PG 55 - BussetoSheet by: Isabella Insolvibile
General data
Town: Busseto
Province: Parma
Region: Emilia-Romagna
Location/Address: - Busseto
Type of camp: Prisoner of War camp
Number: 55
Italian military mail service number: 3200
Intended to: NCOs – Troops
Local jurisdiction: Difesa Territoriale Milano
Railroad station: Busseto
Accommodation: military quarters
Capacity: 760
Operating: from 04/1943 to 09/1943
Commanding Officer: Major Giuseppe Dacci
Brief chronology:
April 1943: a few hundred Allied PoWs were assigned to the camp
After 8 September 1943: the camp was occupied by the Germans and the prisoners fell into their hands.
Allied prisoners in the Busseto camp
| Date | Generals | Officers | NCOs | Troops | TOT | |
| 30.4.1943 | 4 | 200 | 204 | |||
| 31.5.1943 | 4 | 750 | 754 | |||
| 30.6.1943 | 1 | 4 | 750 | 755 | ||
| 31.7.1943 | 1 | 904 | 905 | |||
| 31.8.1943 | 1 | 4 | 750 | 755 | ||
Camp’s overview
The camp was established in the Palazzo delle Scuderie of Villa Pallavicino. Initially, it was intended for Greek and Yugoslavian officers who, in March 1943, were transferred to Rezzanello. A few hundred Allied prisoners were assigned to this camp and were held there for a few weeks between April and September 1943. Many PoWs were put to work in detached camps around the Cremona area.
The camp’s conditions were harsh, especially because of the poor conditions of the plumbing, and the electric and sewer systems, but also because of the scarcity of supplies, especially food. The prisoners had to rely daily on the Red Cross parcels or on local families to integrate their rations (a common practice in the Italian camps).
When the Armistice was proclaimed, the camp was immediately occupied by the Germans, who deported the prisoners. In one of the detached camps, however, PG 55/6, Costa Sant’Abramo (Castelverde, CR), the prisoners took the Italian guards’ weapons without encountering any resistance and managed to escape [Absalom, L’alleanza inattesa, p. 140].
The Palazzo delle Scuderie was abandoned and looted in September 1943. After the war, it was occupied by some displaced persons, then turned into a carpenter’s shop, and finally abandoned again. Recently, it has been reclaimed and today it houses the Renata Tebaldi Museum.
Archival sources
- Archivio Centrale dello Stato, Onorcaduti, b. 1
- Archivio Ufficio Storico Stato Maggiore dell’Esercito, H8, b. 79
- Archivio Ufficio Storico Stato Maggiore dell’Esercito, N1-11, b. 1243
- The National Archives, WO 224/178
Bibliography
- Absalom R., A Strange Alliance. Aspects of escape and survival in Italy 1943-45, Firenze, Olschki, 1991 trad. it. L’alleanza inattesa. Mondo contadino e prigionieri alleati in fuga in Italia (1943-1945), Bologna, Pendagron, 2011
- 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,
- Minardi M. (a cura di), Prigionieri in Italia. Militari alleati e campi di prigionia (1940-1945), Parma, MUP, 2021
Donald Randall