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+ | ====== Nazzareno Ganino (1916 ∼ 1999) ====== | ||
+ | Le memorie di un sopravissuto dell' | ||
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+ | Added 26 July, 2006 by Ganino.com | ||
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+ | [[http:// | ||
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+ | A few memories of a POW and the Empress of Canada | ||
+ | by Nazzareno Ganino | ||
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+ | {{ : | ||
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+ | Il mio nome é Nazzareno Ganino e sono nato il 6 Febbraio 1916 nel sud Italia in un paesino chiamato Laurana Di Borello (nome dato al paese da un sopravvissuto da un terremoto nel diciassettesimo secolo), nella provincia di Reggio Calabria. | ||
+ | Ero il terzo più giovane di una famiglia composta di undici bambini e la mia vita era abbastanza felice, pur crescendo negli anni della depressione e mi accontentavo di lavorare nella fattoria della mia famiglia. | ||
+ | Il mio destino era scritto probabilmente già all' | ||
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+ | My name is Nazzareno Ganino I was born on the 6th of February 1916 in the southern part of Italy, in a Village called Laureana Di Borello (named after a survivor of the original Village which was destroyed by an earthquake in the 17th century), in the Province of Reggio Calabria. | ||
+ | I was the third youngest out a family of eleven children, my life was happy enough, even though I grew up in the Depression years, I was quiet content working on the family farm. | ||
+ | My fate was probably was set on the morning in 1937 when I left my home to report for Military Service. Our village had only the one Taxi and that morning there were eleven other young men who had to do the same journey so we all piled in, the ones that could not fit in the taxi stood on the running boards on the outside, on the first bend outside the village the driver hit a pot hole in the road and all the ones on the outside were thrown off, one was knocked unconscious and I unfortunately broke my wrist and received twenty five stitches to my head and spent the next forty days in hospital. | ||
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+ | Dovettero passare altri sei mesi prima di dover incominciare la mia vita militare, e a differenza dei miei commilitoni che svolsero l' | ||
+ | Essendo la mia prima volta che ero lontano da casa, il mio servizio in Africa fu una piacevole avventura fino a quando il 10 giugno 1940 l' | ||
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+ | Six months were to pass before I was to commence my military life, and unlike my colleagues who went before me, their training was done in Trieste and they spent all their time in Italy, but I was bound to spend mine in Africa. So on the 13 March 1938 I set sail from the Port of Naples for Tripoli and was assigned to the 86th Infantry Regiment of the Sabratha Division(later destroyed as a fighting force at El Alamein 1942) little did I know then that I would only see my family once until 1945. | ||
+ | As this was my first time away form home, my service in Africa was a bit of an adventure until June 1940 when war was declared, and things changed dramatically when our supplies started to dry up and virtually had to fend for ourselves. We felt as we were abandoned and forgotten men in the desert, not only did we have fight the enemy but also hunger, thirst, isolation and fleas and a hostile land. | ||
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+ | Dovetti vedere molta tristezza e dolore nei successivi anni di guerra, ricordi che si sarebbero impressi in me per il resto della mia vita. | ||
+ | Promosso caporale ero responsabile di una squadra di circa undici soldati e il nostro compito era di eseguire perlustrazioni notturne in territorio nemico, tagliando filo spinato o riportando l' | ||
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+ | I was to see much sadness and carnage in the next few years of War, memories of which would stay with me the rest of my life. | ||
+ | I held the rank of corporal and was in charge of a small squad of about eleven or so men, our job was to go on night patrols into enemy held ground, either cutting wire or reporting on enemy activities or positions, Because of the nature of the work there was nearly always causalities, | ||
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+ | Il 3 gennaio del 1941 mentre il nostro esercito stava ritirandosi, | ||
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+ | On 3rd of January 1941 while our army was retreating, I along with many thousands was caught prisoner of war, after about six days, five of my colleagues and I, decided to try to escape, by jumping into an anti tank ditch at night. After a while we started to hear gun fire, we did not stop, but only four of us made it out of that ditch, I did not know want happen to the other two, Following the coast we trekked for days ( I only had one boot on due to a wounded foot) nearly dying of thirst and hunger until we stumbled across some Italians Officers who picked us in their staff car on the their return to Headquarters (we were too weak to go any further) and from there we were reunited with the remnants of our regiment. | ||
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+ | La mattina del 7 dicembre 1941 vicino a Tobruk fui nuovamente catturato, e quella volta volta ci fu l' | ||
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+ | On the morning of the 7th of December 1941 near Tobruk I was once again captured, and this time there would be no escape and I would not taste freedom again for many years so started my journey to captivity. If I thought things were bad before, they were certainly going to get worse, that evening I was taken back to Tobruk and loaded onto a vessel but we were attacked by an Axis Aircraft and sunk, fortunately we had not gone too far from the harbor and there were only a few causalities, | ||
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+ | Il nostro viaggio continuò su a Suez dove però a causa dell' | ||
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+ | Our journey continued on to Suez where due to my weakened state I was hospitalized for about eleven days in Jerusalem, and then returned to Suez. After three days we were transferred to Port Said it was not as bad as the other camps as there was Italian civilians here, who would try to sneak us food. From here I was to commence my journey to South Africa. | ||
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+ | Da Port Said iniziò il mio viaggio nell' | ||
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+ | We were loaded on to a ship like sheep below deck cramped and unhygienic, after a few days one of the guards wanted three men to work above deck, to be honest I was one of the first to jump at the chance, there was a large number of civilians having lunch , and all we had to do was clear away the dishes, I had not eaten properly in quiet awhile and the hunger was becoming unbearable, so I ate anything that was left on the dishes, all three of us gorged on left overs. After our duties I was told to sweep the stairs. As I was doing this, and with the moving of the ship a pram with a small child no more than one started rolling towards the stairs , I jumped and stopped it just as it was about to plunge down the stairs, a grateful mother thanked me and her husband also thanked me and gave me a packet of cigarettes, I had done pretty well for myself that day, but that evening I was violently ill and could not report for work the next day so I lost my place and another prisoner took my spot. | ||
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+ | Il 24 luglio del 1942 arrivammo a Durban in Africa Meridionale e fui spedito a Zonderwater Camp: io ero così debilitato che a stento potevo camminare . Lì almeno avevamo molta acqua da bere, ma cibo era severamente razionato. | ||
+ | Dovetti rimanere in quel campo di prigionia fino al 1 marzo del 1943, quando salpammo verso la Gran Bretagna sul transatlantico EMPRESS OF CANADA (1). Il 13 Marzo dopo aver recitato il Rosario sul ponte esterno pregando per un viaggio sicuro, alle 22 circa scendemmo nuovamente sottocoperta. Un mio amico mi chiese di giocare un po' a dama e io accettai volentieri giocando circa venti partite che vinsi tutte. Erano circa le 23.45 quando lui mi chiese una sigaretta, (ci davano un pacchetto di sigarette ogni due giorni) che io gli diedi e con quella scusa riprendemmo a giocare a dama. Era circa mezzanotte quando gettai la mia giacca sul pavimento a mo' di guanciale tentando di addormentarmi quando un' | ||
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+ | On the 24th of July 1942 we reached Durban in South Africa and I was sent to Zonderwater Camp, by the time I reached this Camp I was so weak I could barely walk and nearly went blind, at least we had plenty of water, but food was very much rationed. | ||
+ | I was to stay at this Camp until 1st of March 1943 until we sailed, bound for England, on the Empress of Canada. | ||
+ | On the 13th of March we just finished saying the Rosary on deck, praying for a safe journey, it was about 10 o' | ||
+ | It appears that all Civilians and Military Personnel were taken off the ship and only then were we permitted to come up on deck, we saw that the mast of the ship was on a lean there was nothing we could do and the more we waited the more it started to list, an interpreter on behalf of the Captain said Boys no need for panic stay calm there is very little damage we can save the ship and we remained above deck there was no life boats left that is all we could do. | ||
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+ | Il mio amico Domenico che abitava in un paese vicino al mio mi disse : " Se muoio dillo alla mia famiglia" | ||
+ | Quando la nave continuò a sbandare notevolmente sul lato destro tentammo di muoverci verso lato più alto, e finalmente l' | ||
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+ | My friend Domenico, who came from a near by village, said to me if I die tell my family, I replied, worry about us at the moment and not who lives or dies as we are the ones in danger now (Domenico had a wife and seven young children), there was a young Sicilian soldier he was only very small, he nearly made the whole five hundred of us cry with his continuous lament Oh my dear mother I am going to die. There were three brothers, that when I think about them still saddens me to this day, on board, who were reunited in South Africa one as far away as India, only the eldest was supposed to go to England but he would not leave his brothers, so all three perished that night, the last I saw of them they were huddle up together on deck. | ||
+ | As the ship continued to list we kept on moving to the higher side, finally the interpreter said Boys who can save themselves save them selves the ship is going to sink. | ||
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+ | C'era una rete per carico pendente su una fiancata con delle corde, mi aggrappai e mi lasciai scivolare fino a quando i miei piedi non toccarono l' | ||
+ | Cominciai a divincolarmi ma inghiottii molta acqua e stavo sprofondando. I miei pensieri erano rivolti alla mia famiglia e mi rivolsi nuovamente alla nostra Signora quando un secondo siluro colpì la nave e l' | ||
+ | Quando la nave fu colpita io indossavo solo i miei pantaloncini e li avevo persi quando ero caduto in acqua. Nudo giacevo sul fondo della zattera quando la nave sprofondò negli abissi. Noi eravamo troppo vicini alla nave e la nostra leggera zattera fu risucchiata dai vortici e colpita da diverse onde provocate dall' | ||
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+ | There were cargo nets and ropes over the side, my turn came to slide down the rope every thing was fine until my feet touch the water, but I did not have the courage to let go of the rope because I knew things were going to end up badly because I could not swim. Those who could swim dove of the boat and distanced themselves to safe distance, but probably the biggest fool was I who could not swim was still hanging on to that rope, before I let the go the rope I looked towards the heavens and prayed to our lady to help me (and thank God she did) I was forced into the water by the people above me coming down when I was in the water I started to swirl and sink when I could barely see the surface, my thoughts were for my family I asked our Lady if I was about to die to look after them. Just about then a second torpedo hit the ship the shock of the explosion forced me to the surface I was conscious but must have been in shock. I was like a piece of wood could not move my arms or legs or jaw I do not know where it came from but the survivors of a near by raft pulled me on board, the occupants of the raft seemed to be stacked on top of each other it was that full all were trying to save themselves. When the ship went down all I had on was my shorts and lost them when I was forced into the water, here I was lying at the bottom of the raft, we were only metres away from the ship when it did finally go down it seem to suck the occupants of the raft down with it, some how I was spared I was the sole survivor. | ||
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+ | Ricordo la forte luce della faro del sottomarino italiano quando affiorò; seppi in seguito che raccolse solamente un naufrago, un dottore italiano (2). All' | ||
+ | Dio benedica un giovane soldato canadese (chissà dov'é adesso? ) che bagnò un pezzo di corda con l' | ||
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+ | I remember a strong spot light from the submarine when it surfaced; I was to learn later that it only picked an Italian Doctor (2). By daybreak there were four us on the raft, there was a life boat about thirty to forty metres away, calling to us in English, but we had no oars or any other means to get to them so one of the new occupants of the raft swam over to the boat with a rope and they pulled us towards them, they then transferred us into the life boat, as the day went more and more survivors were pulled into the life boat by mid morning it was crowed and by about midday was commandeered and any Italian POW on board was forced into the water. I was not meant to die on that day or I was very fortunate, they left me on board naked as I was, could not speak or move, they covered me with a piece of canvas . God bless a young Canadian soldier ( where ever he may be) would dip a rope into the water rations and wet my lips and others tried to give me food , but my jaw was locked and I could not eat, there was much worse than I on the boat ,especially four badly wounded women. | ||
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+ | Dopo circa ventiquattro ore vidi una pinna sul pelo del mare e da quel momento l' | ||
+ | Vedemmo più volte l' | ||
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+ | After about twenty four hours I saw a plane fly over, by now the water was becoming infested with sharks you could see them everywhere from a distance they looked like ants and the ones that came near our boat seemed the size of a horse, and all the occupants of the life boat could do was shout and scream they had not even an oar to defend themselves with, some places you would see the ocean as if it was boiling, but no doubt it would have been someone falling prey to a shark frenzy. | ||
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+ | Dopo circa settantuno ore nella scialuppa di salvataggio, | ||
+ | Il 19 Marzo arrivammo a Sierra Leone, e c' | ||
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+ | After about seventy one hours or so in the life boat, we were rescued by a British ship it was the night of 16th of March, I do not know if we were the first to saved or the last. On the 19th March we arrived at Sierra Leone, as we arrived we were transported in ambulances, they wrapped me in a blanket and load me on a stretcher, they were trying to give me very hot tea ,but I still I could not open my mouth , although I had regained movement in my limbs, but was very weak from my ordeal , they gave me a chocolate which I put on my chest in the blankets so I would not loose it hoping to eat it when I could move my mouth again, but in the heat and blankets all I succeeded in doing was melting it all over me .After I motioned that I did not want the tea they loaded me in the ambulances and took me to the hospital we were greeted by two of the largest natives I have ever seen they grabbed the stretcher and were literally running down the decline to where the hospital was, I was petrified, I thought to my self I did not die in the water and here they are going to kill me. | ||
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+ | L' | ||
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+ | The Building looked more like Military Head Quarters rather than a hospital there was about twenty of us in there, all you could hear at night was a constant drone from mosquitoes, all the guards had protective netting over their faces and wore gloves, the first night was quiet comical now as I think back but it was rather serious then, because I had not eaten solids for so long I had a serve bought of diarrhea, of course I could not call out, so I slid out of bed and on my hands and knees would head for the lavatory, along comes a native guard puts his foot on my back and pokes me with his bayonet, yelling at me to stop I tried to motion to him where I was going, he would reply in his native tongue which was gibberish to me, he finally understood and helped me. He would leave me there for an hour or so and when he would remember he would take me back to my bed, this happened few times. | ||
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+ | C'era un napoletano di nome Tony che lavorava per gli inglesi nell' | ||
+ | Dopo circa undici giorni ci comunicarono che stavano per trasferire i naufraghi in Inghilterra, | ||
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+ | There was an Italian orderly who was working for the British in the hospital he was from Naples and his name was Tony. Also in the hospital a friend of mine a corporal major from Abbruzzia, his name was Crichitella, | ||
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+ | Allora Tony aggiunse il mio nome sull' | ||
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+ | He put my name on the departure list and the next day an ambulance came and took me to the Port, we were packed like sardines on the ship, thousands of us pack tight, mostly British soldiers, the name of the ship was the Mauritania, after about three days and three nights on board, I could hear what appeared to be antiaircraft fire, my thoughts went back to the Empress and many others must have thought the same because there was a bit of panic, but there was no where to go because there was no room to move. An English soldier who knew how to speak a little Italian tried to calm us down and told us it was only a burial at sea. | ||
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+ | Dopo circa cinque giorni di navigazione arrivammo al Porto di Liverpool, e dopo essere sbarcati fummo caricati su un treno che ci trasportò alla nostra nuova destinazione, | ||
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+ | After about five days we reach the Port of Liverpool, we disembarked and were loaded on to a train heading towards London I believed, finally we reached our destination which was actually forty kms from London, there we encountered a large number of Italian Prisoners who during day had cooked us spaghetti, potatoes and beans and served up a huge plate each, and also gave us half a loaf bread each, but who could eat , I was still recovering, The Prisoners were telling us to eat as there was plenty of food The food I did not eat, but the bread I saved because I did not know if we were going to be fed again. They took us to this huge shed which was full of bunks that were all three high and would you not know it I ended up with the top bunk. About midnight there was an air raid, the whole shed shook violently with the force of the Bombs dropping near by, and I thought here we go again, I did not die earlier but I might die now, so I pulled the bread out of my coat and broke in to little pieces and started to eat it, just in case I did die. | ||
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+ | Il 17 maggio fummo nuovamente trasferiti: ci caricarono su di un treno e correva voce tra i prigionieri che ci avrebbero portato in India o in America. Io temevo di dover affrontare un' | ||
+ | Quel periodo di prigionia in Inghilterra fu gradevole: le persone ci trattarono gentilmente e con rispetto. Molto diverso dal trattamento che avevamo ricevuto in Egitto dove avevamo dovuto fronteggiare umiliazioni, | ||
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+ | On the 17th of May they put us back on the train and off we went again by this time rumors were rife some were saying that we were being shipped to America others to India, my heart was pounding I really thought we were destined to die, but as it turned out we were to spend the rest of the war in England in a few more camps and ended up working on a few farms which broke the monotony and the mundane life of the camps. | ||
+ | Life in England was good, people treated us kindly and with respect a far cry from the Prison camps of Egypt were we faced humiliation, | ||
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+ | A causa delle mie non buone condizioni di salute fui rimpatriato il 15 settembre del 1945. Quando finalmente atterrammo in Italia e scendemmo dall' | ||
+ | Auguro a tutti voi buone cose e buona fortuna. | ||
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+ | Nazzareno Ganino 1916-1999 | ||
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+ | Due to ill health I was repatriated on the 15th September 1945. When we got off the plane and once again on Italian soil a small group of people near by threw stones at us and called us traitors, but at least I was alive, there were others who faired much worse than I. | ||
+ | I had survived this horrible war, I do not wish anyone to experience another war and to go through what I went through the pain and sadness, especially my children and grand children, nor my enemy not that I have any as all is now passed. | ||
+ | I wish you good things and good fortune. | ||
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+ | Nazzareno Ganino 1916-1999 | ||
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+ | {{: | ||
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+ | If you have any records of Ganino in war write an article | ||
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+ | * GANINO MICHAEL B of CONNECTICUT USA | ||
+ | * GANINO JOSEPH T of CONNECTICUT USA | ||
+ | * GANINO ROCCO C of CONNECTICUT USA | ||
+ | * GANINO ROSARIO A of CONNECTICUT USA | ||
+ | * GANINO FRANK of CALIFORNIA USA |