Francesco Gulfo - WWII

[Liberati]

I could use some help in figuring out how to request military records for a distant relative, Francesco Gulfo (1919-1945). Gulfo served in the Italian Army during WWII and is listed on the Memorial at Bari that honors soldiers who died overseas. As his date of death is listed as August 29, 1945, my guess is that he died while in Soviet captivity (I would suspect that he would not have been a POW at such a late date if he had been in American or British custody). Assuming he was a Soviet POW, I also figure that he was captured during the Battle of Stalingrad. Anyways, Gulfo was from Colobraro and born on May 30, 1919. Any help on how to track down more information on him would be much appreciated. Thanks!

[suanj]

I searched in this database and no result for Gulfo surname:
ELENCO DEI CADUTI SUL FRONTE RUSSO
http://www.unirr.it/ricerche/ricerca-ne ... dei-caduti
Regards,
suanj

[suanj]

For Francesco Gulfo in Onorcaduti database are 2 results abt same Francesco Gulfo; one the burial is:
BARI - SACRARIO MILITARE CADUTI 'OLTREMARE'
and the other:
PRENZLAU - 'STAEDTISCHER FRIEDHOF'
(German cemetery)
suanj

[Liberati]

Thanks for looking that up. If he did not die in Soviet captivity, I wonder why he died at such a late date (August 1945)? If I am interpreting this correctly, he would have had to die overseas to be on the Bari Memorial. I would have thought that the British or Americans would have released him well before August 1945 if he were a POW with them. Oh well, the research hunt continues! I may try tracking down Red Cross records next. Thanks again for your help.

[Liberati]

I just saw your note about him being buried in Germany - very interesting! I wonder what he was doing in Germany in late summer 1945? I wonder if he was part of the postwar occupation forces? Perhaps his death was not combat related after all. I'll definitely have to look into this further. Thanks again!

[Liberati]

I researched this some more, and I think what happened is that Gulfo was among the one million Italian soldiers rounded up by the Germans after Italy's armistice with the Allies in 1943. Most of them were then sent to POW camps in Germany. Many of these soldiers fell into Russian, French, etc. hands after the war. In Gulfo's case, his burial place is close to the Polish border, so he must have ended up under Russian custody and died from heath issues related to his imprisonment.