POW Escape Attempts

We tried a couple of times to dig tunnels to get out and...well, one case, we got out beyond the fence and some fellow, peasant or farmer, with a mule went along and broke through the tunnel and they discovered that. We had been hiding... the thing was to try to dispose of the earth we were digging out and we were putting it up on the overhead of the attic of the buildings and trying to spread it around. We never had any luck with tunnels. We got a couple of fellows out one time. They crossed over the wall at night and they got into the sergeant's compound and a couple of sergeants came up over to fill in on roll call. We had roll call twice a day. So these two fellows, these two officers went out with a work party to cut wood and they had a big wood pile out there and they got themselves covered up with wood and they walked back in to camp that night, the rest did rather, and apparently they didn't keep very good count cause the they didn't notice there were two missing, so. The next morning, these fellows were caught walking through the country and they said they were prisoners of war and they called the camp up and the camp said, "No, we're not short of anybody here." Anyway, we eventually twigged what was happening so we sent the the two sergeants back over the wall and we were short two. So they, it was kind of a game, you know. Something to do.

Mr. Spear describes attempts made to escape from the POW camp in Sulmona, Italy.

Allen Maxwell Spear

Mr. Spear lived in Sussex, New Brunswick, before attending Business College in Saint John - he worked in Bathurst, New Brunswick, for a number of years before joining up. Mr. Spear had not enjoyed his Army camp experience in high school and was attracted to joining the Air Force, particularly as a fighter pilot, because of the recognition the Air Force was receiving in the Battle of Britain. He joined as soon as the Air Force lowered the education requirements to high school which allowed him to qualify. After much basic and initial flight training, Mr. Spear was excited to begin Spitfire training in England in fall 1941. In early 1942, he was stationed to North Africa. The camp locations changed often as the RAF and German Air Forces leapfrogged back and forth across the desert. A few months later (July 1, 1942), his engine gave out during a mission. He landed his plane behind German lines, was captured as a POW, and was shipped to Sulmona, Italy for internment. In September 1943, when the Italians capitulated, the POWs at the Sulmona camp escaped. Mr. Spear, along with two other Canadian POWs managed to escape by travelling along the mountains, avoiding the valleys where they were more likely to run into Germans, until they met up with other Canadian troops in November 1943. After being shipped back to England, Mr. Spear was returned to Canada to serve as a Staff Pilot at a Bombing and Gunnery School in Mountainview, Ontario. A post he held until the end of the War, at which time he was discharged.