UK National Register of ArchivesDan Billany, Prisoner Of War In Italy
1942-43 : manuscripts and papers describing his experiences as a prisoner of war in Italy. Imperial War
Museum Department of Documents
Billany Lieutenant D 96/14/1
A notebook (16pp); notes and early drafts of chapters (with sketches, 94pp); a diary, December 1942 - March 1943 (20pp); the original manuscripts of his books 'The Cage' (a journal kept with David Dowie, 208pp) and 'The Trap' (nine exercise books, 584pp), which had been left in September 1943 with a friendly Italian farmer who returned them in Spring 1946 to his parents to be published respectively by Longman in 1949 and Faber in 1950; and postwar correspondence from his fellow officers (37pp) relating to his career with the 4th Battalion The East Yorkshire Regiment (50th Brigade, 50th Division) in North Africa and as a POW in Italy, April 1942 - December 1943, including: training in the UK, July 1941 - April 1942; the voyage to the Middle East with a draft of troops, April 1942; active service with his battalion in North Africa, April - June 1942; his capture by the Germans at Tobruk, June 1942; his captivity in North Africa and the journey to Italy, June - November 1942; his captivity and treatment by the Italians as a POW at Capua (PG66), near Naples, November - December 1942, Rezzanello Castle (PG17), December 1942 - March 1943, and the Orphanage at Fontanellato (PG49), near Palma, March - September 1943, notably the daily routine, Red Cross parcels, the conditions, the rumours, relations between the prisoners, escape attempts, the entertainment, and the joy at the news of Mussolini's fall; and his release, September 1943. Billany and Dowie were last heard of in Mantua in December 1943 and, as a result of the subsequent, postwar publication, it was discovered that after the Italian surrender one of the POWs had assisted the Germans in rounding up escapees and that Billany, having tried to stop these activities, was killed in an encounter with the informer in January 1944.
Dowie
Lieutenant DA 96/14/1 See
also DPB for 'The Cage' (23(=41)/5 [Billany, Dan]). A
copy of the book 'The Cage' (Longmans, 1949), the postwar publication of the
journal which he kept with Dan Billany as a POW in Italy, April 1942 -
December 1943, containing papers relating to their escape and subsequent
deaths in an encounter with Sergeant Major 'X', who helped the Germans to
round up escaped POWs, in January 1944, including: 2 ms letters in Italian
(3pp, with English translation, 3pp) from an Italian farmer near Parma,
Italy, to his mother, Mrs F E Dowie, January and November 1945, concerning
the papers and disappearance of her son; ms and ts correspondence (9pp) with
the War Office and other POWs, January 1946 - August 1948, seeking
information about the fate of Dowie and Billany, who after living with an
Italian farmer, August - September 1943, were last seen alive in Mantua,
Italy, in December 1943, and were presumed to have died in January 1944, and
the recovery of their papers after the war; ts newspaper cuttings (11pp),
notably 9 reviews of 'The Cage' (one by H E Bates) and 2 articles concerning
the disappearance of Billany and Dowie; a ts transcription of a letter from
Mr Longman, the publisher, June 1949, giving details supplied by another
POW, T W Spencer, of the meeting between Billany and Dowie and 'X' and their
deaths; a ms letter (2pp) from Roger M Keyes to Mrs Dowie, December 1949,
outlining the impact of 'The Cage' had on him; a ts transcription of a
letter from Roger Keyes, September 1950, outlining his researches in Italy
concerning the deaths of Billany and Dowie and refuting Spencer's version of
events; a ts newspaper cutting (1p), 1952, announcing the suicide of Keyes
(BBC Foreign News Service) aged 42; and 4 photographs of Dowie in uniform,
1940 - 1943, and the POW Camp PG49, Fontanellato, Italy.
Hand Bags of Fashion From Nordham
Courtesy DEPARTMENT OF DOCUMENTS IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM
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