大象传媒

Story written by Sarah Stephen

My Grandfather, Francesco Cordani, lived in mountains of Northern Italy on a farm called Costa di Breno, Montechiaro, Rivergaro, Piacenza. Near the farm was an old monastery where British prisoners of war were kept. On 8th September 1943 the gates were open and the prisoners were let out. They went into the woods and countryside to hide. One night there was a knock on the door of the farmhouse and a tall man who spoke some Italian called Colonel De Sallis said could someone help them, they had been hiding in the woods for 3 days with no food and drink. There were 6 men who came to the farm for help and another 5 hiding in the wood. My Grandfather took food and drink to them and helped build a shelter for them.

Winter approached and it would be too cold for them to stay in the wood so plans were made to take the prisoners to Switzerland. Mr Grignani, a friend who worked in the oil business in Montechiaro had a friend who lived near the Swiss border. My Grandfather and Mr Grignani took 5 prisoners at a time by train to the Swiss border. They got false identity papers for them as Italian farmers. The prisoners had to be watched closely when travelling on the train in case they were approached by German soldiers or Fascists because they could not speak the Italian language. The train took them from Piacenza to Milan where they had to change trains and go to Lake Como. They went to a church in Como where they met a resistance worker who would tell them if it was safe to go up the mountain. They then had to catch a boat across the lake to a place called Montrasio where they met a contraband smuggler who would take them up the mountain. The smuggler was paid about 拢25 for each prisoner. When they reached the Swiss frontier they would lift up the wire for the prisoners to crawl underneath and cross the border. Once across the prisoners were met by the Swiss police. My Grandfather and Mr Grignani would then return to the farm.

This journey was made about 10 times and took about 2 days. Prisoners hiding on other farms were also brought to the farmhouse so they could also escape. Sometimes it was not possible to cross the lake by boat so they had to walk around the lake which was more dangerous because they would have to walk past Mussolini鈥� summer residence, Villa Desti, which was heavily guarded.

My Grandfather has photographs of some of the men he helped escape. One of the first prisoners was a man called Major Sanders. He gave my Grandfather a photograph of his wife and daughter. The inscription on the back read 鈥淲ith much gratitude for all the Cordani family have done. Sandy. Swiss Frontier 30.10.43.鈥� This photograph was to take back to show the other prisoners waiting in the woods that my Grandfather could be trusted, it implied safe passage for the prisoners. My Grandfather was given other mementoes such as rings, tie pins and badges.

When the prisoners made the journey they were given great overcoats to wear to hide their uniforms. When they reached the Swiss border these coats were given back to my Grandfather for the next prisoners to use. Sometimes my Grandfather had to wear 5 overcoats on his way back to the farm. We have one of these overcoats at home.

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