The memories of readers from the dark days of World War II have been sparked by the recent stories of readers in this newspaper. In particular the memories of Italian prisoners of war (POW) who settled in Somerset after the conflict have been sent in.

Linda Bellachioma of Axbridge and originally from Taunton recalls how her father came to the county after being captured in North Africa and then shipped to Scotland. He was moved to Somerset as the war came to an end and like many POWs was in no hurry to return to war torn Italy.

Giovani Bellachioma worked on farms in Burrowbridge and Wrantage where he met Linda’s mother Joyce who did a bread round on a bicycle in the early 1950s.

Another reader is Pat Pusill (Nee Herring) who recalls how Goathurst housed a number of Italian POWs during the war. She wrote: “There was a POW camp (number 44) situated on the edge of the village, which had at first Italian prisoners and then German prisoners.

“I know that there were prisoners in there from 1943-1947. To get to the camp when you reach the T junction in front of the lodge of Haswell House. All that is left is the concrete entrance. One of the boundaries for the camp was joined to Haswell House. The only prisoners to escape from the camp were two Italians, and they got as far as Southampton, so I was told.

“Every week day the prisoners were taken out by coach to work on a farm. My father, who had a coach firm in Burnham, had two or three coaches taking them out, so two were left at the camp overnight, and the drivers would travel back to Burnham in one vehicle. One farm was the one at Plainsfield, on the corner by the Quantock Weavers, another was at Ivythorn Hill near Street, another one at High Ham and Low Ham.

“The prisoners would dig the ditches, dig any vegetables the farmer had planted, and general work around the farm. The farmer would say to my father that if the prisoners missed a potato we could pick it up. The prisoners heard this and used to pick up two and leave one, so we were well looked after by them.

“Going along in the coach the prisoners would shout pheasant, pheasant, my father would then stop shoot it and one of the German's would fetch it and bring it back to the coach. My father was a tinsmith and would put a bottom in the farmers kettle or saucepan. The farmer would then give us butter, eggs, milk.

“It was very seldom there was a guard on the coach. They did when it was getting near to the time when they were going to be going back home to Germany. They were allowed to go to Bridgwater and supposed to go no further away. Some Sundays we would bring our German friend P.O.W. A854348 to Burnham to our house, but this was not really allowed. He made me a number of toys in the evenings out of any scraps of wood I suppose he could find. One was the copy of his shop at home, and also so dolls house furniture. This was a little too big to go in a dolls house, but I still played with it. The prisoner died in 1958, but we are still in contact with his son. He has been over to see where his father was, and some of the places where he worked. He said his father always said how beautiful England was. He did not really want to go back to Germany, but as his family were there, and he wanted to be with them, so that is why he went back.”

Send in your memories and photos to harry.mottram@nqsw.co.uk