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PG 57 - Grupignano

Sheet by: Isabella Insolvibile

General data

Town: Premariacco

Province: Udine

Region: Friuli-Venezia Giulia

Location/Address: Grupignano - Premariacco

Type of camp: Prisoner of War camp

Number: 57

Italian military mail service number: 3200

Intended to: NCOs – Troops

Local jurisdiction: Difesa Territoriale Udine

Railroad station: Cividale del Friuli

Accommodation: huts

Capacity: 4500, including 22 officers

Operating: from 11/1941 to 08/09/1943

Commanding Officer: Lt. Col., then Col. Vittorio Emanuele Calcaterra

Brief chronology:
November 1941: Allied PoWs were assigned to the camp. After a short time, they protested at having their heads shaved.
7-8 February 1942: PoW A. Birdwood Wright died after being wounded during an escape attempt.
October 1942: 19 PoWs attempted to escape: they were all recaptured.
December 1942: the guards confiscated all musical instruments.
4 December 1942: PoW Richardson was wounded by the guards.
20 May 1943: PoW Corporal Edward Symons was killed.
8 July 1943: PoW K.W.S. Adams was killed, apparently during an escape attempt.
8 September 1943: the Germans occupied the camp and captured all the PoWs.

Allied prisoners in the Premariacco camp

Date	Generals	Officers	NCOs	Troops	TOT
1.3.1942		3	124	1434	1561
1.4.1942		3	124	1449	1576
1.5.1942		2	123	1437	1562
1.6.1942		3	118	1433	1554
1.7.1942		20	114	1413	1547
1.8.1942		4	111	1495	1610
1.9.1942		4	105	1464	1573
30.9.1942		5	216	2230	2451
31.10.1942		4	343	2622	2969
30.11.1942		5	518	3041	3564
31.12.1942		5	593	3986	4584
31.1.1943		5	470	4050	4525
28.2.1943		5	473	4061	4539
31.3.1943		5	482	3955	4442
30.4.1943		3	483	2933	3419
31.5.1943		3	494	2318	2815
30.6.1943		3	502	2332	2837
31.8.1943		5	572	3556	4133

Camp’s overview

PG 57 Grupignano (Premieracco) was one of the largest PoW camps in Italy. It opened in May 1941 and held Allied PoWs from November of the same year. It consisted of wooden huts, large kitchens, a military shop, and an infirmary. The local aqueduct supplied water, and the PoWs were able to shower regularly. There were also some sanitary installations, although not all were adequate or functioning. Firewood was also scarce, and therefore heating was not always satisfactory. However, the main issue for the PoWs was the attitude of their captors, especially of the camp’s commander, Vittorio Emanuele Calcaterra, who served with the carabinieri. Calcaterra was among the few Italian commanders who remained in charge during the whole life of their camps and also one of the worse. After the war, his name would be a common sight on the war criminals’ lists.
From a structural point of view, living conditions in PG 57, like in many other camps, were influenced by the seasons and the weather. The PoWs did not have spare clothes, medicines, or other supplies. They lacked especially quinine and general antimalarials. As a result, malaria and sicknesses brought by cold or humidity were common during the winter and caused many deaths.
Discipline in the camp was very rigid. In December 1942, the Protecting Power delegates noted the confiscation of all musical instruments, probably to punish the PoWs because one of them, Corporal A.J. Richardson, had been wounded by the guards when, while he was gathering firewood with his fellow PoWs, he entered a forbidden area of the camp. Richardson did not obey the guards’ orders to leave and was shot in the chest. According to the PoW, instead, he was shot multiple times before and after being stopped by the guards. The carabiniere responsible for the shooting was awarded 500 lire and 30 days premium leave. These kinds of prizes, common in the Italian camps and awarded directly by the Ministry of War, were active in Grupignano. Apparently, they encouraged many guards to exceed their duties. After the war, an Italian officer testified:

Many Italian soldiers were rewarded for preventing the escape of Allied soldiers. I know that some of these PWs were seriously wounded and died later […]. The rewarding of Italian soldiers was instituted by the Camp Commandant Colonel Calcaterra, and by reason of this inducement, I am sure the guards and sentries were much encouraged to shoot at PW for the slightest offence in order to gain a monetary reward. [TNA, WO 311/308]

These prizes varied between 200 and 1,000 lire in PG 57 and also included, as mentioned, some days of premium leave. As noted by an Australian PoW, these elements compounded, as they «acted as a great incentive for other guards who tried to earn a similar reward and bullets passed very freely across the compound» [TNA, WO 311/308].
After a few months, attrition began to wear down the camp’s structures. In particular, the camp was overcrowded, and the sewers did not work properly. The food situation was also critical, and the PoWs relied almost entirely on the Red Cross parcels for survival. This situation was made worse by the guards’ behaviour. As confirmed after the war, the Italians pilfered the Red Cross parcels. They used the food to create a flourishing black market, with the approval, possibly even the participation, of Calcaterra himself. According to many Italian officers, Calcaterra often ordered the confiscation of the parcels’ food, hidden or stashed by the PoWs, which was later sold to the Italian guards. He had a system in place, which also included the parcels sent to the PoWs in the hospital of Udine, which were intercepted and confiscated by Calcaterra with the excuse that the food could interfere with the PoWs’ medical treatment. After the war, some officers were sentenced to a few months for stealing the parcels.
However, if discipline was strict and the captors hostile, the PoWs were relentless. The first clash between the guards and the PoWs happened in November 1941, when the latter refused to have their heads shaved. The protest grew until some 20 PoWs were arrested and locked into a hut which was used as a prison. The PoWs had a practical reason to refuse to shave: the camp was cold, there was no heating, and the soldiers coming from Africa were not equipped to face winter in Friuli. The guards also shaved the PoWs in a voluntarily humiliating manner. Moreover, there was also a political reason (or at least a matter of showing cameradery): Calcaterra also ordered the Sikh PoWs to be shaved, and for them, this was a grievous sin. Their opposition to the order engaged the other PoWs in the protest.
This episode was but the first clash between the PoWs and Calcaterra’s staff. The PoWs were often disproportionately or violently punished. For example, 30 PoWs, every fifth man, were sentenced to 15 days in prison because Calcaterra misunderstood an English sentence. The camp leader, Colour Sergant Major Cottman had been arrested and sentenced to solitary after the protest against head shaving. The other PoWs, at this point, cheered him, saying: «Good luck to you, Cotty», which Calcaterra misunderstood as them calling him a dog.
Punishments were collective and individual, physical and psychological; often, they resulted from the PoWs reacting to Italian abuses. For example, the PoW who worked as a shoemaker reacted to the requisition of a pair of boots he was supposed to repair (which was a theft) and, during the struggle, the thieving carabiniere fell to the ground. The PoW was sentenced to 30 days in solitary and a reduced ration, with the result that he lost a lot of weight. In Grupignano, solitary also included a reduction in the food rations and the exclusion from health check-ups. Another prisoner recalled:

8th November 1942. I was hanging out my washing on a line outside the hut while a search was being made, for which I received eight days of confinement in cells. The conditions of our confinement were severe in that the cell was extremely overcrowded. I do not know what regulation if any, I had offended.
13th February 1943. I have been repatriated on account of eye trouble, and during my detention, it was necessary and customary for me to wash my eyes frequently. On this day, I was absent from the hut for the purpose of attending to the washing of my eye and was sentenced to 8 days of confinement in cells. I do not know what regulation if any, I had broken. The officials in this camp have a habit of punishing us for all manner of trivial or imaginary faults; the aforementioned 2 experiences are fair examples. [TNA, TS 26/683]

Besides that of Calcaterra, another recurring name in the PoWs’ denunciations was that of Lt. Otello Ronco, belonging to the alpini. Ronco too, was part of the PG 57 staff and inflicted cruel and inhuman punishments upon the PoWs. Naturally, the worst offence a prisoner could commit was trying to escape. Calcaterra was obsessed with possible escapes, and when Richardson was wounded, he immediately assumed the Australian was trying to escape:

It is not likely that they wished, as Richardson states, to steal wood, firstly because the risk would be too much compared with the advantage of having a few extra kilograms of fuel to burn in the stoves and secondly because the huts, and particularly the new ones in the 2nd Sector, when it is not raining are sufficiently protected from the cold and the need for extra heating is not at all felt. […] The wounded man was not carrying either food nor objects for orientation. But these objects, as PW Pitt, who escaped a few months ago and who was later recaptured, stated, these objects are, on the whole, an encumbrance to those who intend to join the “Partisans”, whose theatre of operations is at less than twenty kilometres from this Camp and which can easily be reached by going towards the territory of the province of Gorizia which by day can be seen by the naked eye.

Calcaterra’s obsession was motivated by the camp’s proximity to the Yugoslavian territories, where the Resistance had been active since the early stages of the Italian occupation. Nevertheless, his hostility towards the PoWs was clearly ideological and transcended the contingencies of the war. The Italian camp doctor later testified he had heard Calcaterra and some of his officers claim that: «these mercenaries should be shot», «I want no part of these savages who tried to conquer Italy», and «at the first interference of Yugoslav bands I will machine gun all the prisoners, no one will escape death. These men are no soldiers, but savages and bandits» [TNA, WO 311/318]. Moreover, apparently, on the door of the commander’s office, there was an inscription stating: «cursed the British and cursed even more the Italians who treat them well» [TNA, WO 311/308].
There are many testimonies to the commander’s behaviour. Dr. Accardo Palumbo, who worked as a dentist in PG 57 between September 1942 and September 1943, described him as: «a very severe natured man. His reputation for instilling discipline was outstanding both among the PW and the Italian camp staff» [TNA, WO 311/308]. Dr. Mauroner testified about an «outmost severity, verging sometimes on inhumanity» and, as far as the sick PoWs were concerned:

Obstacles were put daily in my way towards an efficient service. I was informed not to send any patients to the hospital, only in very vital and urgent cases. I was also continuously urged by Calcaterra to deal harshly with the prisoners and not to listen or to [illeg.] any suggestion or complaints from the two Australian Officers. My own proposals to avoid overcrowding were constantly put aside by Col. Calcaterra. In Dec. 42, a batch of 300 New Zealand prisoners arrived at the camp. They were in a complete state of emaciation and some of them were just living skeletons. I repeatedly asked in writing and by word of mouth that Red Cross parcels containing special vitamins be distributed to these men. My request was flatly refused by Calcaterra, and at this time I know that there were at least 3.000 of these parcels stored in the camp, and supplies arrived regularly. For two weeks, no parcels were distributed, and after that, only partially. The result was that several of these New Zealanders fell sick and one died of bronchitis which developed acutely and which in ordinary conditions could have been cured.

A delayed hospitalisation was perhaps the cause, in October 1942, of New Zealander PoW James Wallace Henderson’s death. Wallace was 27 and died of severe hepatitis after days of pain, vomiting, icterus, and nausea.
Another fault of Calcaterra was his proclivity to incite his subordinates, especially the carabinieri, to commit acts of violence, «bullying propensities» according to a source [TNA, WO 311/308]. The guards, who were part of the Italian army, were less violent and the PoWs consequently preferred to deal with them. With no exceptions, the camp’s staff were authorised to use their weapons. Some sources mentioned even the use of prohibited dum-dum bullets against the PoWs, especially, as mentioned, during escape attempts. These were not rare in PG 57, but it must be noted that the Italians interpreted any “irregular” movement made by the prisoners as an attempted escape. For example, in October 1943, an Australian soldier was wounded because, with a comrade, he came «too close, in a period of darkness, to the fence» [ACS, MI, DGPS, A5G, II GM, b. 116, f. 59]. The soldier only suffered a light wound, but this was not the case with New Zealander Arthur Birdwood Wright, who, on 7 February 1942, actually tried to escape. He managed to cut a hole in the barbed wire but was shot by a sentry and died a few days later at the hospital. This case was not investigated until after the war, when the Italian surgeon who had tried to save him declared that, according to his «firm opinion» [TNA, WO 311/308], Wright had been shot while he was on the ground, possibly while he was crawling or even while he was still. Historian M. Tenconi wrote that, after this episode, Calcaterra boasted that: «no PoW managed to escape from Italy during the Great War, and the same would happen again during this war» [Tenconi, p. 99]. However, the case investigation did not result in a trial, as the soldier responsible for shooting Wright was never found.
More escape attempts happened in the following months. Nineteen PoWs escaped using a tunnel in October 1942. They were all recaptured in the following days and punished with 30 days in prison. On 8 July 1943, New Zealander Private Kenneth W.S. Adams died in what was classified as an escape attempt. All sources, Italian and British, agree he was affected by a mental disorder. Corporal Bickerstaff, his comrade in arms, said: “It seemed unlikely that he was trying to escape in full possession of his faculties as the place was quite near to where one of the guards was stationed» [TNA, WO 311/308]. The case was investigated after the war, but nothing came of it.
The behaviour of the Italian personnel was often reprehensible. Some witnesses testified about the wounding of two PoWs by drunken guards who shot at them without reason. (They usually drank too much every second Sunday of the month when supplies arrived at the camp.) Alcohol was abundant in the camp, as certified by the killing of the Australian Corporal Edward Symons on 20 May 1943. According to an Italian source, the PoW threw a bottle against a carabiniere and then jumped on him. At this point, the Italian shot and killed the prisoner. However, Allied witnesses testified that Symons, «drunk but not obstreperous» [TNA, TS 26/95], was arrested while he was watching a game of cricket. Since he refused to follow the carabinieri, they shot him. Some witnesses claimed the shooting was unprovoked, others that he had tried to take one of the carabinieri’s guns. Apparently, Symons died immediately. Things probably went as described by the Allied Forces Headquarters in July 1945:

Symonds [sic] had been drinking and was barracking the players at the cricket match. The sentries, attracted by his shouts, went to quieten him, but Symonds, who was probably not in the mood to tolerate interference from the Italians, argued and got to his feet; two of his friends took hold of him and tried to pacify him, but he continued to argue. Whether or not he actually broke away from them and made for the sentry is not clear: at any rate, the sentry, either deliberately or in frightened self-defence, shot him at close range. [TNA, WO 311/315]

At the time of the incident, carabiniere Marinello Sodini was rewarded, by Calcaterra, with a prize of 200 lire. After the war, he was put on trial and sentenced to death, which was commuted to life in prison as the killing was considered not premeditated. He was imprisoned in Procida and freed in the 1950s.
After 8 September 1943, Calcaterra remained consistent in his behaviour: he did not allow the prisoners to leave the camp and handed them to the Germans. Historian Roger Absalom noted that:

According to a witness, [the prisoners] were «taken away like they were thieves» and forced to march to the train station […] under the arrogant look of a group of German soldiers in sidecars, who warned them that whoever stopped would be shot here and there. A very different situation from the one experienced by the PoWs when they had arrived at the camp when they were escorted by a column of Italian soldiers, each positioned at three metres from the next. In this case, instead, three Germans did the job of three hundred Italians. [Absalom, pp. 351-352]

Some sources claimed that Calcaterra stole the Red Cross parcels, which had arrived in the last period of the camp’s operativity, and later became the commander of the Cividale fascio. He never faced trial: he was executed by partisans at the end of August 1944 in Castagnole Lanze (Asti).
PG 57 was quickly dismantled by the local population who plundered the camp. The only building left was a small church for the PoWs, which had been restored in the 1990s. On the church’s wall is a plaque in honour of the Allied PoWs who died in August 1942, when the Nino Bixio ship, which was carrying them to Italy, was sunk.
In the church, reunions are celebrated to commemorate the Allied PoWs, in a unique case of reconciliation between prisoners and captors.