Edward Condron’s escape to Switzerland

Good morning all

Would anyone know if it’s possible to find out the route my Great Uncle, Edward (Eddie) Condron would have taken from Italy to Switzerland following his escape from an Italian POW camp? I’m planning to visit southern Switzerland and would like to see if o can visit one or more of the towns he may have been in.

Attached newspaper article provides details.

Would really appreciate any help.

James

 

Hi James,
I cannot read it, could you send the name of the camp?
Stefan.

 

If this is him there`s a file at the National Archives ? You can request a copy ,they will charge you or you could ask if someone on here could copy it for you for a more reasonable fee ?

Name: Edward Charles Condron . Rank: Trooper , 4807661, 7th Royal Tank Regiment .... | The National Archives

Name: Edward Charles Condron . Rank: Trooper , 4807661, 7th Royal Tank Regiment ....

Reference: WO 208/4245/60
Description:
Name: Edward Charles Condron.
Rank: Trooper, 4807661, 7th Royal Tank Regiment.
Captured: Tobruk, 21 June 1942.
Escaped or Liberated: PG 146/18 Sforzesca Near Vigevano, 9 September 1943.
Arrived in Switzerland: 20 November 1943.
Date: 1944 Aug 19
Held by: The National Archives, Kew
Former reference in its original department: PW/EX/SWITZ/1820
Legal status: Public Record(s)
Closure status: Open Document, Open Description




Kyle

 

Searching in Record Group 331 at NARA for "Condron": nil returns. Search for "Vigevano" :

https://catalog.archives.gov/search?page=1&q=Vigevano&recordGroupNumber=331

The first record "Facchino, A." emphasises the dangers to Italians in assisting escapers.

The newspaper article re Condron transcribed in part: ( if only local free newspapers today had similar high quality of reporting and editing as was usual in the papers of the 1940's):

"Trooper Condron joined the Forces in July, 1940, and went to Libya in November of the following year. He took part in
several actions and was captured at Tobruk in June, 1942. From there be was taken to Benghazi, where, with about
8,000 men, he was behind the lines, waiting to go to a prison саmр. Conditions were bad and it was a case of the survival of the fittest. Five months later, Trooper Condron was taken to a camp at Serbigliano.

Some time afterwards, he was sent to a working camp at Vigevano where he was engaged in farm labouring. Food was scarce but Red Cross parcels kept the men alive.

LIVED ON STOLEN FOOD

When Italy capitulated, the camp guard slackened and the men forced their way out. Once outside, they split up into small parties, with the object of hiding until the Britsh captured the North of Italy. Trooper Condron and a fellow private hid in fields and barns, living on food which they were able to steal.

An Italian farmer took in these two soldiers and sheltered them for about five months. Then the Fascists began to suspect him and realizing that they were endangering the farmer's life, Trooper Condron and his friend decided to try to escape from the country.

They were put in touch with an underground resistance movement. The farmer gave them civilian clothes and arranged for them to join a party of about 20 other escaped prisoners. The journey to Switzerland took them three days. Most of the travelling was done at night on bicycles, in trains, and in cattle trucks. The last part was a 24-hour walk across the mountains on which the party was conducted by some Alpine troops who had deserted."

 

There are a number of threads here on the journey of POWs from Tobruk to Italy.

The decision of POWs to leave former Italian POW Camps when an armistice was declared in July 1943 has been commented upon too. The official stance was that POWS should not leave, IIRC approx. a third left, many survived.

I encountered the decision in my research: PG47 (Campo 47) escapees and the suicide of the NZ Camp CO

There is a thread on on 'Stay Put Order'. See: Italy 1943: the 'Stay Put Order'

 

Hello Jimmy,

You've come to the right place.

Edward crossed over in the same group as Douglas Allum. See this post:

POW - Italian work camp pg 146

I have posted a copy of his formulario. These were filled in by the escapers on the last lap to the frontier and were were supplied by the Giuseppe Bacciagaluppi organisation. See my website

escaperoutestoswitzerland.webador.com.

The dates on the formulari and those given on WO 208 Switzerland often vary by a few days.

I hope you have a worthwhile and enjoyable trip,

Vitellino