Saved by the Italian Underground

Heroes Remember

Saved by the Italian Underground

Transcript

I was taking, with a jeep, went too far. Had a sergeant who had the jeep and there was an officer with me. So I don't what happened to the sergeant, I don't know but my jeep hit the mine, I blew off the jeep into a slit trench. Civilians, Italian come up and carried me into that building then they, they were talking English pretty good. So they hid me in their, in their basement. They had a, well just a home underneath the ground. They couldn't stay upstairs because the Germans had their buildings. Their officers set up upstairs in the building, houses, you know. But they hid me into that hole in there so nobody knows who was there just me and these couple of them coming down the halls and talked to me. Bring me something to eat, spaghetti and meatballs, oh, and wine, a big jug like that you know. White wine to drink, no water, no tea, no coffee. I was there about six months before the Canadian troops start coming through and I got out of there. They had taken over that area, tanks were coming through. So I had, civilians were out and you know, getting in touch with them, they start asking if there's a man like me was around there. They said, oh they'll find him. I got out that dug hole, just like half blind you know, staying in the dark all the time. Just my luck that those civilians hid me away, you know, otherwise the Germans would have get rid of me.

Description

Mr. Zayachkowski describes being trapped behind enemy lines, and being hidden and protected by Italian sympathizers for six months.

Michael Zayachkowski

Michael Zayachkowski was born in St. Julien, Saskatchewan on September 10, 1923. He was one of ten children. As a youth growing up in the Depression, Mr. Zayachkowski attended school, worked on the farm and helped in the woods. He enlisted in late 1941, and after a stint as a physical training instructor at Shilo, was deployed overseas. During his years abroad, Mr. Zayachkowski served in North Africa, Italy and D-Day through to Holland as a front line medical technician. Following the war, and after farming for a while, he joined the RCMP, where he served twenty-five years.

Meta Data

Medium:: Video
Owner:: Veterans Affairs Canada
Duration:: 2:06
Person Interviewed:: Michael Zayachkowski
War, Conflict or Mission:: Second World War
Battle/Campaign:: Ortona
Branch:: Army
Units/Ship:: Royal Canadian Artillery
Rank:: Sergeant-Major

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Saved by the Italian Underground

Heroes Remember