PG 80 - Villa MarinaSheet by: Costantino Di Sante
General data
Town: Roma
Province: Roma
Region: Lazio
Location/Address: Torre Maura - Roma
Type of camp: Prisoner of War camp
Number: 80
Italian military mail service number: 3300
Intended to: NCOs – Troops
Local jurisdiction: Comando Territoriale Corpo d’Armata di Roma
Railroad station: Roma
Accommodation: Military quarters, huts
Operating: from 05/1942 to 09/1942
Commanding Officer: Lt. Salvatore Marocco (June – September 1942); Second Lt. Carlo Alberto Rizzi (September – October 1942)
Brief chronology:
June 1942: the camp was opened.
October 1942: the camp was turned into «Military Centre A».
Allied prisoners in the Roma camp
| Date | Generals | Officers | NCOs | Troops | TOT |
| 30.6.1942 | 4 | 80 | 84 | ||
| 1.7.1942 | 73 | 73 | |||
| 1.8.1942 | 52 | 52 | |||
| 1.9.1942 | 15 | 193 | 208 | ||
| 30.9.1942 | 34 | 296 | 330 |
Camp’s overview
In March 1942, the PoW office of the Italian Chief of Staff decided to use Villa Marina, on the outskirts of Rome, as a PoW camp. In May, after some restructuring work and the building of two huts to house the PoWs, the camp was opened. PG 80 was intended exclusively for Indian PoWs who decided to collaborate with the Axis.
For this reason, the PoWs in Villa Marina received «special» treatment. Their accommodation was comfortable, and the sanitary systems were placed in modern and separated spaces. They were allowed to keep long beards and hair, and their diet was modified to accommodate religious needs.
To foster anti-British propaganda, from 13 July 1942, two PoWs were recruited by the Minculpop (Ministry for Popular Culture): one as a translator, speaker and editor in Punjabi, the other in Hindi. They went to work every day to Palazzo Balestra, without an escort, under the authority of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.
In October 1942, using the «voluntary» recruits of Villa Marina, the Italian army instituted the «Hazad Hindostan» («Free India») Battalion, with the main task of encouraging desertion among Indian Allied troops. After this, the camp was renamed «Military Centre A».
There is no information on what happened after the end of the war.
Archival sources
- Archivio Centrale dello Stato, Ministero dell’Interno, Direzione Generale Pubblica Sicurezza, A5G, II GM, bb. 116, 117, Verbali e Notiziari della Commissione Interministeriale per i Prigionieri di Guerra
- Archivio Centrale dello Stato, Ministero dell’Aeronautica, Gabinetto, b. 70, Verbali e Notiziari della Commissione Interministeriale per i Prigionieri di Guerra
- Archivio Ufficio Storico Stato Maggiore dell’Esercito, L10, b. 32
- Archivio Ufficio Storico Stato Maggiore dell’Esercito, Diari storici, b. 667
- Archivio Ufficio Storico Stato Maggiore dell’Esercito, H8, b. 79
Bibliography
- Cappellano F., Quando i prigionieri erano indiani…, in «Storia militare», n. 270, 2016. Pagine: 50-51
- Crociani P., Frattolillo A., Indiani e arabi nei centri militari italiani, in «Storia militare», n. 23, 1995
- Insolvibile I., I prigionieri alleati in Italia 1940-1943, tesi di dottorato, Dottorato in "Innovazione e Gestione delle Risorse Pubbliche", curriculum “Scienze Umane, Storiche e della Formazione”, Storia Contemporanea, Università degli Studi del Molise, anno accademico 2019-2020,
- Rainero R. H., I reparti arabi e indiani dell’Esercito italiano nella seconda guerra mondiale («Le frecce rosse»), Roma, SME, 2007