{"id":9761,"date":"2015-07-30T20:59:40","date_gmt":"2015-07-30T18:59:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/?p=9761"},"modified":"2019-04-10T21:23:48","modified_gmt":"2019-04-10T19:23:48","slug":"my-fathers-war-part-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/my-fathers-war-part-3\/","title":{"rendered":"My Father\u2019s War \u2013 Part 3"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here is part 3 of my father\u2019s war memories in which he recounts being taken prisoner during the final retreat in North Africa. <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

If you haven\u2019t already read them, here are Part 1<\/a><\/strong><\/span> and Part 2<\/a><\/span><\/strong>.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Aprile \u2013 maggio 1943: terza e ultima ritirata da Bengasi fino alla Tripolitania. La battaglia finale \u00e8 stata al confine con la Tunisia, nella zona di Enfidaville. Noi eravamo gi\u00f9 nella valle e gli Alleati erano su nei monti. Ci hanno bombardato tutta la notte, il cielo era infuocato, per fortuna la maggior parte delle cannonate ci passavano sopra alla testa. La mattina all\u2019alba c\u2019\u00e8 stata la resa finale agli inglesi.<\/strong><\/p>\n

April-May 1943: third and last retreat from Benghazi to Tripolitania. The final battle took place on the Tunisian border, in the Enfidaville area. We were down in the valley, and the Allies were up in the mountains. They bombarded us all night, the sky was on fire, luckily most of the shells passed over our heads. The following morning at dawn we finally surrendered to the English.<\/p>\n

\"My<\/a>

My father in Bengazi on the 8th June 1942<\/span><\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

Al momento della consegna dei prigionieri il mio amico Ulderico Colombo si \u00e8 reso conto che io indossavo ancora la divisa della Milizia. \u201cMa sei matto ad andare in giro con la camicia nera? Se gli Alleati ti vedono chiss\u00e0 cosa ti fanno\u201d mi ha detto Ulderico strappandomi la camicia nera di dosso e dandomi una sua camicia kaki. \u201cE che \u00e8? E\u2019 una camicia come un\u2019altra\u201d gli ho risposto io.<\/strong><\/p>\n

As the prisoners were handed over my friend Ulderico Colombo realized that I was still wearing my Militia uniform. \u201cAre you crazy going around with that black shirt on? If the Allies see you who knows what they\u2019ll do to you\u201d said Ulderico, tearing the black shirt off me and giving me one of his khaki shirts. \u201cWhat\u2019s all the fuss about? It\u2019s just a shirt like any other\u201d I replied.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Photo of Ulderico Colombo taken by my father in Benghazi, 1941 (with thanks to Ulderico’s son Giuseppe)<\/em><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

Dapprima ci hanno preso gli inglesi, ma ci hanno subito passato ai francesi che volevano prigionieri italiani da far lavorare nelle loro fattorie in Nord Africa. In cambio gli inglesi si sono fatti dare dai francesi truppe nordafricane da mandare a combattere sul fronte in Europa.<\/strong><\/p>\n

First of all, the English took us prisoner, but they quickly handed us over to the French who wanted Italian prisoners to work on their farms in North Africa. In return the English had the French give them North African troops to send to fight on the front in Europe.<\/p>\n

\"Italian<\/a>

Italian POW’s being escorted to a British camp in North Africa.<\/em><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

All\u2019inizio ci hanno portato in un campo di concentramento a Kairouan in Tunisia. Dopo poco tempo ci hanno caricati su un treno merci e ci hanno messi nei vagoni di legno che avevano la dicitura \u201cCavalli 8 Uomini 40\u201d. Eravamo pi\u00f9 di una sessantina in ogni vagone: eravamo cos\u00ec stipati che non ci si poteva neanche sedere, dovevamo stare sempre in piedi. Il treno camminava la notte e di giorno restavamo fermi nelle stazioni sotto il sole di giugno. Non potevamo aprire i portelloni senn\u00f2 i francesi ci sparavano perch\u00e9 avevano paura che scappassimo. Il viaggio \u00e8 durato diversi giorni: dalla Tunisia abbiamo viaggiato fino a Marrakesh in Marocco!<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the beginning they took us to a POW camp in Kairouan, Tunisia. Shortly afterwards they loaded us on a goods train and put us in wooden wagons on which was written \u201cHorses 8, Men 40\u201d. There were more than sixty of us in each wagon: we were so crammed in that we couldn\u2019t even sit down, we had to stand up all the time. The train travelled at night and during the day we stayed put in the railway stations beneath the June sun. We couldn\u2019t open the doors or the French would shoot us because they were afraid that we might escape. The journey lasted several days: we travelled all the way from Tunisia to Marrakesh in Morocco!<\/p>\n

To be continued \u2026<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Here is part 3 of my father\u2019s war memories in which he recounts being taken prisoner during the final retreat in North Africa. If you haven\u2019t already read them, here are Part 1 and Part 2. Aprile \u2013 maggio 1943: terza e ultima ritirata da Bengasi fino alla Tripolitania. La battaglia finale \u00e8 stata al…<\/p>\n

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