PG 124 - Bacu AbisSheet by: Costantino Di Sante
General data
Town: Carbonia
Province: Cagliari
Region: Sardegna
Location/Address: Bacu Abis - Carbonia
Type of camp: Work camp
Number: 124
Italian military mail service number: 50
Intended to: troops
Local jurisdiction: FF.AA: Sardegna
Railroad station: Carbonia
Accommodation: huts
Capacity: 1000
Operating: from 09/1941 to 07/1943
Commanding Officer: Major Lamberto Lelli (July 1941 – May 1942), Col. Vittorio Rota (June – November 1942); Lt.t. Col. Pierino De Felice (December 1942 – July 1943)
Brief chronology:
January 1943: 700 South African PoWs arrived at the camp.
14 April 1943: South African PoW Frederick Charles Hatley was killed.
Allied prisoners in the Carbonia camp
| Date | Generals | Officers | NCOs | Troops | TOT |
| 31.1.1943 | 46 | 654 | 700 | ||
| 28.2.1943 | 51 | 649 | 700 | ||
| 31.3.1943 | 51 | 649 | 700 | ||
| 30.4.1943 | 51 | 646 | 697 | ||
| 31.5.1943 | 51 | 646 | 697 | ||
| 30.6.1943 | 51 | 646 | 697 |
Camp’s overview
PG 124 Bacu Abis was established in the eponymous district of Carbonia (Cagliari) in September 1941. Initially, it held Greek PoWs who worked in the mines. Captain Guglielmo Fragola, the camp’s commander, remained in charge until July 1942, when it became a detachment of PG 110 Carbonia.
At the end of 1942, the Azienda Carboni Italiani (Italian Coal Company) asked the Chief of Staff for 800 PoWs to employ as fuel porters and carry out reclamation works in the Bacu Abis detachment. On 25 December, the PoW Office transferred 700 «white» South Africans to Sardinia. According to the Office’s instructions, they were selected among volunteers in PG 54 Passo Corese (Rieti) among those who could work as farmers, diggers and labourers. After a few weeks, 700 South African PoWs were sent to Bacu Abis, where Serbian and Greek PoWs were already working in the mines.
The British PoWs, apparently, were not forced to work underground but rather in the surrounding farmlands. Since the Italians forbade inspections by the international delegates in Sardinia and Sicily, there is little information on the PoWs’ living conditions. According to one report, the outhouses and the disinfection implant were inadequate. During an air raid, on 14 April 1943, South African PoW Frederick Charles Hatley was killed by a sentry, Francesco Manca, while the PoW was sleeping in his bed. After the war, Manca was sentenced to a few years in prison.
In July 1943, the camp was closed.
Archival sources
- Archivio Centrale dello Stato, Ministero dell’Interno, Direzione Generale Pubblica Sicurezza, A5G, II GM, bb. 116, 117
- Archivio Centrale dello Stato, Ministero dell’Aeronautica, Gabinetto, b. 70
- Archivio Ufficio Storico Stato Maggiore dell’Esercito, L10, b. 32
- Archivio Ufficio Storico Stato Maggiore dell’Esercito, Diari storici, bb. 840, 843
- Archivio Ufficio Storico Stato Maggiore dell’Esercito, H8, b. 79
- The National Archives, WO 344/1/1
- The National Archives, WO 311/318