About the contributor

My father, Walter Edward Westbrook was in the South African Defence Force (SADF)- he was based in North Africa and Italy during the war. He was captured in North Africa and shipped to a POW camp in Italy. He escaped from two POW camps in Italy and a prison train taking POWs north from Rome to Germany. He escaped from a moving train with two other South Africans, Frank Frane and Steven ?. This was around September 1943? They managed to kick in the steel louvres on the train train to the point that they were loose. About an hour north of Rome the train stopped - and the guards got of the train. Just as the train was about to leave - one of the guards shouted: "Die Yster is kaput ...". Fortunately one of the other guards instructed him to get back on the train. They knew they had to make their escape soon. Frank (in his early 40s at this stage), Steven and Walter kicked the louvres out and jumped as the train was moving about 30 miles an hour. They jump out right next to the Tiber River on the West Bank - about 60 km north of Rome. They believe the train they were on was bombed a few miles further up the track. It was dark when they jumped - and they realised they were a matter of a few hundred yards from a German line. Steven, as bold as brass, walked to the nearest house, which happened to be the station masters house - and he rowed the three men over to the other side - they then walked south east along the Sabina Hills - until they got to a valley between Castenuovo di Farfa and Mompeo. Two families looked after the three soldiers: Giovanni V looked after Steven (Stefano). Frank (Franko) and my father Walter(Eduardo) were looked after by peasant farmer, Giuseppe B, his wife and children aged between 1 year and 16/17). They didn't go into the villages - but were brought food in buckets. They slept in caves, or stables - and were in the area until after Christmas 1943. All, the time working on sabotaging the German lines.

My father could not have survived the war without the help of these and the dozens of other Italian families who put their lives at risk to look out for the soldiers. At this time, there were no other Allied soldiers in the area - and was a while before British soldiers took control of this strategic area north of Rome.

I returned with my father in May 2005 my father to retrace some of his steps and to meet the B and V families who were just as emotional to see us. Those who could returned to Castelnuovo to see Eduardo.

Getting back in touch has been a enormous emotional experience from both my father and these families.

There are many stories from the war I would like to capture and document:

War in North Africa - El Alamein
Intelligence for el Alamein
MonteCasino
Escape from POW camps in Italy
Recapture