Newly discovered grandfather - Caruso

[noel_gillett]

Hello everyone, I'm hoping the community can help me find some information on my grandfather who we have recently discovered was Italian.

My grandmother passed away recently and left my mother a letter about her real father. My gran was sent to work on a farm in Wiltshire in UK during WW2 and whilst there met an Italian Prisoner of War - Leonardo Caruso. I understand that captured Italian soldiers also worked on the neighboring farms and were popular among the local community.

My mother was conceived in 1945, but by the time of her birth (Jan '46), Leonardo had been repatriated - back to Italy we presume. My gran was 17 at the time of my mothers birth, Leonardo 24 - so would have been born 1920-22. They corresponded for a short while after as my gran writes that he did see a photograph of my mother.

A DNA test has shown Campania as a region, but beyond that we have no more information.

As an aside, my mother was 'adopted' by her grandparents and then later readopted when my gran married in the mid-50's. The details of her real father were never discussed in the family which we put down to the shame of having a child outside of marriage in those times.

Would anyone have any tips on where we should be starting to look for more information on Leonardo? We would love to know his home town, military record and what became of him after the war.

[noel_gillett]

Salve amici,

This is a bit of a shameless bumping of my request for help and ideas on where we could look to continue our investigation into my grandfather.

• Italian Birth/Death Certificates from 1920's - I can't seem to find anything online

• Italian call up and repatriation & other service records from WW2

• Records of Italian POWs in Wiltshire, England - we think it's likely the camp was https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Marchant_Barracks barracks in Devizes

Any other tips for locating the home town of a person from this period would be much appreciated.

[mmogno]

Check International Committee of the Red Cross
https://www.icrc.org/en/document/reques ... -war-quota

[Farassino]

There were other POW camps in Wiltshire.
What makes you think that the one in Devizes war the right one?
Is that where your grandma was living?

What does it say on your mother’s birth certificate with regards to her father?
Did she take your grandmother’s surname?

Have you found any of your grandma letters from Leonardo?
You say that they corresponded for a while.

Have you seen this?
https://museumsinwiltshire.org.uk/colle ... war-diary/

Caruso is one of the most popular surnames in the Campania region and unfortunately you will not find any online records for the years concerned.

You may find joy if you manage to make a request to the Red Cross but it may take months.
Remember, they only take about 250 requests at the time and you have to be be online at 8am on the 20th of January to stand a chance.

[Farassino]

Alternatively you could contact the Archivio di Stato for military documentation.
Perhaps you can pinpoint his origins.

There are 5 provinces in Campania.

Avellino:
I’ve checked the ruoli matricolari 1901-1925 and have not found a Caruso Leonardo.
https://asavellino.cultura.gov.it/servi ... ispondenza

Caserta:
I’ve checked the ruoli matricolari 1921-1933. Not found in the years concerned.
I haven’t checked 1904-1920.
https://ascaserta.cultura.gov.it/patrim ... ca-on-line

Napoli (3 distretti: Napoli, Aversa and Nola)
No military records online after 1910
Very complex to research here. See the last 3 lines on this page and the first one on the next page.
Perhaps you could try to write to them: as-na@cultura.gov.it
http://patrimonio.archiviodistatonapoli ... 9&sorting=

Benevento: years 1834-1943
Only 4 Leonardo and not in the years you’re looking for.
https://asbn.cultura.gov.it/ruoli-matri ... =&nascita=

Salerno. Liste di leva up to 1916.
https://assa.beniculturali.it/vistadb/l ... r=Contains

All contacts for an eventual email request are present on their home page.

[mmogno]

About ICRC
https://www.icrc.org/en/document/reques ... -war-quota

Service will resume on the 20th of January 2025 at 8 AM (Geneva time). A form will be available at this address. Please fill it in.

We may still be able to deal with requests of a humanitarian nature before then if:

you are the person concerned;
your request is linked to administrative formalities or a compensation claim;
you are seeking to determine the identity of a natural parent or grandparent.

[noel_gillett]

There were other POW camps in Wiltshire.
What makes you think that the one in Devizes war the right one?
Is that where your grandma was living?

What does it say on your mother’s birth certificate with regards to her father?
Did she take your grandmother’s surname?

Have you found any of your grandma letters from Leonardo?
You say that they corresponded for a while.

Thankyou for all the replies, I will try the Red Cross form when that re-opens in Jan.

In answer to these questions, my gran worked on a farm just outside Devizes, Wiltshire and La Marchant is on the outskirts of that town. It's possible Leonardo was stationed elsewhere and then released to work at a local farm near Devizes. My gran stated that they would cycle to meet each other, so they couldn't have been too far from this area.

Both name and occupation of father are blank on mothers birth cert, she kept her surname when she lived with her grandparents, then later changed it when re-adopted by her mother and step-father.

And no,unfortunately no correspondence has been found between gran & Leonardo. Gran married in early 50's and had 5 children, moved house a few times and the family home has now been cleared and sold after her death.

*******

In terms of online records - are they being digitized?
What is the best site to check back to see if new records have been added?
And have I got a hope in hell if I don't have a definite DOB or town of birth?

[pdchenderson13]

Hi There, Back on this site after a while busy with life.

I have been researching Caruso, after my father. I knew his family, but his father (my grandfather or "Nonno") died when he was 3, and so he never really knew his paternal relatives....We do now.

Any how I digress. I am in Scotland, and probably not related, but would love to be able to help.

I wonder which DNA site you are using? If you can locate DNA matches on the paternal side, with italian connections, then you may be able to fine tune the location a little. Also, look at their trees for surname Caruso, as your Grandfather will carry the surname from his paternal line. The names often repeat every second generation so you may (with a lot of luck) see the name repeated.

Good luck!

Patrizia

[noel_gillett]

I have been researching Caruso, after my father. I knew his family, but his father (my grandfather or "Nonno") died when he was 3, and so he never really knew his paternal relatives....We do now.

I wonder which DNA site you are using? If you can locate DNA matches on the paternal side, with italian connections, then you may be able to fine tune the location a little. Also, look at their trees for surname Caruso, as your Grandfather will carry the surname from his paternal line. The names often repeat every second generation so you may (with a lot of luck) see the name repeated.

Good luck!

Patrizia

Ciao! And thanks for your message. We've made very little progress since I posted this message unfortunately.

My mum did her DNA test through 23andme and all the matches have been quite distant and noone we've linked with has any knowledge of Caruso in their family trees.

I'd be really interested to hear your story and what resources you've used to build your knowledge. Feel free to PM me.

[mjclayton1]

Fascinating story. Sorry I can't help except perhaps to add that an Ancestry DNA test would likely open more doors than the 23andMe DNA test does (did). Ancestry has a bazillion Trees (and countless related DNA matches), something that 23andMe simply does not provide. I think there's a very good chance that you will get closer DNA matches there than you did at 23andMe.

Good luck.

[cedrone]

There are not complete lists of Italian prisoners in the UK.
But you may ask the
British Library      customer@bl.uk
if they can find any info anbout your grand-father.
_____
In Italy you may ask a search at the Archivio Centrale dello Stato
(tell me if you need help)

https://acs.cultura.gov.it/ricerche-per-corrispondenza/

[AngelaGrace56]

Following on, my understanding from reading through posts on the following public facebook site is that the Vatican Apostolic Archive (which might seem strange) also hold “some” lists and info re WW2 POWs: https://www.facebook.com/groups/4670135163025595 (Documenti dei prigionieri di guerra italiani WWII)

The few lists that have been posted there vary in content. This is the address that was given to me a few years ago which still looks to be current: archivio@aav.va
https://www.archivioapostolicovaticano. ... zioni.html

The following really interesting private group holds some lists of POWs, mostly received from the British Library, which cedrone has referred to in the previous post here. You’ll probably need to do a bit of scrolling before you get to these lists as there doesn’t seem to have been any posted recently. (And then keep scrolling because there are more lists there.)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/155788294767649 (Prigionieri di guerra in India e Inghilterra)

Angela