Cadden, Gavin (Oral history)

British NCO served with 2nd Bn Parachute Regt, 1st Parachute Bde, 1st Airborne Div in North Africa, 11/1942; prisoner of war in Tunisia and Campo PG 62, Bergamo, Italy, 11/1942-9/1943, escaped from Italy to GB via Switzerland, 1943-1944

REEL 1 Aspects of operations as NCO with 2nd Bn Parachute Regt, 1st Parachute Bde, 1st Airborne Div in North Africa, 11/1942: military service prior to joining Parachute Regt; parachute drop at Depienne, French Algeria, 29/11/1942; capture by German troops; story of how paratroopers were saved from execution by Schutzstaffel (SS) officer by German Obersleutnant Walter Koch. Aspects of period as prisoner of war in Tunisia and Campo PG 62, Bergamo, Italy, 11/1942-9/1943: treatment recieved from German paratrooper captors; United States Army Air Force bombing of airfield at Tunis, Tunisia; transfer to Italy by aircraft; delousing in camp; thwarted escape attempt; condition of Eighth Army prisoners of war; how his family heard of his capture; work cleaning Italian uniforms at Campo PG 62, Bergamo; rations. Aspects of escape from Italy to GB via Switzerland, 1943-1944: his escape with aid of priest and civilians; contact with Italian Resistance; how he escaped German raid with help of Italian civilian; his escape over border to Switzerland. REEL 2 Continues: his reception in Switzerland; his period in Switzerland; his return to GB, 1944. Aspects of period as prisoner of war in North Africa, 11/1942-12/1942: fate of Obersleutnant Walter Koch; Cadden's gratitude towards Germans who saved him from execution; his interrogation on capture. Recollections of period as prisoner of war in Campo PG 62, Bergamo, Italy, 12/1942-9/1943: British NCOs running of camp; planning escapes; why Germans shot escaped prisoners of war; prisoner of war identification on clothing; contact with home; loss of valuables to guards; treatment by guards and their attitude towards Benito Mussolini; how he was threatened by guard after Allied landings; use of cigarette currency; concealing of death of prisoner of war to obtain his rations. REEL 3 Continues: prisoner of war quarrels; provision of hygiene; contact with Italian civilians; discipline in camp; prisoners of war with Italian girl friends; prisoner of war nationalities; preference for Scottish and Canadian Red Cross parcels; visit by Pope Pius XII's representative; discipline in camp; position of camp cooks; physical condition of Eighth Army prisoners of war; diseases; censoring of letters. Aspects of period in Switzerland, 1944: freedom of movement; work digging peat; effects of captivity.