This research by Alfonso Pacitti has been published in the Modern Italy Journal.
The paper critically reviews and examines the available data concerning Italians embarked on the SS Arandora Star on 30 June 1940. It encompasses their fate on 2 July when the ship was sunk, their subsequent journeys and the sources used to verify the conclusions. The principal aim is to establish, as far as is possible, the precise number, correct names and other details of those who were embarked on the ship.
A fully validated ‘Embarkation Listing’ is published for the first time.

Giorgio Scola, interned as an Italian 'alien' in June 1940, survived the sinking of the Arandora Star and after his rescue, he was sent to Australia on the HMT Dunera. As a young twenty-three year old man, he was interned for over five years. Giorgio returned to England in summer 1945.
His diary and drawings provide a fascinating personal insight into his WWII experience.

Read more about this personal account here .

On Wednesday 17th April 2024 a monument to Francesco D'Inverno was unveiled during a moving ceremony at Girvan Cemetery. Francesco's body was washed ashore at nearby Lendelfoot Bay in August 1940. Discovered by a local boy, his body was identified and buried in an unmarked grave. Francesco's family were never informed that his body had been recovered. After some dedicated investigative work, his grave was located, his family informed and money raised to erect a fitting stone marking Francesco's final resting place.

Read more about this fascinating story and the ceremony here .

Sunday 12th November 2023 was the day for the annual ceremony at the Ossario to remember those Italians who died during World War II while in captivity in Australia. This lovely wreath commemorates my great uncle Pasquale Pacitti.

The remains of 130 Italians, both Prisoners of War and civilian Internees, are interred in this attractive Mediterranean style building, nestled in a quiet corner of Murchison Cemetery. Read more about the Ossario here .

Recent research has been completed concerning the number and identities of those Italian internees who were boarded on the Arandora Star on the night of July 1, 1940.

This definitive research and data updates previously accepted numbers. There were some 706 Italian men herded aboard the ship of whom 442 perished and 264 were rescued. Read the science behind the research and the full details and revised lists here .

The delayed Arandora Star International Commemorative Conference to mark the 80th Anniversary was held in London on Tuesday, 30th November.

This was a moving and fitting event. The agenda was wide-ranging and interesting and the speakers were excellent. Details of the day together with my personal notes and recollections can be found in the link.

In his wartime dairy, my father wrote: On 11th June I began my prison life in Barlinnie. It is quite ironic that previously, I used to sing a ballad that I used to think funny. It was entitled "Eleven More Months and Ten More Days” and the chorus continued “I'll be out of the Calaboose”.

If I had known then that my incarceration was going to be somewhat longer, more like "Fifty More Months and Ten More Days”, then I would have thought the ballad even less funny.

A century ago, using postcards was a major method of communication. Postcards would often be printed with a personalised image on one side and an address template on the other. Photo albums were created to specifically hold this kind of image.

I came across a set of three postcards in an old postcard album belonging to my Nonna Rosa. They provide a fascinating insight into how families kept in touch without the ever-present internet and social media.

Two Pacitti families from the villages of Cerasuolo and Filignano, in the province of Molise in southern Italy, left their homeland and emigrated to Paris in the 1880s to start a new life.

During the following hundred years, descendants of these Pacitti families became an artist's model, an actress and a renowned gallery proprietor; this portrait of one of them hangs in the famous Museé d’Orsay on the banks of the Seine.

Cerasuolo: an aerial view

An exciting new YouTube video has just been released by cugino Director Michael Pacitti.

With imagery captured mostly by drone, this six minute clip provides a fascinating set of scenes and captures brilliantly the essence of the village.

View on YouTube: Cerasuolo YouTube
Watch in a new tab: Cerasuolo Video

On the 80th anniversary of the sinking of the Arandora Star, we remember all those men who sailed, were rescued or died as a result the disaster. Of course, there are some who perished who were never recorded - we remember them too.

Historical research from Filignano provides new insight to migrations to the village: three Pacitti brothers (Cosmo, Mattia e Silvestro) from Picinisco, together with their families were recorded in the local census (Registro del Anime) around 1680.

IS News è notizia, Filignano 13-10-2014

Si terrà domani, martedì 14 ottobre all ore 19, presso la frazione di Cerasuolo, al bar ristorante "La Tiana", una manifestazione pubblica per festeggiare Alfredo Pacitti (detto Badoglio) che raggiunge il suo primo secolo di vita. All'incontro il Sindaco Lorenzo Coia, accompagnato dal commandante della stazione di carabinieri De Lucia e dal nuovo parrocco Don Francois Kayiranga, consegnerà una targa ricordo per l'avvenimento.

The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, commonly known as the Two Sicilies, was the largest and wealthiest of the Italian states. It was formed in 1816 of a union of the Kingdom of Sicily and the Kingdom of Naples. The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies was annexed by the Kingdom of Sardegna in 1861 and shortly afterwards became part of the Kingdom of Italy. The Kingdom of Sicily was initially formed by the Norman King, Roger II in 1130. It was a successor state of the County of Sicily which had been founded in 1071 during the Norman conquest.