When the Moon Rises: Escape and Evasion Through War-torn Italy

by Tony Davies

Overview

In the face of the advancing Allied forces, Italy capitulated in September 1943, leaving thousands of Allied prisoners of war held in camps around the country to fend for themselves. Amongst those prisoners was Tony Davies who had been captured in North Africa. Determined to make the most of the opportunity, with two fellow companions in arms Tony set off on a 700-mile walk through German-occupied Italy with nothing to sustain them other than an almost schoolboy-like enthusiasm.

The story of their adventures was received with great acclaim when this account was first published in 1973, and When the Moon Rises takes the reader on a roller-coaster journey through Italy from the River Po to Calabria, meeting a cast of exciting and voluble characters en route. Regardless of the ever present risk of recapture, Tony Davis and his comrades enjoyed street parties and drinking binges with the cheerful Italians who were happy to be no longer fighting the British.

Repeatedly chased by the Germans, the tension mounts as the story reaches its dramatic climax, the little band never failing to maintain their wit and humor. When the Moon Rises is one of the classic escape stories of the Second World War.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781848324572
Publisher:	Pen and Sword
Publication date:	09/28/2016
Pages:	184
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Born in 1920, Tony Davies was educated at Mercer’s School in the City of London. At the outbreak of war he joined the Honourable Artillery Company and was commissioned in the Regiment in 1940. He served in North Africa and Italy. After the war he studied medicine and, having qualified in 1953, practiced in Surrey. He died on 23 February 2006, aged 85.

Table of Contents

Foreword vii

Glossary x

Prologue Capture in Tunisia xiii

Part I Escape and Recapture

Chapter 1 The Journey to Italy 1

Chapter 2 Campo P.G.66 5

Chapter 3 Planning an Escape 9

Chapter 4 Jumping From the Train 15

Chapter 5 'My Confidence Knew no Bounds' 21

Chapter 6 The City of Benevento 28

Chapter 7 'The War For You is Over' 36

Chapter 8 Thirty Days' Solitary Confinement 42

Chapter 9 An Escaper is Gunned Down 54

Chapter 10 A Mass Escape 66

Part II The Long Walk South

Chapter 11 Fleeing From the Germans 83

Chapter 12 Italian Hospitality 89

Chapter 13 'The Glorious Feeling of Freedom' 104

Chapter 14 Monte Cimone 116

Chapter 15 A Brush With the Enemy 128

Chapter 16 A New Member of the Party 134

Chapter 17 Approaching the Front Line 144

Chapter 18 Failure 153

Epilogue Return to the Apennines 161