Son of an Italian pow somewhere in the UK

[fatz96]

Hello,
My name is Rico Fata and I am having a difficult time finding any records of WW2 Italian POWS in the UK. My father was captured during the Italo-Ethiopian war. He spent WW2 in a POW camp somewhere in the UK and fathered 3 children. I would like to find them and their families before I die.

[christanel]

Welcome to the Brit-Gen forums
If you came to us from Forces War Records this link explains our connection,

The National Archives has a research guide here about how to find records for prisoners of war held in the UK during WW11.

Christina

[Pam Downes]

Hello Rico,

Welcome to British-Genealogy.

I would suggest that the starting point for your search would be your father's service records which will hopefully reveal in which POW camp he was detained.

Googling 'Italian army personnel records' found, amongst other results this one. https://
comandosupremo.com/forums/index.php?threads/how-to-obtain-italian-personnel-records.910/

I would suggest that you do a similar search and look at the other results as well.

Sadly, I think your search for your half-brothers/sisters is unlikely to be successful unless there is anything in the service/POW records. Illegitimate births in the UK are usually registered with just the first name(s) of the baby and the surname of the mother, and it's unlikely that your father will be named on the certificate.
This explains why.
https://web.archive.org/web/20060216...irths.htm#COL4

ADDED: Christina is obviously a little more au fait with POW records than I am.

Pam

[Lesley Robertson]

We had another question about an Italian POW camp in Rutland this month. Have a look at the WW2 forum, near the top, there’s a few possibly useful links that would help you focus on which areas had Italian camps.

[DAVROS]

I don't think I can be of any real help since I am coming at it from the point of a child fathered by an Italian prisoner of war held in Colford camp in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire. I never got to meet my birth mother as I was adopted. I know her details but have no name for my father. My hope is to get a list of the 300 or so names of prisoners and just know somewhere on that list is my father. I have tried some of the searches, but so far no joy. Have you tried DNA searches on Ancestry? Good luck with your search.

[DAVROS]

I am a child fathered by an Italian prisoner of war held in Colford camp in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire. I never got to meet my birth mother as I was adopted. I know her details but have no name for my father. My hope is to get a list of the 300 or so names of prisoners and just know somewhere on that list is my father. I have tried some of the searches, but so far no joy. Is there an organisation in Italy that covers this research.

[christanel]

The National Archives research guide for POW's is here but it doesn't look very optimistic for finding any personal records.
https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/...british-hands/

It mostly refers to Italian POW's in Europe.
https://discovery.nationalarchives.g...&_ed=1946&_hb=

I typed Italian records for Italian POW's in England ww11 into a search engine and got quite a few hits including some on familysearch.org

This is Cyndi's list of links for Italian genealogy. You may find what you need there.

www.cyndislist.com/italy/general/

Christina

[Lesley Robertson]

This thread is turning into a rather nice research thread and so I have moved it to our WW2 forum. The "Introduce yourself" forum is not really intended for research, and once the newest post on the thread is more than 24 hours old, messages become harder to find if left on it.

[johns71]

Hello Rico
I have just joined this forum as I also have an interest in Italian POW's in Britain during WW2. There is a strong possibility that my maternal grandfather was one. Your post really struck a chord with me. My mother was born in a tiny village called Ecton, in Northamptonshire, England in January 1945. Ecton itself is insignificant - very rural and even today has a population of no more than 500. However, during the war POW's were employed on the farms surrounding the village and in a lot of cases became friendly with the locals.
My grandmother's husband left her - we think before the war started. She spent the war years living in Ecton with 5 children all under the age of 10.
It was only a couple of years ago after doing DNA tests that we found out that my mother has a different father to her siblngs.
The secret was very well kept. My grandmother reunited with her husband at some point and he brought my mother up as his own.
We talked to my mother's half siblings and they spoke about the Italian POW's who worked in the fields adjacent to their house. They recall the Italians making baskets - and that they would give my grandmother a basket in exchange for a piece of soap. One actually said to Mum that they'd heard rumours her father was Italian but such matters were forbidden for discussion at home!
Another memory is of a 'foriegn' man being a regular visitor to their home who they were required to call 'Uncle Jimmy'. As a matter of interest I looked into the name Jimmy and found that it was often used by Italians in the UK who's actual name was Giacomo.
Of course these memories are from over 70 years ago and may not be completely accurate, but that Italians were present in the area is known for sure.
The only other thing we know for sure is that my biological grandfather was ethnically Jewish.
I appreciate the chances of my grandfather and your father being the same man are tiny. Nevertheless, I felt compelled to comment.

[Lisa_wilson05]

Dear Rico,
What is the name of your father?
I am currently looking for my great grandfather, an Italian POW. Possible name Alfonsa, who fathered three children with my great grandmother Vera.
It is possible that the camp was Merrythought as this is the closest camp to where they lived. Between 1939 - 1945.
He left to return to Italy but my great great grandmother wouldn't let my great grandmother (vera) leave with him. My grandfather has been searching for his bio father for a very long time with little success due to lack of records.

Thank you
Lisa

Hello,
My name is Rico Fata and I am having a difficult time finding any records of WW2 Italian POWS in the UK. My father was captured during the Italo-Ethiopian war. He spent WW2 in a POW camp somewhere in the UK and fathered 3 children. I would like to find them and their families before I die.