{"product_id":"long-journey-home-the-perilous-escapes-of-anzac-pows-from-fascists-in-wartime-italy-by-katrina-kittel","title":"Long Journey Home The perilous escapes of Anzac POWs from fascists in wartime Italy  by Katrina Kittel","description":"\u003cp data-v-6ccf5d04=\"\" class=\"product-keynote\"\u003eCaptured at Alamein, used as forced labour on farms in northern Italy, thousands of Australian and New Zealand diggers escaped their captors when Italy signed an armistice in September 1943, including the author's father. Could they make it over the Alps to freedom in Switzerland before winter set in?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv data-v-6ccf5d04=\"\" class=\"product-description\"\u003eAfter her father's death, Katrina Kittel opens his old Globite suitcase and finds tiny photos, postcards in beautiful handwriting from a mysterious Swiss woman, and memorabilia from his war.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eKatrina Kittel's father Colin Booth was captured during the disastrous July 1942 attempt to take Alamein's Ruin Ridge. He was among 80,000 Allied soldiers sent to camps in northern Italy as prisoners of war.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThey suffered hunger, illness and cruel punishments for petty offences, and they were used as forced labour on farms. When news arrived of the Italian armistice with the Allies in September 1943, POWs escaped the camps, scattering across the countryside.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCol was among those who headed north, aiming for neutral Switzerland. Life in the camps had been challenging, but not nearly as nerve-racking as life on the run, as they dodged German soldiers, Royalist sympathisers and fascist loyalists, while scrounging for food and shelter, trying to reach the navigable mountain passes before winter set in. Kind Italians shared what they could, but for some impoverished mountain villagers, the 4000-lire German bounty for a captured POW was very tempting.\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52933268275489,"sku":"9781761472701","price":38.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0709\/9285\/5329\/files\/9781761472701.jpg?v=1782872663","url":"https:\/\/papertree.co.nz\/products\/long-journey-home-the-perilous-escapes-of-anzac-pows-from-fascists-in-wartime-italy-by-katrina-kittel","provider":"PaperTree","version":"1.0","type":"link"}