Donald was captured in Tobruk, Libya, on 21 June 1942, together with his comrade and friend Geoff Dunn. After an initial imprisonment in Benghazi, a subsequent boat crossing to Brindisi, a passage to PG 66 in Capua and «six weeks of suffering in Benevento»^[1], in October 1942 he was transferred to the Abruzzo region, at PG 78: «located about five miles from Sulmona, in a small hamlet called Fonte D’Amore [Love’s spring]: a suitable name for a prison camp!».

When General Badoglio announced the surrender, on 8 September 1943, the Senior British Officer gave orders that no one should leave the camp, certain of the imminent arrival of Allied troops. A few days later, however, after the sighting of a German motorcyclist nearby, the decision to evacuate the camp was taken prisoners were recommended to remain compact and did not disperse.

The escape involved more than 2,000 men: Donald took part in it, taking refuge in the woods on the surrounding mountains. But it was a short-lived freedom: the Germans had occupied the camp and were working to recapture the prisoners scattered in the area.

Angry at being behind barbed wire again and annoyed by the general apathy of the other prisoners, Donald, together with Geoff and Sergeant Joe Vickers, decided to participate as volunteer in the patrolling of the surroundings of the camp organised by the Germans in search of escaped prisoners, hoping a good escape opportunity would present itself.

For a few weeks, Donald and his companions, along with other prisoners who had taken refuge in the area, decided not to leave Mount Morrone, convinced that the Allied troops would reach them soon.

A few days later they moved to the small village of Salle, hosted and fed by the locals: the parish priest, Don Oliviero, Mrs. Eramina, very poor and with three malnourished children, who fed and dressed them, Marinello who agreed to act as a guide through the mountains, so that some in the group, impatient to move, could cross the lines. The presence of the fugitives in the village, however, did not go unnoticed. Rumours started to circulate about the presence of some spies: quickly, German patrols reached the village, terrorising the population. Donald and his fellow escapees soon had to get back on the road, taking the mountain route again.

Battered by the cold wind, disorientated by the abundant snow, without supplies, hunted down by the Germans, Dan and Geoff decide not to continue and instead to seek hospitality at the «circular stone igloo» of the horse trader Antonio, from the nearby village of Rapino. Antonio was a man of many trades, and his house was a crossroads for escaped prisoners which he provided for and moved around to other accommodations in the area.

As the days went by, the stay in the cave became more and more difficult: it was freezing and, as the Germans intensified their presence in the area, even the possibility of receiving food became increasingly scarce. Three of the seven prisoners in the cave decided to leave. Donald and Geoff, debilitated by a foot infection, remained together with Len Smith and Edward Johnson (Swim).

Following another snowfall that flooded the cave, the group decided to move. Len, whose boots worn out, preferred not to leave. Swim said he wanted to head north to Switzerland, where he had some friends. Donald and Geoff joined him. Soon Geoff, crippled by the nasty infection, was forced to abandon his companions and returned to the Germans to be treated. The two friends parted with regret.

Donald and Swim continued together. They headed for the peaks of Gran Sasso. It is the New Year’s Eve of 1943 when they arrive in Castelvecchio Calvisio, a small village located over a thousand meters above the sea. Immediately, the whole community mobilised to help them

In the last days of January, the snow started to melt. Donald and Swim thought that it was a good time to continue their journey to Switzerland. Thus, they left Castelvecchio, even though the people in the village tried to convince them to stay.

The plan was to head for the Adriatic coast to avoid the snow. Along the road that connects Penne to Ofena, however, they choose to split up: Donald wanted to travel along less busy routes, fearing that he might be prey to the German patrols passing through the area, while Swim insisted on continuing along the main road, which was more convenient to run across.

They therefore decided to meet up again later, at some houses, and each followed their own route. However, they quickly lost sight of each other, and Swim did not show up at the meeting point. Donald would discover that he had been captured by German truck which was travelling along the road.

After spending twenty days with Benito and Maria Fusco, who provided him with food and care, Donald decided to return to Castelvecchio to Mama and the other families who have already hosted him. The welcome was warm. However, there were rumours of a possible German incursion in Castelvecchio, as a similar occurrence had already happened in the neighboring villages. Donald therefore decided he should leave. It was Mama, once again, who helped him finding a new accommodation. She told him he could hide in a family cottage in the hamlet of Cervano. Donald accepted the offer and followed Mum and her daughter Giovannina into the new accommodation. He was housed in the stable, reamining hidden during the day and coming out only in the evening to join the two women and have dinner with them.

Few weeks of relative tranquility passed. After Easter, however, the wounding of some Germans by an English prisoner who had taken refuge in the area triggered a real manhunt. Donald realised that it is time to leave once more.

Donald passed through Campo Imperatore, near the hotel that hosted Mussolini as a prisoner, and again returned to Castelvecchio Calvisio. Then, along the way, he had a dangerously close encounter with a German patrol who mistook him for an Italian, and he shared caves and ravines with other prisoners he met on his way. At this point, he felt that his freedom was now at a crossroads: he had to rejoin the Allied troops as soon as possible or he would soon end up as a prisoner in Germany. Spring was just around the corner, and he had been on the run for nine months.

On his way to the coast, he arrived in the area of Palena, but he realised, as he was walking, that he had ended up in a minefield:

After the war Donald returned to civilian life and became director of a finance company. In 1947 he returned to Castelvecchio with his wife, to thank and say goodbye to those who helped him. He was best man at the wedding of Gina’s two daughters, Armida and Zina, who married two Englishmen in Leeds. Mama and Giovannina moved to the United States to be reunited with their husbands, Donald met them in 1972.