A tale of a New Zealand POW escapee in Abruzzo, Italy

On a recent trip to Caramanico Terme in Abruzzo Italy, whilst walking in the Orfento Valley, I came across the story of a POW escapee New Zealand soldier John Evelyn Broad and the local resistance against German occupation in WWII.

John Broad’s diaries of his time in WWII were collated into the book Poor People, Poor Us in 1946.¹ John Broad had been captured by the Italians in North Africa and was sent to Acquafredda POW camp in Roccamorice, Abruzzo. When Italy announced the armistice in September 1943 ², 350 POWs, including John Broad, escaped from Acquafredda after it was left unattended. After 6 hours of walking, John Broad and two fellow POWs (Ted Bartlett and Bert Tulloch) made it to Caramanico in the Majella mountains. The ultimate destination for the POWs was to meet up with Allied forces that had taken territory further south.  

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Occupation by the Nazis in Caramanico

Caramanico Terme was occupied by the German armed forces soon after the Armistice in September 1943. A command was established at the Terme (spa) in October 1943. During the occupation, local men were recruited for forced labour that included the construction of a cable car in the mountains to transport canons and clearing the road of snow.³

Local resistance

In resistance to German occupation, the local people of Caramanico were proactive in protecting John Broad and his fellow POWs for 7 months, at great risk to their own safety. When the Germans came looking for the men, the locals dressed the prisoners in peasant clothing or harboured them in their barns.  On one occasion a local woodcutter  Antonio Gialoni dug a pit, and filled it with manure for the soldiers to hide in. The locals also had a good spy network so knew when the Germans were in the area and would alert the POWs. Locals provided food even though they didn’t have much for themselves.

Many local people lost their lives harbouring escaped prisoners. A tragic story of local resistance was the Sperduti family who resided in a mountain farmhouse and regularly harboured escaped prisoners. When the Germans discovered this, they set fire to the Sperduti farm and stole their cattle. Three members of the family were then taken to the Caramanico cemetery and shot. Following the killings, the Germans issued a proclamation, warning citizens not to help POWs. Pasquale Di Pierdomenico was also another victim of the Nazis. He was arrested by the Germans on November 20, 1943, along with Giovanni and Antonio Silvaggi for having helped the prisoners: he was shot while trying to escape. The other two brothers were then freed.⁴

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The escapees also took refuge in rocky caverns in the Orfento Valley. Caves that once gave shelter to Neolithic tribes and shepherds, now became safe havens to the POWs. Conditions were harsh as it was the end of winter and Caramanico regularly experiences snow storms and temperatures below freezing. That winter was a particularly cold one.⁵

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John Broad and his companions eventually made it to British lines on 15 April 1944, walking over the Majella mountains with the locals guiding them via Decontra, over Monte Amaro and finally to Fara San Martino where they met up with the British contingent. It was a 12km walk across treacherous mountains experiencing harsh weather conditions.  In June 1944 the Germans eventually withdrew from Caramanico.

Why did the locals harbour the POWs at great risk to their own lives?

In 2017, John Broad’s son, Harry Broad was invited to Caramanico to take part in the commemorations of WWII. Harry Broad recalls asking a local woman, Filomena why the locals had put their own lives at risk for people they didn’t know. Filomena was 7 years old in 1943 and her family had hidden POWs. Filomena’s response was that it was just something you did. You didn’t think about it.⁶

John Broad never forgot the Abruzzesi people

John Broad never forgot about the generosity of the Abruzzesi people. Upon his return to New Zealand, John Broad helped to form the Italian Relief Committee which raised money and sent clothing to the peasants in Abruzzo as a way to thank them for their bravery. “When you see a noble people like the Abruzzese going hungry and cold, you rise above party, class, race, or viewpoint to render assistance.” A New Zealand woman was so moved after reading John Broad’s book, and “could not rest thinking about the courageous Abruzzi people”, that she sent a 5 pound note to the committee. ⁷

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The men would never have survived without the help of the local Italians. Out of the 350 POWs who escaped the camp, many were recaptured by the Nazis. John Broad’s first-hand account of these events shines a light on the resistance of the people in Abruzzo during WWII, a story that is seldom told.

“For some the war will be a memory of glorious victories won by comrades in arms advancing together. For us the great memory will be a stealthy and difficult fight aided by warm hearted people who saved us at the risk of their lives while we battled onward aiding each other as best we could”

John Broad – Poor People Poor Us

1. The book has recently been translated into Italian and some of the areas referenced in John Broad’s diaries are now part of the Freedom Trail (Sentiero della Libertà)
2. The Allied invasion of Sicily in July 1943 led to the collapse of the Fascist Italian regime. On 25 July, Mussolini was deposed and arrested. The new government led by Badoglio signed an armistice with the Allies on 8 September 1943. German forces then took control of northern and central Italy. In central Italy, Germany established the Gustav Line – a defensive line that spanned from the Tyrrhenian Sea in the west to the Adriatic Sea in the east to slow down the advance of the Allies from the south. (Source: Wikipedia) Between September and October 1943, German soldiers began to occupy small towns north of the Gustav Line. Previously Abruzzo had been spared the worst of WWII but now it came to their doorstep. The German military created headquarters in all areas along this line, taking over villas and confiscating food supplies, vehicles, fuel and weapons. They forced local people to build fortifications or dig trenches under the threat of death. Reprisals against the locals for non-compliance or resistance were common. (Source: History – Sulla Linea Gustav)
3. Atlante delle Stragi Naziste e Fasciste in Italia a website dedicated to collating episodes of resistance against Nazism and Fascism in Italy during WWII
4. Atlante stragi nazifasciste | Progetto di ricerca ANPI-INSMLI Accessed 11 October, 2021
5. John E. Broad, Poor People Poor Us: Poveri Gen’ – Poveri Noi, (Wellington: Harry H. Tombs, 1946)
6. Radio New Zealand – Poor People, Poor Us. Accessed September 30, 2021
7. Auckland War Memorial Museum. Accessed 2 October, 2021