Sgt Major Philip Sydney "Syd" Norton HQ Supply Co 4th Infantry Brigade This story is my late fathers. Born in Peckham, in the London Borough of Camberwell, in 1907, Philip Sydney Norton (known as Sydney, or Syd) was living in the Cape at the outbreak of WW2. Having lost his eldest brother, Teddy, in the Battle of the Somme in 1916 a week after his 21st birthday, my father wasted no time in enlisting in the South African Army, originally in the Umvoti Mounted Rifles. In July 1941 he embarked from Durban on the S.S "Dilawa", having been transferred to Supply Company, 4th Infantry Brigade HQ, on 1 January that year. He served in the Western Desert until 21 June 1942, when he was captured in Tobruk and taken Prisoner of War by the Italians and taken, initially, to a prison camp in Benghazi. Like so many other POWs, he suffered a severe bout of amoebic dysentery and was duly taken by hospital-ship to Naples. From there he was driven by ambulance to a hospital in Caserta, where he remained for five and a half months before being discharged on 31 December 1942. Next day he was taken to Campo PG 54, Fara-in-Sabina, where he remained until he escaped in September 1943. My father wrote his own story of his POW experiences, which can be read here: In 1946, after the war, he left South Africa for New Zealand, where he remained for the rest of his life. |
L/Cpl. Fred John Wright 2nd Battalion Queens Own Cameron Highlanders My father, Fred Wright was in PG54 from August or September 1942 until Sept 1943 when Italy capitulated and he escaped. He was harboured by an Italian family for about 9 months and was was then re-captured. We believe he was injured when he was re-captured as he ended up in the hospital at Stalag 7A (Moosburg) and lost a lung as a result. During his time at Moosburg he be-friended two NZ soldiers, one of whom he said was from Invercargill. I assume he remained at Moosburg until the end of the war. After the war he emigrated to NZ where he spent the rest of his days. He passed away in 1991.
I am now trying to put together the story of his time in the war so if you know of Fred, or have any stories that mention him, I would love to hear. |
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