George J. Isitt
George J. Isitt served as a soldier in the 8th King’s Royal Irish Hussars under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Richard Cripps. His regiment was part of the 4th Brigade, 7th Division (the so-called ‘Desert Rats’) of the 8th Army, under the command of General Claud Auchenlech. After a few days of fighting against a Panzer division in an attempt to relieve the Tobruk garrison, on 22 November 1941, George and his entire regiment were cut off from the rest of the fighting force and surrounded by the enemy. Captured by the Germans, the British soldiers were then handed over to the Italians. The next day, he was brought to Benghazi, following the coastal road through Derna, Bardia, and Mersa Matruh. Once there, he and his fellow soldiers were loaded onto a ship and carried to Naples, where they were kept in the Capua PG. George remained in this camp until January 1942, when he was moved to PG 59, Servigliano.
After the Allied landings of July 1943 in Sicily, he noticed that the guards started to act differently. This change became increasingly pronounced until the first week of September, when, with another prisoner, Jimmy, George began to think about escaping. The chance presented itself after the Armistice’s announcement, as the Italians deserted their posts. George and his fellow PoWs took advantage of the lack of surveillance to escape from the camp and head south, using the sun as a compass.
Right before nightfall, we reached a small farmhouse where the owner agreed to let us spend the night in his barn. Inside, there were some twelve escapees. At dawn, the owner woke us up with bread and surrogate coffee and saw us off.
The next day, George and Jimmy continued their march heading south-east, following the small roads of the Marche countryside and crossing the farmlands. Suddenly, they ran into two women (one very old, the other young) working in the fields. The women immediately spotted them as escaped prisoners of war and invited them to their home.
She gave us wine, bread, and salame, saying her name was Maria and asking for our names. George and Jimmy became Giorgio and Giovanni.
Continuing on their journey, they met a man named Dino Ciccoli, who, upon identifying them as escapees, brought them to his home, a large farmhouse where many children lived.
We soon found ourselves sitting on benches around a long, wide table – chairs would not be seen in any farmhouse. With the few Italian and German words we knew, we managed to converse. We quickly understood that the heads of the household were two brothers, Pietro and Costantino.
The two men debated whether to take in the two escapees. Meanwhile, the other members of the household prepared two beds for them, allowing George and Jimmy to once again feel the comfort of bedsheets after a long time. After a few days with the Ciccoli family, George, who in the meantime had met and befriended a local youngster named Giacomo Peretti, moved in with his family to a village near Mogliano.
We walked across the fields the entire way from Mogliano to the outskirts of another village. We didn’t know that Giacomo was waiting for dusk before entering the village. Jimmy and I felt that something was suspicious, so we decided that, in case of betrayal, we would kill our guide. However, at dusk we entered the village, and Giacomo told us to answer only “sì” whenever he spoke.
In the Poretti flat, George met Giacomo’s wife, Ornella, and their daughter Maria Grazia. He started learning a little Italian by listening to their conversations. At the end of September, Giacomo led George to another family in the area, the Tabartini. The heads of this household were two brothers: Luciano, married to Teresa (whose two sons were Bruno and Corrado), and Oreste, married to Assunta (who had only one son).
They offered us a bedroom, and we shared meals with the family. Oreste and Luciano’s parents were still alive at the time and were affectionately referred to as “nonno” and “nonna.” The neighbouring farmhouse was home to the Lambertucci family: Agostino and his wife Elena. Their first child was born while we were staying with the Tabartini.
One morning in October, George left for a walk but was noticed by some local Fascists who grew suspicious and brought him to Fermo for a check with the German Command. He was taken to a room on the second floor, which was used as a flour storage room, and locked inside. Within minutes, trying to be as quiet as possible, George managed to jump out of the building and ran away towards the countryside. Once at the outskirts of the village of Rapagnano, he was spotted by a middle-aged man, who greeted him, asking if he was an English soldier.
He invited me to his home: it was an apartment above a tailor’s shop (he was a tailor). I had dinner with his family, and although we learned many things about each other, I never said anything about who had helped me, nor that I had been captured by the Fascists and had escaped that very day. They invited me to stay, but I wanted to return to the Tabartini.
George eventually managed to return to the Tabartini after a thirteen-hour walk and a short stop at a farm where he was given some bread and an apple. Both he and Jimmy received several visits while in Corridonia, and soon their notoriety in the village alerted Giacomo Peretti, who advised them to move out for their safety. Jimmy went back to the Ciccoli family in Mogliano, while George moved in with the Taglioni family: Pietrina and Francesco. During the same period, he was also assisted by other local families: the Branconi, the Mazzola, and the Storani.
By December 1943, Giacomo Peretti had organised a small group of us to go to Civitanova, where we hoped a small boat would arrive to take us to Bari. Unfortunately, no boat ever showed up. Discouraged, some of us decided to return to our Italian hosts and begin making new plans.
After Giacomo’s arrest by the Fascists, George was hidden by the Storani under the tutelage of Enzo, the family’s head. He remained with them until June 1944, when the Allies finally liberated the area.
Dr. Storani, who had learned about the recent events, decided that the best place for me was his home on Via Vittorio Emanuele III. So Enzo Storani came to pick me up, and I was immediately welcomed as one of the family. The family consisted of Giuseppe, Armina, Nando, Enzo, Franco, Mario, Luciano, and Bruno. I stayed with them for six months.
Camps related to this story
Helpers
Bibliography/Sources
- Tabartini family’s archive