Two minutes later the wooden gates have closed behind us. Once inside we are told to queue up and prepare for another search, but goodness knows what they expect to find after the search we had in Bari camp. The search did not take long owing to the fact that the guards searching us were soon to be off duty and were anxious to get finished.

Looking around the camp I could see that there were only a few other prisoners in the place and one said that he had arrived a few days earlier with the first inmates. The camp itself had been built originally as a wine factory and had only been built in a short time. The buildings, brick built, were large and in construction like large hangars. These were to have been the vat rooms and were large and airy and in a few weeks we were to know just how cold these buildings were.

It is now the middle of October and since our arrival a few days ago, we have all decided that this camp is not a luxury camp. When we entered our new billet we saw that our sleeping spaces were allocated and marked out on the floor by chalked lines. In the space we were to place a bundle of straw which the Italians had given each man as we entered the billet. Two blankets were issued later and that was a blessing for many of us were soon using one as a shawl when we went on roll call and on our walks round the compound.

Every morning we went on parade for the daily count and at mid-day had our issue of rice and tomato puree, a small soya flour loaf and a spoonful of sugar. At 6pm another roll call and at 8pm coffee and 'skilly'. When Red Cross parcels did come, it was amusing to see the lads 'brewing up'.

In each compound was situated an area 20 yards square roped off and was only to be used for the purposes of cooking. When Red Cross parcels were to be had these brewing grounds were a hive of activity, and as time went on, ingenious contraptions were to be seen working full pressure to give a quick brew with the minimum amount of energy used. The first time any of us had brewed up here we had used pieces of brick on which rested our tin of tea. The fuel used had been the staw on which we slept, and kneeling down had blown a the straw, lit from the embers of an earler fire. By the time the tea was boiling, the contents of the tin was tea and burnt straw. As time passed, most of us started to build small tin stoves and instead of blowing the fire, made a small fan to do the job for us, this being operated by the means of a handle.

The base of the machine was usually a board taken from the bunks which were issued after we had been in the camp about a month. The rest of the machine was built from the tins of the Red Cross parcels. Scissors could be brought off the guards for a few cigs and these were to cut the tins to the neccessary shape and size.

Although we now had bunks in which to sleep, we found that as the weather was so cold it was neccessary to spend most of the day under the blankets. It is near Xmas and most of us were now walking round in rags. When it was neccessary to go on parade for roll call we would use one blanket as a skirt, the other as a shawl. Something had to be done about this, so a deputation went to the Commandant asking that some form of clothing be issued to the lads. The answer was that the Red Cross had dispatched British uniforms but that they had not yet arrived. In the meantime, Yugoslav uniforms would be issued as a temporary measure. The lads were overjoyed when these were issued, for although most of us looked likd the cast of a comic opera, it was certainly great to be warmer in these non-heated billets.

Xmas came and the Italians gave us all double rations that day, and an issue of vino. Each billet had a little Xmas show and the talent found was really astounding and it was wonderful to laugh and forget we were prisoners for a moment. The day ended, we went to bed and dreamed of loved ones at home wondering just what they had been doing. 'Peace and goodwill towards men'; that is what we wanted to see, but would it be this year or next? One must just keep on trusting that all would be well for us all soon.