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- - Mia's September 1944 Italy (http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/showthread.php?t=51949)

Re: Mia's September 1944 Italy

Hello, Rolland & Bruce,
The names Peter Garner and Pfalzer are indeed on the correspondence I have, dated 4 the Oct 44.
Other names Sebastian Caloneto, Viktor Ralio and Rafael Emilio are also in the letter which looks to be signed by Frindt(?).
So Rolland it looks like this is the same event.
However it does leave the Soldier or Airmen question open do you think ?
If Soldiers then how were they so far north at this time unless they were escapees ?
No names in the report as far as I could see so 3 "British?" Soldiers(?) - what became of their remains, is that known I wonder ?

Thank you all for your help in resolving this question for me.
Alex

Re: Mia's September 1944 Italy

Alex,

Here is the full case. I don't think it resolves who the men were. There is a sentence about the bodies later being in a cemetery chapel, so I assume they were (at least initially) buried in a nearby cemetery, possibly the main cemetery in Brixen. Have you tried searching British War Cemeteries in Northern Italy for men with a date of death of Oct 1, 1944? Just looking at Google maps you can see Brixen is close to the Austrian border. I am not sure if any POW camps were located that far north, which makes the escaped POW idea a little less likely. Brixen is on the railroad route up to the Brenner Pass which was being bombed around that time, so the concept of a shot down air crew is also quite plausible. That also makes the concept of a failed SOE/OSS mission seem plausible. See, for example here: https://www.cia.gov/news-information...phen-hall.html

There is also a mention in the trial record that there was a warning of "parachutists about" i.e. in the area. (There is nothing to suggest the three men were actually parachutists, but it does not say they were not either.)

War Crimes Case:
https://www.legal-tools.org/doc/d3e3b0/pdf/

Re: Mia's September 1944 Italy

Hello Rolland,

In the first post The names are all from the CWGC . Those that survived and became pow are noted as such.
As I then said, none seemed to fit the 3 shot men.
However it now may well be possible to narrow down those who are known to have been buried in one place then reburied inacWar Cemetery post War.

Many thanks for your fantastic work
Alex

Re: Mia's September 1944 Italy

Quote:

Originally Posted by Russell (Post 257252)

Hi Alex

31 August 44

55 Sqn FW459 shot down near Faenza. pilot POW.

Lt B J Marais P POW
Flg Off R.A.Pitts N KiA b Faenza;
Flt Sgt C.W. Stogdale; WOP KiA b Faenza
Sgt R.E. Ives AG KiA b Faenza .

took off 0310 approx on morning of 31 August, shot down by Flak, rest of formation returned by 0615.

2/Lt D M Cameron was a navigator lost on 2 September in FW482 on a daylight recce of the north Adriatic,

Send me a PM and I can go through all the others on your list.

Cheers

Russell

Hello Russell,

Re FW459 and FW482

FW459 - 55 Sqn - Mia Po Valley on night interdiction mission 1st September, 44.
Cameron was navigator in this a/c .
Marais - pow was not in this a/c.

FW482 - 15 SAAF - 55 - 454 RAAF was lost on the 6th May, 44.

Marais - was in fact BAIN-MARAIS, C.T - LT - 103726V - SAAF.
He was not a pow .

He was in a/c JT827, a PV-1 Ventura of 17 Sqn SAAF which was mia on a shipping sweep off the Italian coast on the 1st September, 44.

Also in the crew were -
F/O W.L.Thacker - 131160 - RAFVR.
WO1 - G. J. Terblanche - 313048V - SAAF.
WO1 - W.F. Van Der Walt - 580628V - SAAF.
Sgt. M.T. Bird - 1583189 - RAFVR

All aboard were killed.

Alex