Malcom Webster (Source: M. Webster, Un australiano tra i partigiani biellesi)

Malcolm was only 18 years old when he decided to enlist. At the end of 1940, he left Melbourne on the ship Mauretania and headed to the Middle East.

After the evacuation of the British and Australian troops from Crete, he was on the destroyer Hereward. The ship, hit twice by the Luftwaffe, sank quickly on 29 May 1941, eight kilometres off the coast of the island. More than 70 members of the crew died, and 80 were captured. Malcolm remained in the water for over five hours and was rescued by an Italian military ship. The survivors, now PoWs, were brought to Scapanto in the Dodecanese and then to Rhodes, where they remained for about two weeks.

Malcolm was transferred to Bari on 21 June 1941 and immediately taken to PG 66 Capua. After a short stay, he was moved  north. From  Bolzano train station, the PoWs were marched to PG 118 Prato all’Isarco, an old brewery converted into a prisoner camp. «Life and conditions, although somewhat primitive, were tolerable with sufficient food rations.»

The camp was closed on 25 October 1941, and all PoWs were transferred to PG 57 Grupignano:

Malcolm remembered the bitter cold of the winter (that year, the temperature fell to -23 degrees Celsius, and the PoWs, wearing inadequate clothing, suffered greatly). Moreover, in February 1942, food ran out, as Red Cross parcels were not delivered to the camp. Nonetheless, the activities organised by the PoWs (sports, language courses, theatre, cards tournaments) helped immensely to keep morale high and fight boredom.

Cascina Oschena, near Vercelli, the working camp part of PG. 106 (Source: M. Webster, An Italian experience)

In April 1943, with another 50 PoWs, Malcolm was transferred to Cascina Oschiena, a work camp attached to PG 106 Vercelli. Malcolm worked as a labourer, threshing rice and wheat. It was there that the PoWs learned about the Armistice: «[That] day was remarkable, a day of great rejoicing and festivities shared between the Pow[s], the Italian guards and farm people.»

However, there was also preoccupation for the future, as news from other camps alerted the PoWs about a possible German occupation of Cascina Oschiena.

The Australian PoWs, therefore, decided to abandon the camp to avoid being captured. With three other companions (William Wrigglesworth, Roger Watterhall, and Bert Ridgeway), Malcolm spent six weeks near Oschiena, sheltered and fed by the local population, hoping to be quickly overrun by the Allies’ advance. However, as the Allies’ offensive dwindled, the four escapees decided to go north to cross the Alps. After a few days, they reached a shelter at an altitude of 2,000 metres. Even though Switzerland was close, they did not find anyone willing to guide them to the border. The cold and the abundant snow made such a feat impossible.

The escapees thus decided to go back towards Alessandria. The plan was to go to Genoa and board a ship to Sardinia. As they drew closer to the city, however, they realised that the area was teeming with Germans. Malcolm and his companions found it more and more difficult to find help from the subdues and terrified population. To avoid raising suspicion, they decided to split into pairs. Malcolm continued his journey with William (“Bill”).[1]

The two Australians reached the village of Mezzana Mortigliengo, north of Vercelli. They remained there for about six months, from December 1943 until June 1944. They were aided by the Celio family and Marietta Confienza, who initially sheltered them in their house and then, when forced to find  new accommodation as the Germans had launched a manhunt, provided them with all they needed.

With another two British former PoWs, Malcolm and Bill moved to a wood called the “Colline Rosse” (“Red Hills”) near the village. With spades and pickaxes, they built a new “home” thanks to the presence of a ravine.

Thanks to Celio and his wife’s aid, they received weekly parcels of food and newspapers that they retrieved from an arranged spot near Mezzana. They had to walk for about 15 kilometres to reach this spot, following a narrow path across harsh terrain. They moved in pairs, and the journey took about eight hours.

Malcom, Marietta Confienza and William in Mezzana, 1944  (Source: M. Webster, Un australiano tra i partigiani biellesi)

In June 1944, Malcolm and Bill decided to leave the area for good to avoid causing trouble for the Confienza family and the other inhabitants of the village who were aiding them.

They found refuge near Coggiola, where they met some partisans. Soon, they started working with them, aiding in sabotage and harassing the enemy (for example, they took part in the destruction of a railway line between Cossato and the Mosso Valley).

Malcolm and Bill took the noms de guerre of “Sidney” and “Melbourne”. They were gradually integrated into a partisan band in the area, the Dellatezza detachment, part of the larger Garibaldi[2] “Brigata Fontanella” (“Fontanella Brigade”), led by Giovanni Gnatta “Topolino” (“Micky Mouse”).

Although the band was nominally Communist, Malcolm did not see his participation in the partisan fight as a personal adherence to Communism. Instead, he saw it as an expression of his deep gratitude towards the Italians who had helped him and Bill, even though they knew they risked a lot to aid them.

Malcolm was discharged from his partisan formation only in May 1945 (once the war was over) and immediately employed as a liaison officer for the Allies in the north of Italy. In June 1945, he reached Naples and then London.

On 8 September 1945, after being “presumed dead” for two years and five years away from home, he was finally able to return to Melbourne.