208795 CSM. Frank Charles Ricketts British Army 1st Battalion South Wales Borderers from:Portsmouth My father, Frank Ricketts was a career soldier who followed his father W.C Ricketts into the South Wales Borderes after leaving the Duke of Yorks Military school in Dover. He enlisted on 1st Aug 1930. He served in Wazistan on the North West frontier from 1936/37. On the outbreak of WW2 his Battalion was sent to Iraq & then on to Libya. Nearly all the of the 1st Battalion was captured by the Italians in June 1942. Some were sent to Chieti in south east Italy while the rest (including my Father were sent to Sulmona). In Sept 1943 those in the Chieti camp were tranfered to Sulmona. At the end of Sept 1943 a mass escape was made. Of all the escapees only four officers and about thirty men made good their escape. The rest were either recaptured and sent to Germany, Stalag 11A (one of which was my Father). Or, as in the cases of Captain Wright, Lt J Tidy and the men with them, they were all killed by the Germans.
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