PG 115 - Morgnano

Sheet by: Costantino Di Sante

General data

Town: Spoleto

Province: Perugia

Region: Umbria

Location/Address: Morgnano - Spoleto

Type of camp: Work camp

Number: 115

Italian military mail service number: 3300

Intended to: NCOs – Troops

Local jurisdiction: XVII Army Corps

Railroad station: Spoleto

Accommodation: huts

Capacity: 540

Operating: from 05/1942 to 09/1943

Commanding Officer: Captain. Umberto Moretti

Brief chronology:
May 1942: the camp was opened.
March 1943: the first sizeable British PoW group arrived.
September 1943: almost all the PoWs managed to escape.

Allied prisoners in the Spoleto camp

Date Generals Officers NCOs Troops TOT
30.11.1942 1 1[1]
31.12.1942 1 1[2]
31.1.1943 1 1[3]
28.2.1943 1 1[4]
31.3.1943 54 54[5]
30.4.1943 62 62[6]
31.5.1943 62 62[7]
30.6.1943 9 353 362[8]
31.8.1943 9 352 361[9]
[1] Only one PoW was listed as British (classified as «Middle easterner»), while the other 446 were Serbians, Montenegrins, Slovenians, Croatians, and Albanians. [2] Only one PoW was listed as British (classified as «Middle easterner»), while the other 461 were Serbians, Montenegrins, Slovenians, Croatians, and Albanians. [3] Only one PoW was listed as British (classified as «Middle easterner»), while the other 456 were Serbians, Montenegrins, Slovenians, Croatians, and Albanians. [4] Only one PoW was listed as British (classified as «Middle easterner»), while the other 453 were Serbians, Montenegrins, Slovenians, Croatians, and Albanians. [5] «White South Africans» and two «Middle easterners», while the other 447 were Serbians, Montenegrins, Slovenians, Croatians, and Albanians. [6] «White South Africans» and two «Middle easterners», while the other 447 were Serbians, Montenegrins, Slovenians, Croatians, and Albanians. [7] «White South Africans» and two «Middle easterners», while the other 438 were Serbians, Montenegrins, Slovenians, Croatians, and Albanians. [8] Mostly, «White South Africans» plus two «Middle easterners», while the other 436 were Serbians, Montenegrins, Slovenians, Croatians, and Albanians. [9] Mostly, «White South Africans» plus two «Middle easterners», while the other 399 were Serbians, Montenegrins, Slovenians, Croatians, and Albanians.

Camp’s overview

PG 115 Morgnano was set up in May 1942. The first group of PoWs, belonging to the disbanded Yugoslavian army, were sent to the camp from PG 62 Grumello in Piano (Bergamo) to work for the Società anonima Terni in the «Cantiere Orlando» of the local lignite mine.
Until March 1943, the camp held a single Allied PoW, classified as «Middle easterner». Later, their number grew, reaching 362 PoWs. Mostly, they were South Africans who had «volunteered» to work. The prisoners were forced to work underground, despite this being prohibited by the Geneva conventions. Their living conditions, nevertheless, were considered «acceptable», and some PoWs were employed on the local farms and in the production of bricks.
Morgnano had three detachments. There was Marsciano, in the district «Sobborgo Tripoli», where from March 1943, the PoWs worked in the kilns of the «Briziarelli Pio & Figli» and lived in a building next to the factory. At Bastardo they worked in the lignite mines, and at Casemansce di Todi it seems that some 50 British PoWs were employed to build a road.
After 8 September 1943, many PoWs fled and joined the local partisan bands.
After the war, the former PoWs claimed they had been mistreated and suffered gratuitous punishments during their incarceration. Moreover, they were not paid for their work. There is no information on whether these accusations led to a trial against Umberto Moretti.
At the site of the «Cantiere Orlando», there is now a museum to keep the memory of the lignite mines alive.

Archival sources

Bibliography

Online resources

Stories linked to this camp