So here’s the question. Part of my novel FAR AWAY is set in a POW camp in Italy during the Second World War and part of the escape described there (based on what actually happened to my father) involves five men hiding in the roof of one of the prison huts.
So in order to win a copy of my book answer this question: How long did they manage to stay in the roof? This includes the day they got in and the day they got down. The camp was in Sulmona in southern Italy and the month was October 1943. The roof’s proportions were as follows: 14′(L) x 6′(W) x 3’6″(H) – yes, that’s right they couldn’t stand upright.
Here’s a rough sketch from Beverley Edge’s diary; he was one of the five. I’ve coloured the men in orange.
A sketch from Beverley Edge’s diary of one of the huts in Sulmona POW camp in Italy
The person who gets closest will be the proud winner of a signed copy of FAR AWAY. I mean how can you resist? I would particularly encourage people to enter who have never won anything in a competition before – that would be me, by the way. My father, on the other hand, only had to sneeze on a raffle ticket to have a bottle of sherry winging its way to him from the church fête.
A great deal of luck was involved in his escape and maybe it stayed with him afterwards.
If you’d like to read about the book please click the link below for a lovely review from the Manchester Military History Society:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1360145221
I’m going to say 28 days, which is probably nowhere near, but I’ve already got the book so that’s okay 🙂
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You have single-handedly saved me from the ignominy of setting a competition which no one appears to have the slightest interest in entering! Bless you for ever! Actually not a bad guess at all it was in fact 19 days in reality. I think I’ve squished it in the book to 17. So you are my winner. If there’s anyone else who you think might like the book now or in the future let me know and I’ll put it in the post.
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Hi! I just found your blog. I live in Sulmona and I know about the POW camp you were referring to. Have you visited?
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Hello! No, I haven’t but my father and the two men he escaped with went back there with my sister, Letitia, who speaks fluent Italian. I think it was in the 90s and they managed to get access to the camp and I think met up with some members of the family who looked after them during the war. Once they escaped from the camp they were hidden in a flat in Sulmona before being guided through the mountains and back to the allied forces. My main perception of Sulmona other than through my father’s memoir is that created by the George Clooney 2010 film The American which I think was partly filmed there! Are you enjoying living there?
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Wow! It sounds like an amazing story. I’m sure people from Sulmona would love to read it the book. Do you have any plans to translate it into Italian?
I do enjoy living here. It can be pretty dull sometimes but I know some good people, which is important in a place like this. Do you have any plans to visit?
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Hi, no plans to translate it into Italian at the moment I’m afraid and no plans to visit but if I do I will definitely let you know!
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