I14 War experience

Narrator: Giuseppina Pozzobon

My grandfather, called Giuseppe, served in the army for a year and a half; then he was sent to Africa for three years as a Caporal Maggiorre.

The Africans by putting their ears on the ground could hear the enemies arriving. My grandfather and his fellow soldiers used to wait for the thaw during the night to drink and to wash them because there was no water. Once during a bombardment he saved his life taking shelter under a dead horse broken in two parts.

After the war in Africa he came back home for a month. Then he was sent to Yugoslavia for another two years. There he was captured by the Germans and sent to a prison camp in Germany where, during the night, he worked wrought iron to make war supplies. There he was beaten twice because he had picked up a piece of cigarette and he had gotten some bread from a woman.
Because of the lack of food, during the night he dreamt about drinking milk and eating maize mush. Thanks to the Americans’ liberation he managed to go back home.

This is the story told by my grandmother Giuseppina Pozzobon.