Katrina Kittel
Paperback 2019
Shooting Through: CAMPO 106 Escaped POWS after the Italian armistice
From Alamein to the Alps, this book tells a tale of captivity, survival and escape, shining a light on the oft-neglected experiences of Australian POWs in Italy.
Dr Lachlan Grant, Australian War Memorial
Thoroughly researched and beautifully written, Kittel explores the ANZAC narrative from a fresh perspective. Insightful and compelling, Kittel’s account eschews glorification and instead illuminates the experiences of ordinary men in extraordinary circumstances.
Michelle Scott Tucker, Elizabeth Macarthur: a life at the edge of the world
Its strength lies not in emotion, but in presenting a window into the soul and decision making of the POWs in their relationships with themselves, authorities and the Italian populace…I rate this as the best account of overall POW experience that I have read.
Major (Retired) Warren Farmer
In September 1943, Italy capitulated to the Allies. Seizing the moment, Australian and New Zealander prisoners of war walked out of Italian farms located between Turin and Milan.
Escape, for most, was easy. What came next, the evasion phase of their war—weeks and months on the loose, foot-slogging to the frontier, identifying friend from foe, scraping up a feed, weighing up needs for shelter and the dangers for Italian helpers, discovering the breadth of Italian Resistance—was in all likelihood more taxing on POWs’ resilience than the longer periods spent within prison camps.
Drawing on first-hand accounts and archival records, historian Katrina Kittel weaves stories of ANZAC escaper groups through time and theme to reveal their key evasion routes and representative outcomes.
Available to buy through online sellers or selected bookstores. Signed copies can be purchased from the author: katrinakittel9@gmail.com
Published by Echo Books.