Hi Geronimo, hi Gordon Lett, are you from Rossano? Here is an extract of Lt. Riccomini military status, let me know if you can help me about some RAF-SAAF pilots shot down in your area, thanks in advance:
"'Lieutenant Riccomini was captured at Halfaya Pass on 16th June, 1941, and was imprisoned in Camp 5 (Gavi) at the time of the Italian Armistice. This camp was taken over by the Germans on 9 September, 1943, and the main body moved to Germany on 13th September, 1943 With several other officers, Lieutenant Riccomini hid in the camp while the move took place, but was discovered three days later and moved by bus to Mantova. On the evening of 18th September, 1943, He and 16 other officers were locked in a cattle truck for transportation to Germany. Immediately the train started they began to cut a hole in the back of the truck; this was completed in about three hours and they drew lots as to who should Jump first. Lieutenant Riccomini and another officer Jumped from the moving train Just north of Roverto at about 0430 hrs on the 19th September, 1943, and walked south-east making for Yugoslavia. A week later they Joined a partisan band led by an Italian ex-officer. Lieutenant Riccomini and his companion remained with this band until January 1944, helping to organise resistance, getting together dumps of ammunition, and obtaining intelligence reports. The band was broken up by Germans, and these officers then organised a route to Switzerland by which they themselves and several other ex-Prisoners of War in the area crossed the Swiss Border on 11th January, 1944 ' M.C. London Gazette 1 March 1945 Lieutenant, M.B.E., Army Air Corps, 'For gallant and distinguished services in Italy'. The recommendation states: 'This officer dropped behind enemy lines by parachute on the 27th December, 1944, as 2nd in command of an S.A.S. Troop. On the 11th January, 1945 He was commanding a detachment which ambushed a German column on the Genoa-Spezia road near Bocca del Pignone. One lorry was completely destroyed and a staff car was riddled with machine-gun fire. 30 casualties in killed and wounded were inflicted on the Germans. The success of this operation was entirely due to this officer's personal skill and courage. He directed the fire attack on the column in full view of the enemy, completely ignoring the fire returned by them. On the 19th January, 1945, He again ambushed two vehicles on the road Pontrmoli-Spezia as they were crossing a bridge. One truck was destroyed and a number of casualties were inflicted on the Germans. When 10,000 enemy troops were conducting a "rostrellimento" against the S.A.S. contingent on several occasions it was entirely this officer's skill and personal courage which prevented the enemy from capturing or killing personnel under his command. Despite a badly poisoned foot, in Arctic conditions of gales, sleet and snow, He made his way through deep snow drifts with his men, never failing to carry out any task allotted him. Throughout the operations lasting from 27th December, 1944, to 20th February, 1945, He was a personal source of inspiration and encouragement to his men. his conduct could not have been excelled in any way being far above the normal call of duty ' James Arthur Riccomini was born in 1918 and enlisted in the 5th Battalion Scots Guards. He was commissioned into the R.A.S.C. in 1940 and served with No. 5 Line of Communication Railhead Motor Transport Company on convoy duty and reconnaissance operations in Palestine and Iraq, and with 266 Company in North Africa. He was taken prisoner on 16 June 1941, and ultimately wound up at Gavi, the mediaeval fortress in Liguria used as a punishment camp for persistent escapers and prominent prisoners, who included the 'Phantom Major' himself Colonel David Stirling of the SAS. At the declaration of the Italian Armistice on 8 September 1943, the fortress was surrounded by German troops and wrested from the Italians. A few days later Feldpolizei herded the POW's into rail trucks bound for Austria. Notwithstanding the ruthless reputation of their guards, the sixteen officers in Riccomini's truck determined to escape. Within a few hours they had carved a hole two feet by eighteen inches in an end wall, and having teamed up into pairs, the first officers Jumped from the train. Riccomini was paired with an Italian speaker, Lieutenant H. A. Peterson of the 2/13th A.I.F., and, having successfully cleared the train, they headed for the hills above the town of Trento, where after two weeks they fell in with two Italian ex-officers. Over the ensuing weeks they were involved in building up a partisan force with which to attack German forces during their eventual withdrawal north. In mid October a message was received from partisan headquarters in Padua asking Peterson to stay with the would-be guerillas in an advisory capacity, and informing Riccomini that arrangements were being made to take him out by submarine. Riccomini, however, whose knowledge of Italian was rapidly improving, remained with Peterson at his own request. In early December, feeling fairly confident, they agreed to meet a representative of the Swiss Red Cross in order to send Christmas messages to their families. The Red Cross man proved to be a German agent, and three days later a friendly Italian arrived at their hideout two minutes ahead of a lorry load of German troops. By Jjumping from the second storey windows they took to the hills once more. Hounded by the determined efforts of Germans, Peterson and Riccomini held a conference with the partisans who had already decided upon a show of force. The men and weapons, however, were too widely scattered for immediate action and that evening a message was sent through to Padua for further instructions. Within half an hour they were informed that the Padua headquarters had been almost completely wiped out. At midnight a motor cyclist tipped them off as to the approach of motorised infantry, and they moved up into the mountains where, well above the snow line, they remained with the two Italian ex-officers for the next week, while in the valley below, the predicament of numerous Allied ex-POW's and the Italian families hiding them became increasingly precarious as the area started to fill yet more German troops. In early January Peterson and Ricco mini were informed that two ex-POW's had been recaptured. 'One we managed to rescue', wrote Peterson, 'and He informed us that both Riccomini and myself were badly wanted men. Despite the advice of some agents we decided to clear the British ex-POW's through Switzerland. Ricco mini and I decided to attempt the Journey first and get through the information and reports we had compiled while they could be still of value.' On 8 January 1944 they set out from Fara, and travelling by car, train and foot, crossed the Swiss border in the early hours of the 11th. Riccomini Joined the 2nd SAS Regiment but apparently did not undergo formal parachute training. On 27 December 1944 He made his first Jump, an operational one, direct behind German lines in an area north of Spezia as second in command of Captain R. Walker Brown's 3 Troop, B Squadron, 2nd SAS.
