Re: Once an Escaping POW, Now a Returning Hero

Date: April 24, 2004

"Escaped POW Des is to be given a hero's reception

By Barry Ellams, Chester Chronicle

A VETERAN prisoner of war who escaped an Italian camp is to receive a hero's welcome in Milan this weekend.

Chester pensioner Desmond Jones will be treated as an honorary guest in the city from which he escaped 61 years ago as Italy celebrates the anniversary of Liberation Day this Sunday.

Desmond went 'over the wire' from nearby PoW camp Borgo San Siro in September, 1943, as the Allies mounted an offensive.

Desmond, a bombardier in the Welsh Field Regiment Royal Artillery (TA) was captured by the Afrika Korps during fierce fighting in Tunisia and was held in various locations in Italy before escaping with a number of British soldiers.

Desmond was picked up by Canadian troops in Southern Italy after a mammoth seven week trek on October 29, 1943.

In a letter to Desmond, Julia Billingsley, British Pro Consul, invited him to Milan to help commemorate Liberation Day by revisiting the old Borgo San Siro site and talking to schoolchildren about his escape.

She told him: 'The local authorities would like to organise a celebration for you and the local schoolchildren would welcome the opportunity of meeting you. Everyone really hopes you will be able to visit.' After reading about Desmond's great escape, Milan resident Ernesto Ferri talked to Italian wartime survivor Signor Edigio, who remembered the British soldier during his incarceration and recalled some details of his escape.

'A certain Signor Edigio who lives near me, recalls that in 1943, when he was 15 and employed as a farm labourer on a farm in Borgo San Siro, he was given the task of going to the PoW camp every day to deliver the post and to collect the bread. The bread was baked in the camp's kitchen and he had to take it back to the prisoners who worked on the same farm.

'Signor Edigio was shown a recent copy of The Chronicle which celebrated Desmond and Edith's diamond wedding anniversary and told of Desmond's heroic escape.

Ernesto said: 'From the Chester newspaper he recognised Mr Jones as being in the camp. He remembers that Mr Jones was probably one of the first to escape: the day after two prisoners had fled, Edigio, turning up at the camp in the usual way, was informed by the other prisoners about what had happened.'

Signor Ferri, who is tracing Desmond's escape route, said: 'I have been back to the site of the ex-PoW camp. Now that the weeds and leaves have dried I could see the sleeping quarters, the remains of the latrines, probably situated at the edge of the camp.

'At the bottom of a corner column I also found what remains of the barbed wire, all mixed up with the brambles.'

He said: 'I have told Mr Jones' story to the Mayor and to the town councillors. They showed much interest in organising a celebration for Mr Jones should he decide to visit Borgo San Siro.

'I have given a copy of all the documentation to the teachers at the local primary schools who will use it in both their English and history lessons and also for school research projects.'

Desmond, who was awarded The Italian Star for his bravery in the Second World War, is flying out today.

He said: 'The British Consul invited me back to the camp and I am due to speak to a lot of children about the visit - the Italians have expressed a lot of interest in my escape.'

©Trinity Mirror Plc 2004"