POW Escape from Campo 78, Sulmona

Campo 78 – also known as PG 78 (Prigione di Guerra) – is an Italian, former Prisoner of War camp located at Fonte d’Amore, just outside the town of Sulmona in the Abruzzo region of central Italy. It was in use during both World Wars, and from 1939 up until the Armistice of September 1943 it held as many as 3,000 British & Commonwealth servicemen – many of whom had been captured during the North African campaigns. It is the place from which hundreds of Allied prisoners made their daring escapes following the Armistice of 1943. In contrast to prisoners held at other POW camps throughout Italy at the same time, who obeyed the ‘Stay Put’ order and were consequently rounded up by the advancing Germans, those in Campo 78 were told ‘Every Man for Himself’ and made good their escape in a variety of different directions. Some found their way into Sulmona, some up into the mountains via a number of local villages including Pacentro, and others to Rome via the railway. Many of those prisoners were both helped and hidden by local Italians keeping the escapees safe at great personal risk until they could somehow reach safety or rejoin thier regiments. Here are the stories of Stanley Brook, Edmund Patrick, Raymond Sherk, Don McLarty and Italian Maria Carbone.