Lance-Sergeant David Neil
National Archives catalogue reference - WO 208/3325/59
Name: 2980161 L/Sgt. Neil, David.
Unit: 2nd Battalion The Scots Guards, 7th Armoured Division.
Captured: Sidi Rezegh, 23rd November 1941.
Escaped: Campo 53, 8th January 1944.
Left: Naples, 16th November 1944.
Arrived: Glasgow, 2nd December 1944.
Date of Birth: 15th July 1917.
Army Service: Since 8th January 1938.
Peacetime Profession: Regular Army.
Private Address: 103 Younger Street, Alloa, Clackmannanshire.
1. Capture:
I was captured with my unit at SIDI REZEGH on 23 Nov 41.
2. Camps in which imprisoned:
BENGHAZI 23 Nov - 12 Dec 41.
BRINDISI 12 Dec - 31 Dec 41.
Campo 59 (SERVIGLIANO) 31 Dec 41 - Sep 42.
Campo 53 (MACERATA) Sep 42 - Sep 43.
3. Attempted Escapes:
In Campo 59 (SERVIGLIANO) during the summer of 1942 I was a member of a party which planned to escape. The party consisted of ten Sergeants, one Chief Petty Officer, a Corporal, and a Lance-Corporal. We dug three tunnels, each of which was given away to the Italians before its completion. We then made a fourth tunnel from under the concrete floor of the barrack hut in which a number of us were sleeping. This tunnel took 15 days to dig. Our only tools were pieces of iron, and the earth was removed in Red Cross boxes and disposed of in a lavatory. We all got out one night in Aug or Sep 42 through this tunnel, which came up underneath the parcels room outside the camp and not far from a sentry box. As we left the tunnel we split up. I went with Sgt. POWELL, R.H.A. After we had passed through S. VITTORIA IN MATENANO (ITALY 1:250,000, Sheet 25, X 58) we were stopped by an English-speaking Italian. POWELL, who spoke German, maintained that we were Germans, and the man allowed us to go. Just afterwards, however, we were stopped by Fascists in a motor car, and were taken back to the camp at SERVIGLIANO. We served a sentence of ten days in the cells and after that 15 days' "open arrest" during which we had to sleep in the cell at night. All the escape party were recaptured. One man, Cpl. PARK, R.A.S.C., took ill in the cell and died a few days later in hospital. After serving our sentence we were removed to Campo 53 (MACERATA).
4. Journey from Campo 53 (MACERATA):
About 15 or 16 Sep 43, after the Armistice, about 800 P/W left Campo 53 (MACERATA) when news had been received that the Germans were approaching. I went with Gnr. Edward WELSH Royal Artillery; Dvr. John WALKER, R.A.S.C.; and Dvr. John WOODHOUSE, R.A.S.C. After four days' walking we reached MOGLIANO (X 59) where a farmer sheltered us in his house till 10 Dec. Food was supplied by other villagers. Till 10 Dec we were free to walk about, but on that day Sgt. "Ben" FORD, 25 Field Regt. R.A., was shot by a Fascist while out walking. Another British soldier who was with FORD was wounded in the hand and wrist, but got away and was hidden by the villages. In view of this incident, my companions and I decided to split up. Accompanied by WELSH I went to MACINA, a small village between MOGLIANO and CORRIDONIA (S 60).
We found shelter with a farmer. At 0300 hrs on 1 Jan 44 a party of Fascists from CORRIDONIA raided the house. WELSH and I were taken with our host and his brother to the prison in MACERATA. He and I were wearing only singlets and old trousers, and the weather was bitterly cold. In MACERATA WELSH and I were taken straight to Campo 53 and handed over to the German Commandant, who demanded of the Fascists why we had no clothes.
We were put into a ward in the camp hospital where there already were 14 Englishmen and 15 Americans, all escaped P/W who had been recaptured by Fascists. On the first night we made a hole in the brick wall of the ward. I got out through the hole that night (1-2 Jan) with a Scots soldier serving in a Commando unit, but had to return because a German patrol came round. On our seventh night in the ward (8 Jan) the German Sergeant-Major in charge of us came round and announced that if we were there to-morrow, we would be sent to MILAN. We took this as an invitation to escape. Accompanied by the Commando soldier and a Rifleman I got out through the hole in the wall, which had meanwhile been hidden by a bed. It was a bright moonlight night, and our footsteps must have been audible on the frozen snow; but the German sentries paid no attention. They were singing and firing Verey lights for amusement, and I think they were drunk. As we got out my two companions and I were joined by another man. We went through three compounds and out of the camp through a gate in the football field which was standing open.
After leaving the camp I guided my three companions to the house in MOGLIANO, where I had previously stayed. An hour after our arrival there two Americans and one English Sergeant, who had also escaped from the hospital at Campo 53, arrived at the same house, having heard us talking English as they passed. The English Sergeant told us that WELSH had escaped just after him, but that they had lost him. That night my three companions left for ASCOLI MICENO, where they had previously been, and the three others also decided to go off on their own. I remained in the house in MOGLIANO.
Next day (9 Jan), accompanied by WALKER and WOODHOUSE, we had been in SERVIGLIANO and had returned to MOGLIANO after my capture by the Fascists, I went to look for WELSH. We found WELSH in MOGLIANO. He and I went to stay with our original helper in MOGLIANO, but had to leave after three or four days because of Fascist searches. We went to live in an old house, reputed to be haunted and therefore uninhabited, near FRANCAVILLA (S 60). Local people supplied us with food and money, and had our boots repaired for us. After the Fascist search had died down we went to live in different houses in the district. I went to live with a family in MACINA and remained there till 22 Jun 44, when the Poles arrived in MONTE S. GIUSTO (S 60).
After reporting to the Poles I was sent to NAPLES and SALERNO. From SALERNO I returned without permission to MACINA to marry the daughter of the family with whom I had been staying. In MACINA I met Major LEFROY, an officer of "A" Force. I explained my position to him and he employed me for 29 days at PEDASO (S 86). I then returned to SALERNO and was there, except for a short period during which I was allowed to fetch my wife from MACINA, till 16 Nov. On arrival in GLASGOW on 2 Dec I was allowed to take my wife to my parents' home in ALLOA before reporting at 91 Reception Camp.