linked to the WW2 experiences my Grandfather John Martin Storey that I would like to determine, so I have spent considerable time on it, unfortunately without any success. It would seem that PG201 was likely an old age home that was repurposed into a hospital during the war. After the war it was then probably repurposed again for civilian purposes or demolished.
I am basically giving up for now, but will keep my eyes and ears open in case anything new pops up on the internet. I will also try and visit The National Archives in Kew at some point in the future, if and when I am in that area, to see if they have any documents that could help.
Regards
Andrew

 

Andrew.
Don't give up! you have just started your journey of discovery- mine is 12 years and counting

A quick Google found this SA Facebook page

https://www.facebook.com/groups/117184174016/search/?q=bergamo

It contains a couple of items re Bergamo

1. Newspaper cutting about the transfer of POW from Bergamo to Germany
2. Extract from a RED CROSS report for Bergamo Hospital

The doc I posted has the details of the TNA File that hold these reports. There is probably someone on here that has already copied them and can post or send them to you, and if not you could visit TNA yourself or there are folks here that can do it for you for a fee less than what TNA charge

Good Luck

 

There are some photos of hospital camp 201 Bergamo here:

Vitellino