PG 35 Padula

Previously a monastery in the town of Padula, in the province of Salerno in the Campania region of south western Italy.

PM 3400

More information can be discovered from these links:

http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-WH2-1Epi-c5-WH2-1Epi-i.html

https://campifascisti.it/scheda_campo.php?id_campo=341

Translation for Campi Fascisti main page:

Padula – Camp for prisoners of war n. 35
Padula (Salerno) – Italy
Camp type: Prisoner of war camp from April 1942
Source: DPG27
History:
Subjected to the surveillance of the Territorial Defense of Naples, the PG camp No. 35 of Padula began operating in May 1942 for prisoners of war of higher ranks of the British and allied armies. It has a capacity of 490 seats (for senior officers only) (see DPG27).

The first data we have available on the number, rank and nationality of the prisoners date back to April 1942. At that date there were 468 prisoners in the camp, broken down as follows: 315 British (of which 253 officers), 5 Australians (of which 4 officers), 36 Indians (including 33 officers), South Africans (including 61 officers), 40 of other nationalities (New Zealanders, Canadians, other British, etc., including 33 officers) (see DPG05).

At the end of the same month, i.e. in April 1942, the General Staff of the Royal Army decided to group the officers belonging to the same nationality in the camps. In Padula are destined – at least in part – the P.G. English (the other courses for English are Montalbo number 41 and Veano number 29 (see DPG46).

Thus, on 31 March 1943 (the latest data available from our research), there were 610 prisoners of war in Padula, divided as follows: 580 British (including 2 generals), 5 Canadians, 11 New Zealanders, 10 white South Africans, 2 black South Africans, 1 Indian, and 1 other unspecified nationality. Of these prisoners, about 150 are ordinary soldiers who serve as orderlies for their superiors. (see DPG35)

At the moment we do not have any other information on the P.G. No. 35 of Padula

Note: Research on Italian prisoner of war camps is still ongoing (November 2012). The information reported here is taken from some documents conserved in the Historical Office of the Army General Staff and concerns only the period from March 1942 to March 1943. The data on this sheet are therefore incomplete and still to be verified.

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PG abbreviation

The full title is ‘Campo Concentramento di Prigioniere di Guerra’ (prisoner of war concentration camp). They were not concentration camps in the normal sense of the word. Camps were normally prefixed PG, but could be referred to as CC, Campo or Campo PG. The exception was the 2 Dulags and 1 Stalag within Italy, which were German controlled transit centres for POWs being transferred to Germany. The camps were originally known by their place names, and numbers were not introduced until early 1942. There are some camps with no numbers, perhaps they closed before early 1942?

PM abbreviation

Camps in Italy were divided into postal areas, each area designated ‘PM [number]’. PM translates to ‘Posta Militare’, meaning ‘military mail’. The number indicated the central postal reception area for the camps’ mail.