Welcome to the Monte San Martino Trust Archives. The Trust’s Archives include the personal stories of Allied soldiers transferred to Italy as prisoners during the Second World War after being captured mainly in North Africa. Many of those soldiers managed to escape. The Monte San Martino Trust was created to commemorate them and the Italian families who helped them.
Thousands of hours spent transcribing
English and Italian collaborators have transcribed hundreds of handwritten, typewritten and computerised memorials by the military themselves and, in some cases, by their relatives. Some were written during the imprisonment, some just after the escape and some years later and donated to the Trust.
Italians who helped Allied prisoners
In their stories, many prisoners of war have indicated the names of Italians, individuals and families who are often exposed to serious risks to help them. The following is a first list of names provided by MSMT supporters.
See our list of Italians who helped
PoW Camps
Our archivists have worked with the Monte San Martino Trust to identify camps for prisoners of war in Italy
Coming soon…
- A history of events
- A virtual museum with images of memorabilia preserved by prisoners of war
- A list of published sources relating to the Second World War in Italy
- A list of sources from archives around the world related to the Second World War in Italy
- Researchers’ blogs
Please note – the historical language used in the escaper stories occasionally uses terminology which was commonplace at the time, but which now is considered unacceptable and potentially offensive. Nota bene – nel linguaggio storico utilizzato nelle storie dei fuggitivi a volte si usano termini che all’epoca erano normali ma che oggi sono considerati inaccettabili e potenzialmente offensivi.
