PG 51 - Villa SerenaSheet by: Isabella Insolvibile
General data
Town: Altamura
Province: Bari
Region: Puglia
Location/Address: Villa Serena - Altamura
Type of camp: Transit camp; Sorting camp; Quarantine camp
Number: 51
Italian military mail service number: 3450
Intended to: NCOs – Troops
Local jurisdiction: IX Army Corps
Railroad station: Altamura
Accommodation: Tents
Capacity: 4000
Operating: from 08/1942 to 07/1943
Commanding Officer: Lt. Col. Mario Nicotra (8 – 12.1942), Col. Salvatore Cilotti (1 – 4.1943), Maj. C. Santostasi (5.1943), Col. Enrico Petragnani (6 – 7.1943)
Brief chronology:
July – August 1942: the camp was opened as a transit camp for Allied PoWs (privates)
December 1942: the camp was evacuated
July 1943: the camp was closed
Allied prisoners in the Altamura camp
| Date | Officers | NCOs | Troops | TOT |
| 1.9.1942 | 34 | 471 | 505 | |
| 30.9.1942 | 2 | 165 | 2379[1] | 2546 |
| 31.10.1942 | 3 | 159 | 1478 | 1640 |
| 30.11.1942 | 3 | 162 | 1579 | 1744 |
| 31.12.1942 | 3 | 16 | 131 | 150 |
| 31.1.1943 | 3 | 15 | 110 | 128 |
| 28.2.1943 | 3 | 14 | 109 | 126 |
| 31.3.1943 | 4 | 23 | 27 | |
| 30.4.1943 | 27 | 230[2] | 257 | |
| 31.5.1943 | 23 | 61 | 84 | |
| 30.6.1943 | 3 | 20 | 23 |
Camp’s overview
PG 51 Villa Serena (Altamura) shared many of its issues with other PoW camps in the south of Italy. It was a transit camp and could theoretically hold 4,000 PoWs, housed in tents, which, naturally, were flooded by mud when it rained. The services provided were scarce, and the Command’s efforts to improve the situation were futile. Hot water was insufficient, while cold water was unavailable in the winter, as pipes froze. Despite the efforts made by the Italians («discipline was reasonable and there was no vicious punishment. There were no detention cells in the campo and the guards were not harsh or brutal» [TNA, TS 26/95]), life was hard. The camp lacked medicines and food, and the prisoners had to self-tax themselves to buy them. Moreover, there were no spaces for recreational or educational activities. The military shop was opened only once a week and was rarely supplied with anything other than food. Moreover, according to the direzione di sanità militare [military health management], restrooms did not work, and heating was insufficient. The camp was teeming with parasites, and according to the British authorities, the Italians did nothing to solve this issue. According to the same source, since there were no waterproof sheets to protect the PoWs’ straw beds, which were put directly on the floor, many PoWs were affected by pneumonia, pleurisy and kidney issues.
The camp was closed on 28 July 1943 but had been progressively evacuated from the end of 1942 onwards. It was never inspected by the Protecting Power delegates or the International Red Cross.
Apart from the terrible living conditions, there are no reports of war crimes or violations of the Geneva conventions committed in the camp.
Today, nothing is left of the camp.
Archival sources
- Archivio Centrale dello Stato, Ministero dell’Interno, Direzione Generale Pubblica Sicurezza, A5G, II GM, bb. 116, 117, 118 e 140, Verbali e Notiziari della Commissione Interministeriale per i Prigionieri di Guerra
- Archivio Centrale dello Stato, Ministero dell’Aeronautica, Gabinetto, b. 70, Verbali e Notiziari della Commissione Interministeriale per i Prigionieri di Guerra
- Archivio Ufficio Storico Stato Maggiore dell’Esercito, L10, b. 32
- Archivio Ufficio Storico Stato Maggiore dell’Esercito, H8, b. 79
- The National Archives, TS 26/95
- The National Archives, WO 224/18
Bibliography
- Associazione Campo 65 (a cura di), Campo 65. La memoria che resta, 2020
- 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,
David Thomas Griffiths