Cavan Reflections

By: Anne Corke

Mar 30 2012

Tags: Family history, Italy, prisoner of war, Submarines

Category: Life stories

2 Comments

In my previous post “An Incredible Journey”, I told about the connections I had made in my search for information about my Dad’s submarine HMS Saracen. I mentioned that I had been in touch with a kind lady in Italy, Janet, who had managed to locate the family who had aided my Dad and his companion when they were escaped prisoners of war on the run in the winter of ’43-’44. On March 18th, Janet drove to Casperia to meet these wonderful people. Maria, the matriach of the family, is almost 97 but she still remembers Dad and Charlie, and has letters and cards from Dad that she has kept all these years. Janet also met Maria’s daughter, son-in-law and grandson and took photos of everyone for me. Maria hid Dad and Charlie in this cellar for two months and made sure they had something to eat every day. Amidst the fighting and suffering, people like Maria and her husband Guiseppe shared what little they had and risked their own lives to help two strangers survive the war and return to their families. Their courage and generosity serve as a shining example of all that is good in the human race. Thank you, Maria. We will never forget you and your family.