List of World War II prisoner-of-war camps in Italy

There were a number of Axis prisoner-of-war camps in Italy during World War II. The initials 'P.G.' denote Prigione di Guerra (prison of war), often interchanged with the title Campo (field or military camp).

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Camp	Location	Notes
German
Dulag 226	Pissignano, Campello sul Clitunno	Is elsewhere named "C.C. 77." See P.G. 77 below.
Dulag 339	Mantua	Formerly 337, elsewhere listed as a stalag. Distinct from P.G. 339 below
Stalag 339	Trieste	Distinct from P.G. 339 below
Italian
P.G. 5	Gavi-Serravalle Scrivia	Piedmont. Some 20 miles (32 km) north of Genoa
P.G. 10	Acquapendente	Viterbo
P.G. 12	Candeli / Vincigliata	13th century castle near Florence. (Small camp approx. 25 prisoners at any one time). Several British Generals were imprisoned here, including Major-General Sir Adrian Carton de Wiart Air-Marshal Owen Tudor Boyd, Lt-General Richard O'Connor, Lt-General Philip Neame, and New Zealander Brigadiers Reginald Miles and James Hargest. Several escape attempts, one successful with 6 officers through a tunnel, 4 were caught soon after, Brig. Miles and Hargest escaped to Switzerland but only Hargest eventually escaped to England via Spain. After the Italian Armistice September 1943, 11 officers and 14 other ranks escaped with Italian partisan and SOE help. Most officers made the Allied lines or the UK, whilst many NCO's and other ranks were rounded up by the Germans, to camps in Germany until the end of the war.
P.G. 17	Rezzanello	Near Piacenza
P.G. 19	Bologna
P.G. 21	Chieti	Old convent; Officers Camp. After the Armistice, anybody wishing to leave the camp was forcibly prevented from doing so under the orders of the senior British officer who was following to the letter the orders of Allied HQ to remain in the camp and await the arrival of Allied forces. Consequently the Germans were able to capture them all. They were subsequently transferred to PG78 just outside Sulmona and thence to camps in Germany where they remained until the end of the war.
P.G. 23	Vestone near Brescia
P.G. 26	Cortemaggiore	Piacenza
P.G. 27	San Romano	Pisa
P.G. 29	Veano	Piacenza
P.G. 32	Bogliaco Garda lake near Salò, Brescia
P.G. 35	Certosa di Padula	Monastery, near Salerno
P.G. 38	Poppi	Monastery near Arezzo
P.G. 41	Montalbo
P.G. 43	Garessio	Cuneo
P.G. 47	Modena	Officers, mainly from New Zealand
P.G. 49	Fontanellato	Orphanage near Parma. After the armistice 600 men marched out with the connivance of the Italian guards an hour before the Germans arrived.
P.G. 50	Caserna Genova Cavalleria - storage centre -	Rome
P.G. 51	Altamura Villa Serena	Bari - Transit camp
P.G. 52	Chiavari
P.G. 53	Sforzacosta	Liguria. Over 10,000 prisoners
P.G. 54	Passo Corese, Fara in Sabina	35 km from Rome. 4,000 lower-ranked British, South African and Ghurka prisoners, mostly from the surrender of Tobruk, were held in two compounds of tents, with very poor conditions and food shortages. Many prisoners escaped into the Apennine Mountains when guards deserted as the Italian Armistice was announced on 8 September 1943. This camp was completely evacuated in January, 1944 ahead of the Allied advance. The 1,100 British, South African and American prisoners of war were put on a train to be taken to a camp in Germany. On January 28, 1944, they were crossing the Orvieto Railroad Bridge North in Allerona, Umbria, when the American 320th Bombardment Group arrived to bomb the bridge. Unaware that there were Allied prisoners on the train, they dropped their bombs on their targets. The Germans left the prisoners locked in the boxcars and fled. Approximately half the men were killed by the bombs, or when the cars ultimately tumbled into the river below.
P.G. 55	Busseto	Near Piacenza. 4 satellite labour camps.
P.G. 57	Grupignano	Near Udine, at Cividale del Friuli. Mostly Australian and New Zealand other ranks.
P.G. 59	Servigliano	Ascoli Piceno Up to 5,000 at a time (Greeks, Maltese, Cypriots, British, Americans, French, Slavs)
P.G. 60	Colle Compito	Lucca
P.G. 62	Grumello del Piano	Near Bergamo. Mostly Indians and Cypriots. Seven satellite work camps, including Gamba, Cremona and Torbole
P.G. 63	Marinaro Aversa	Near Arezzo. Mostly Indians.
P.G. 65	Gravina-Altamura	Bari
P.G. 66	Capua	Transit camp
P.G. 68	Vetralla
P.G. 70	Monteurano	Near Fermo Ascoli Piceno
P.G. 71	Aversa	Near Naples
P.G. 73	Fossoli of Carpi	Near Modena.
P.G. 75 Torre Tresca	Bari	Transit camp. One work camp.
P.G. 77	Pissignano, Campello?	Tent camp - Foligno
P.G. 78	Sulmona	Campo 78 at Sulmona served as a POW camp in both world wars. During World War I, it housed Austrian prisoners captured in the Isonzo and Trentino campaigns; during World War II, it was home to as many as 3,000 British and Commonwealth officers and other ranks captured in North Africa This camp remains intact. In September 1943, as the Italian government neared collapse, the inmates of Sulmona heard rumors that the evacuation of the camp was imminent. They awoke one morning to discover that their guards had deserted them. On 14 September, German troops arrived to escort the prisoners northwards, to captivity in Germany, but not before hundreds of them had escaped into the hills. One such escapee was the South African author, Uys Krige, who described his experience in a book titled 'The way out'(1946). The Villa Orsini close by, was used to house very senior British and Commonwealth officers including: Major-General Sir Adrian Carton de Wiart, Lieutenant General Sir Philip Neame, Air Marshal Boyd, General Sir Richard Nugent O'Connor, Brigadier Reginald Miles, Brigadier James Hargest
P.G. 78/1	Aquafredda	Work camp Many New Zealanders.
P.G. 80	Villa Marina	Near Rome
P.G. 82	Laterina	Near Arezzo. 8,000 prisoners. 50% escaped. (2.720 from secret Italia armi document SMRE Stato Maggiore dell'Esercito Italiano)
P.G. 83	Fiume
P.G. 85	Tuturano	Transit camp
P.G. 87	Stalia	6000 in camp
P.G. 89	Gonars	Udine
P.G. 91	Avezzano
P.G. 97	Anghiari Renicci	Arezzo
P.G. 98	San Giuseppe Jato	Sicily
P.G. 102	Near Aquila	Transit camp
P.G. 103	Monigo	Treviso
P.G. 103/6	Ampezzo	Udine
P.G. 103/7	La Maina	near Ampezzo, at Sauris.
P.G. 106	Vercelli	25 work camps, mostly Australians and New Zealanders
P.G. 106/20	Arro	Salussola
P.G. 107	Torviscosa	Udine - Five work camps, including Prati, San Donà di Piave, Torre di Confine, La Salute. Mostly New Zealanders and South Africans
P.G. 107/2	Prati
P.G. 107/4	San Donà di Piave
P.G. 107/5	Torre di Confine
P.G. 107/6	?
P.G. 107/7	La Salute di Livenza
P.G. 110	Carbonia
P.G. 112	Turin
P.G. 113	Avio (Trento)	Near Marsciano, Rovereto
P.G. 115	Marciano	Near Perugia
P.G. 118	Prato all'Isarco	Near Bolzano
P.G. 120	Chiesanuova	Padova - work camps at Fattoria Bianco, Cetona, Abano, Fogolana.
P.G. 120/4	?
P.G. 120/5	Abano
P.G. 120/8	Fogolana
P.G. 122	Cinecittà	Near Rome - several work camps
P.G. 127	Locano Canavese	Aosta
P.G. 129	Montelupone	Macerata
P.G. 132	Foggia
P.G. 133	Novara
P.G. 136 C.A.R.E	Bologna
P.G. 145	Campotosto, Montorio al Vomano	(Province of Teramo)
P.G. 146	Mortara	Pavia
P.G. 148	Bussolengo	Near Verona. Labour camp for 250 prisoners, mostly New Zealanders, but also English, Scottish, Egyptians, South Africans, Americans, Indians. 14 satellite work camps at Isola della Scala, Lazise, Mozzecane, Vigasio at San Bernardino, Montecchia di Crosara in the Cava Basalti stone farm, Legnago/Vangadizza at Rosta, Zevio at Villa da Lisca, San Martino Buon Albergo, Bonavigo, Oppeano in the Mazzantica Village, Mozzecane near the church, Angiari. Closed following the mass outbreak of prisoners in the days after the Italian Armistice was announced on 8 September 1943.
P.G. 201	Bergamo	hospital in an almshouse
P.G. 202	Lucca	hospital in a monastery in Bergamo district.
P.G. 203	Bologna	hospital in Castel S Pietro
P.G. 204	Altamura	hospital in a school
P.G. 206	Nocera	hospital near Rovello
P.G. 207	Milan	hospital
P.G. 339	Pisa
P.G. 454	Brindisi	Mainly Indians

An English prisoner of war camp reportedly existed near Caoria - Canal San Bovo (Trento). It was closed on 8 September 1943.

Bibliography

• 'Playing with Strife', The Autobiography of a Soldier, Lt-Gen. Sir Philip Neame, V.C., K.B.E., C.B., D.S.O., George G Harrap & Co. Ltd, 1947, 353 pages, (written whilst a POW , the best narrative of Vincigliata as Campo PG12, contains a scale plan of Castello di Vincigliata, and photographs taken by the author just after the war)
• 'Farewell Campo 12', Brigadier James Hargest, C.B.E., D.S.O. M.C., Michael Joseph Ltd, 1945, 184 pages contains a sketch map of Castello Vincigliata page 85, route of capture and escape 'Sidi Azir - London (inside front cover),(no index)
• 'Happy Odyssey', Lt-Gen. Sir Carton De Wiart,V.C.,K.B.E.,C.M.G.,D.S.O., Jonathan Cape Ltd, 1950, in PAN paperback 1956, re-printed by Pen & Sword Books 2007, 287 pages, ISBN 184415539-0 (Foreword by Winston S Churchill)
• 'MI9 Escape & Evasion 1939-45', M.R.D. Foot & J.M Langley, The Bodley Head, 1979, 365 pages
• 'The Natives are Friendly', 1951, John F Leeming, New York, New York, E. P. Dutton & Company, Inc., pages 195-222 (Book of his WW2 Prisoner-of-war experiences)
• 'Always To-Morrow', 1951, John F Leeming, George G Harrap & Co. Ltd, London, 188p, Illustrated with photographs and maps, (Tells of the authors' experiences as a prisoner of the Italians during WW2)
• 'To War with Whitaker', 1994, The wartime diaries of The Countess of Ranfurly 1939 -1945, William Heinemann Ltd, London, 375 pages, ISBN 0-434-00224-0
• 'War in Italy 1943-1945', 1994, A Brutal Story, Richard Lamb, Saint Martin's Press, New York, 328 pages, ISBN 13 9780312110932

In fiction

• Von Ryan's Express

External links

• Wartime Memories blog project
• Autumn 2006 Newsletter at The National Ex-Prisoner of War Association (UK)
• Italian POW camps at pegasusarchive.org