PG 63 - Carinaro-Aversa

Sheet by: Isabella Insolvibile

Inner enclosure of concentration camp No. 63 in Carinaro (CE) - AUSSME Archive, Fototeca 2 Guerra Mondiale Italia 507/636

General data

Town: Aversa (Carinaro)

Province: Napoli (Caserta)

Region: Campania

Location/Address: Carinaro - Aversa (Carinaro)

Type of camp: Prisoner of War camp

Number: 63

Italian military mail service number: 3400

Intended to: Officers; NCOs; Troops

Local jurisdiction: Difesa Territoriale Napoli

Railroad station: Aversa

Accommodation: huts

Capacity: 500-600

Operating: from 09/1942 to 08/1943

Commanding Officer: Col. Vincenzo Cione

Brief chronology:
September 1942: the camp was opened, and the first PoWs arrived.
November 1942: the South African PoWs were transferred to other camps; the camp was now intended for Indian PoWs.
February 1943: 400 PoWs were used to remove the rubble from the Naples airport.
28 February 1943: PoW Hari Parshad Thapa died of pneumonia.
August 1943: the camp was closed.

Allied prisoners in the Aversa (Carinaro) camp

Date Generals Officers NCOs Troops TOT
30.9.1942   467 1 112 580
31.10.1942   359 1 112 472
30.11.1942   352 1 52 405
31.12.1942   353 1 52 406
31.1.1943   358 29 478 865
28.2.1943   358 29 478 865
31.3.1943   357 29 478 864
30.4.1943   322 29 477 828
31.5.1943   327 30 477 834
30.6.1943   326 30 477 833
 

Camp’s overview

PG 63 Carnarino (at the time a district of Aversa, today an independent municipality) was one of two PoW camps installed in Caserta province. It was, however, the only one where a consistent number of Allied PoWs were held. The camp was opened in the summer of 1942 and, at the time of the first visit by the Protecting Power’s delegates (November 1942), it housed 365 PoWs, 59 of which South Africans (who were transferred out by the end of the month), while the rest were Indians, mostly officers. The camp soon became a site intended only for Indian PoWs, including future Pakistani President Yahya Khan, who was an adjutant of the Senior Indian Officer, Major P.P. Kumaramangalam (later the Indian army chief of staff between 1967 and 1970).
According to the Swiss delegate, who visited the camp in November 1942: «the camp, with its nice paths and huts, the buildings of different colours and shapes, and the ornamental gardens, gave the feeling of being at home» [TNA, WO 224/126]. The mess halls were segregated by ethnicity. The delegate description is a good insight into the multi-ethnic world of Carinaro:

A civilian captain of the mess buys the provisions for the Italians as well as for the Indian officers, as their rations are identical, the purchase can be combined but instead of beef, the Indian prisoners of war must have lamb or goat. The ram or he-goat for the Hindus must be slaughtered by an axe, whereas lambs for the moslems [sic.] must be butchered by a cut in the throat. The quantity purchased must correspond to the rations, if it is in excess the meat is kept for the following week. This matter had to be discussed with the commander in order to obtain ice for keeping the remains of the two sheep slaughtered. If one sheep only could be butchered per week, instead of two, for the Hindus and moslems together but according to the camp leader’s statement this would be contrary to their religious customs, and thus part of the meat remains for the following week. [TNA, WO 224/126]


However, in Carinaro too, the usual issues of all Italian PoWs camps came to the fore, starting with the lack of heating or warm clothing for the PoWs in winter. Despite this, the PoWs seemed to be in good shape and were properly treated, even though some claimed that the Italian medical officer hindered contact between the Indian doctor and the PoWs, insisting on the use of English to communicate. Apart from this, the PoWs were allowed to practise their religion freely and enjoy various recreational and educational activities. The camp was not very large, and this prevented the construction of a football field, something that was considered, by the IRCC delegate, «essential as a measure to couteract [sic.] the depression and state of nervousness which shows itself among the prisoners, on account of their lack of occupation and the paucity of liberty to move about energetically in the open air». [TNA, WO 224/126]
The apostolic nuncio visited Carinaro in February 1943, and he noted that:

Camp 63, located in Carinaro, is among the most beautiful camps I have visited so far. […] The great colonel commander allowed me to inspect all spaces in the camp. […] The camp is divided into two big sectors; the prisoners are all Indians. The first sector holds 358 officers; the dormitories are beautiful, sunny, and surrounded by small gardens and vegetable gardens cultivated by the prisoners themselves. High officers are accommodated two for each room. The mess hall is divided into two parts by a curtain to separate the castes; everything was clean, and very white tablecloths covered the tables. The officers can enjoy a school, a military shop, a food warehouse (where the prisoner store what they receive thanks to the parcels, which help improve their diet) and a well-maintained kitchen. The officers are all well-dressed and have brand new shoes, recently arrived from England. The Unione Militare Italiana also provides clothes. Before leaving this camp, I was asked by an Indian medical officer, speaking for 37 of his colleagues, to be dispersed in the various PoW camps in Italy to help other prisoners. The Prince of Afghanistan, also a prisoner, came and kissed my ring. There are four Catholics. The second sector holds 478 soldiers and NOCs; everyone is from Nepal, easily spotted as their features are between Indian and Chinese. Here as well, the Catholics are four. The colonel commander tries his best to alleviate the prisoners’ conditions, especially regarding the officers. [AAV, IAC, UIV, Sez. Segr., b. 518]


In February 1943, 400 PoWs were used in Naples at the Capodichino airport as «workers for the Regia Aeronautica». They removed the rubble left by the Allied bombings. Their pay consisted of extra food rations and supposedly money, which was promised to them.
On 28 February 1943, PoW Hari Parshad Thapa died of pneumonia in the hospital. According to the sources, Thapa’s hospitalisation was postponed many times by the camp’s medical officer, which irremediably compromised his condition[1].
The camp was closed on 8 August 1943, and the prisoners were transferred to PG 91 Avezzano.

Besides the case of Hari Parshad Thapa, which was never fully clarified, and the employment, indubitably dangerous, of some PoWs in the Naples airport, there is no other information about possible war crimes or violations of the Geneva conventions in PG 63.
The camp was later occupied by the Allies, as PW camp m. 326, and held German and RSI [Italian Social Republic] PoWs. Among others were the German General Anton Dostler (executed by firing squad in December 1945) and Frido von Senger und Etterlin (later transferred to the UK). In 1946, the camp was used to house some refugees from Venezia Giulia and Dalmatia, who lived there until the end of the 1950s.
No traces remain of the camp today, either material or in the public memory.

[1] The Commonwealth War Graves Commission database does not mention Hari Parshad Thapa. However, his identification number (9234) is registered as belonging to fusilier Hari Parshad Bura, killed on 27 February 1943 in Egypt, and buried at the Alamein Memorial. The similarity in names, and especially in the dates of death, is significant.

Archival sources

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