PG 41 Montalbo

The camp was situated near Piacenza, region of Emilia- Romagna, Italy, about 50/55 miles (80/88 km) south of Milan. It was operational from June 1941.

PM 3200

Information about this camp can be found here:

https://campifascisti.it/scheda_campo.php?id_campo=342

Translation for Campi Fascisti main page:

Montalbo – Camp for prisoners of war n. 41
Montalbo, municipality of Ziano Picentino (Piacenza) – Italy
Camp type: Prisoner of war camp from June 1941
Source: DPG27
History:
In Montalbo, in the municipality of Ziano Piacentino, the PG camp has been in operation since June 1941. No. 41. With a capacity of 150 places, it is intended for higher-ranking POWs of the British and Allied armies. The number of prisoners interned in Montalbo fluctuated between 203 on March 1, 1942, and 174 the following year.

Between April and May 1942, the Prisoners of War Office of the General Staff of the Royal Army grouped officers belonging to the same nationality in the camps (see DPG46). Camp No. 41 seems destined to primarily intern British officers who are sent here from Camp No. 78 of Sulmona, while South African officers are sent to Camp No. 17 of Rezzanello, five New Zealand officers to Camp No. 38 of Poppi, and the 5 Australians in turn destined for the Sulmona field (see DPG46).

But, in March 1943, the Prisoners of War Office of the Army General Staff decided to transfer all the British officers of the Montalbo camp to the new PG camp. no. 49 of Fontanellato (see DPG48). However, this transfer does not seem to take place, at least until March 31st, the date on which the data in our possession stops for now.

At the moment we do not have any other information on the P.G. No. 41 of Montalbo.

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.