Towards the Swiss Borders. Looking for Allied POWs

Marco did you know Bill was about 93yrs old now.

I knew him for quite a few years before he ever set up his website and passed on a lot of research information on the subject of Escape and Evasion.
A very good friend is Bill.

 

Marco,

Here is Nelson to finish your men!

Steve.

 

Thanks Steve,

Very kind from you.
Is it possible to find further detail regarding these men? Above all, a possible contact for their families?

 

Hi all,

I would be interested to find more about two other former POWs, both British. I found them in a 1946 French essay.

Serg. chef (chief sergeant) William David Lewis, London

Soldat (private) Victor Torrig, Liverpool

They had been captured in Tobruk and escaped from a POW concentration camp in North-Western Italy, probably here in Piedmont.
Lewis remained with a partisan group, fighting for months on the Alps.

May I kindly ask your help again, please?

 

Hi Marco,

Nothing on Torrig in WO392/21.

I have attached the page for the name Lewis. There is a W.D. but whether it is your man I cannot be sure?

Steve.

 

Thanks Steve,

I see that Lewis was in Camp 73. Please, what does RASC mean?

Probably "Torrig" was not correct, in 1945-1946 very few Italians knew the English orthography.

 

Hi Marco,

That would be Royal Army Service Corps.

I had a quick look for other possible spellings in regard to Torrig, but had no luck

Steve.

 

Thanks Steve,

This is the second pamphlet (in French) from 1945-1946 that I've found... Maybe in the future I'll find more!

 

Dear Marco,
I am a distant relative of Charles Bradford, we have also been looking for information about his time in Italy and we came across your posting, you mention a pamphlet written by an Italian priest, can you briefly tell me what he was saying and does he refer to Charles Bradford in it?
Thanks

 

Hi Mark,

Thanks for your kind question!, it would be a pleasure to talk with you and your family.
Sorry for the delay, I was in London during the last days. I will write you via PM.

Best regards,

Marco

 

Good morning Marco, as part of my ongoing research into the casualties of my home town, I have had the following copied from the local newspaper archives. Hae you ever came across a reference to Thomas McCarthy ?

Also, has any idead where i might find his escape and evasion report

Widnes Weekly News 1st August 1947
“Fighting Mac’s Fatal Step Into River” - Mistook Position of Bank in Dark

TWO BIDS FOR FREEDOM WHILE P.O.W.
After a series of exciting adventures in the Army during the war, in which he made two attempts to escape from prisoner of war camps. “Fighting Mac”---Pte Thomas McCarthy, of 3 Farrant Street, Widnes---met his death unexpectedly on Saturday night, when he walked into the River Severn at Shrewsbury, in the darkness, mistaking the position of the river bank. He was stationed in Shrewsbury with the Pioneer Corp.

At the inquest at Shrewsbury on Wednesday, it was stated that a shadow from trees on the river bank which, in the dark suggested that the bank extended further out, was a likely explanation on Privet McCarthy falling into the river.

Mrs. Rosetta Lily Thomas, Formerly of Rabrook Place, Shrewsbury, said McCarthy asked her where he could get a room for the night. She could not tell him and they sat on a seat by the river and McCarthy fell asleep. Later he walked towards the river and went right in.

A police constable, it was stated, dived in repeatedly, but the body was recovered by drag ropes on Sunday.

Death was due to drowning and a verdict of accidental was recorded.

Switzerland in 18 Days
Pte. McCarthy, who was 40 years of age, volunteered for service in June, 1940, and two years later was drafted to the Middle East. Five months after landing, he was captured by the Germans in Libya. A month later he attempted to escape, was recaptured and punished by 18 days’ rigorous detention and 14 days’ ordinary detention.

He was transferred into Italian and made a successful bid for freedom in 1942, and he reached the frontiers of Switzerland in 18 days.

In civilian life, Pte. McCarthy was a well known player in Rugby League and it was the fans who nicknamed him “Fighting Mac.”

The funeral takes place today at Widnes Borough Cemetery.

 

Hello Phil,

No, never heard about McCarthy, I'm sorry - he is not in my two shortlists of British and Allied prisoners, I am still looking for the families of some of them, so thank you for refreshing this topic.

I think you'd better to contact Lee, PsyWar.org in this forum, to search for records or escape and evasion reports. He is very kind and offers a professional service of search and copying - already experienced during my research. Good luck!

 

Try the Monte San Martino Trust for information about POW escapee's (Monte San Martino Trust | Homepage)

 

Try the Monte San Martino Trust for information about POW escapee's (Monte San Martino Trust | Homepage)

Thanks indeed for this kind suggestion, just tried!

 

Good evening,

After participating to an international old book exposition in the Aosta Valley, I found further information concerning two British former prisoners of my list,

chief sergeant William David Lewis from London,

private Victor Torrig from Liverpool.

From previous data, I already knew that they were captured at Tobruk.
Now I found two pictures and many pages concerning their quite long fighting presence in the Aosta Valley, over Fenis, in the "Lexert" partisan group.
It would be very important for me to find their families, if still existing; unfortunately several kind members of this forum didn't find any match with the "Torrig" surname, although it was confirmed by two different historical sources, not only from the first one I had before.

Not being a next of kin, and of course without the permission of their next of kins (!), I can't access the British military records of these two soldiers.
I tried almost everywhere, for instance here:

WWII veteran from Liverpool, Victor Torrig « Liverpool History Society Questions

Winter 2011

Do you have any possibile idea, please? Any other historical society or newspaper?

I also discovered the unit of a third POW missing from my files, Driver E. T. Lockett, formerly from RASC, 200 Guards Motor Brigade.[FONT=&quot]
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Very kind regards,

Marco

 

Hello, are you still researching this subject. My father escaped from a rice farm in Vercelli and escaped up through Aosta and fought with the Partisans for 18months before escaping over the Alps into France.
Queenie

 

Hello, are you still researching this subject. My father escaped from a rice farm in Vercelli and escaped up through Aosta and fought with the Partisans for 18months before escaping over the Alps into France.
Queenie

Dear Queenie, dear all,


Thanks indeed. I have just replied by e-mail to the kind Queenie and yes, I am still absolutely interested in this topic, since my research is still ongoing. Furthermore, I am still looking for the families of several former POWs of my shortlist.

Kind regards and don't, never hesitate to contact me!

Marco

 

Not being a next of kin, and of course without the permission of their next of kins (!), I can't access the British military records of these two soldiers.


Marco, I think you can order soldier records as a General Inquirer, you do not need next of kin permission. They will restrict what they give you (no personal information etc), but maybe something they do give out would help.

Have you ever tried putting these guys into ancestry in their own tree and then sifting through the hints it gives? Also sometimes ancestry comes up with other peoples trees who are researching the same or very similar name which can lead to info and/or contacts. Might not work so well on "Lewis", but on "Torrig" it might. Just a thought for another approach to solving your riddles.

Wayne

 

Marco, I think you can order soldier records as a General Inquirer, you do not need next of kin permission. They will restrict what they give you (no personal information etc), but maybe something they do give out would help.

Have you ever tried putting these guys into ancestry in their own tree and then sifting through the hints it gives? Also sometimes ancestry comes up with other peoples trees who are researching the same or very similar name which can lead to info and/or contacts. Might not work so well on "Lewis", but on "Torrig" it might. Just a thought for another approach to solving your riddles.

Wayne

Thanks Wayne,

I tried with several contact sites (I don't know if I can write their addresses here, but they are the most suitable for such a genealogic search) but it was all vane.
Concerning the General Inquirer suggestion, no, I have never tried, since the British authorities wrote me back that I could not - because, of course, I was not a next of kin nor I had the written, explicit permission of the family...

Marco

 

I have been kindly suggested to post my updated shortlists, just to let you know (and, I wonder, to attract the Google bot's eyes...!):

Australians
TX2360 WHYMAN Loyal Walter, Cpl.
VX33706 PARKER Walter Austin Cpl, POW Camp Leader
VX1552 WHITHAM Gordon Roy, P.te
WX11411 FLETCHER Thomas William, P.te

WX14427 Harold Reginald Davis, P.te
WX14411 Victor Johnson

British

6025940 John Sidney Monk, P.te
152248 Edmond Trevelyan Lochett or Lockett
William David Lewis
Victor Torrig o Torring
Stanley Hudson