Antonio Millozzi MBE (Honorary Member of the British Empire)

We lounged around the last morning opting not to take the tour on the air conditioned bus arranged by ELMS to lay more wreaths, visit other camps and finish with dinner at Porto San Georgio. We are very impressed by Giusppe and Antonio Millozzi and did not want to miss the ceremony awarding Antonio the MBE. Letitia Blake, secretary of MSMT stayed behind to participate in the event, though many of her colleagues continued on to Fontanellato.

 

Anne Copley went on the bus and related the following interesting story of a family from Fermo:

 

The family had married  into an English family a generation or two before and the adults at the time had English names (one was Joyce, one was Max ...)  They had been anti-fascist from the beginning and several had been imprisoned.  However they still became involved in the resistance and in assisting escapers. Being cultured people they spoke several languages, including ...German.  They were of course under suspicion, and the local fascist mayor used to come to the villa (which was quite isolated) on the pretext of collecting some roses for his wife, but really to see if he could come across anything nefarious!  The Germans were very taken with the lady of the house who spoke perfect German and would entertain them to tea.  Upstairs in the attic would be Allied soldiers, but the Germans never suspected that someone so obviously "one of them" could be up to anything.  (I have an alternative theory which is that they may have had suspicions but didn't want to put an end to their cultured afternoons.  I have come across quite few stories of this type - one of the paradoxes of war).

 

After lunching in the garden at Contrada Durano, we proceeded to Monte San Martino at about 15:00 hours (3 pm). Figuring that the small hilltop town had no room for our car due to the visiting dignitaries, we hiked up at least 200 stairs from a parking place at the bottom of the hill. The town was absolutely quiet so we strolled around and stopped at one end to admire the beautiful view in tranquility from a bench near a fountain.

 

We had no idea where to go but saw a notice telling us to proceed to the Pinacoteca at 16:30 hours (4:30 pm) for the unveiling of a plaque before moving to the Teatro Comunale next door for the official event. As it was still early we strolled back to the cafe where we speculated as to whether we could attend given that we had no tickets. We met Jeffrey from ELMS who told us he used to work for the British Foreign Office in Spain and in Latin America. We also noted a distinguished looking man reading a book at the next table who appeared interested in our conversation. To our surprise the three British women we had met at dinner at Contrada Durano the night before, arrived hoping to see the ceremony and we enjoyed chatting with them again. We spied Letitia Blake up the hill and asked if we needed tickets and she cheerfully replied, “Absolutely not! You are most welcome to attend.” So we waved to the three British ladies, and they joined us near the Pinacoteca for the unveiling. The British Ambassador, Christopher Prentice CMG, (Companion of the Order of St. Michael and St. George – sounds impressive) arrived looking very dapper in suit and tie accompanied by his wife. To me he looked just like Hugh Grant though with a bit more gray hair. Imagine Hugh made up to look like someone of my generation. When I mentioned this to Anita Kroll the next day, she concurred. Several of the official-looking people were wearing more formal clothing, but others in the crowd were more casually dressed so we didn’t feel out of place.

 

We witnessed the unveiling of the plaque commemorating this event and the contribution of Monte San Martino Trust and Keith Killby in providing scholarships to the grandchildren of the heroic Italians who aided ex-prisoners of war. Then we entered the Teatro and seated ourselves front and centre. A large TV monitor at our right was ready for a Skype call with Keith Kilby, who at 97 years old, was unable to attend in person. Anne Copley very kindly ensured that we had copies of all speeches translated into English. The ceremony lasted at least one hour and it was very touching to see Antonio Millozzi, who appears to be a very modest gentleman, receive this tribute.

British Ambassador Christoper, Prentice, Dr. Anita Krol and Antonio Millozzi, MBE

 

Keith Killby OBE 97 years old

Afterwards we eschewed the free buffet in the piazza in favour of another of Concetta’s amazing feasts. I began to worry I’d look like a blimp at the end of this trip; lucky thing I was travelling without a scale to weigh myself. Imagine the effects of a final week of eating in Rome!