scars in the community

7/28/2019 Scars in the Community

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Scars in the

Community

Image courtesy of Scran

Storm in Douglas Bay, August 15 1906


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ITALIANS

IMMIGRATION TO SCOTLAND

ARRIVAL. The Italians began to arrive on Scottish shores from the late19th century onwards. For some, it was seen as a stepping stone en route

to the Americas; for others they were simply looking for a better life.

Initially they came from northern areas such as Tuscany, but emigration

soon spread to the south by the 1900s.

The main reasons Italians sought a new life was as a direct result of economicconditions. Poverty was rife and living conditions were harsh, with famineand sometimes droughts. Italy had an agricultural based economy that wasexperiencing severe hardships and industrialisation was slower than in otherEuropean nations. Many men siezed the opportunity to go elsewhere to earn aliving and therefor left in order to support their loved ones back home.

Although many used Scotland as a stopping point before heading further

promote their own cuisine, they adopted the Scots most popular supper andthis was the ticket to success for many Italian families.

Things went well for many years for the Italian communities who prosperedliving in Scotland. Although things would soon change during the outbreak ofthe second world war...


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ITALIANS ROUNDED UP BY BRITAINAND FRANCE

MUST REPORT TO NEAREST POLICE STATION

EMPIRE - WIDE ACTION

Throughout the British and French Empires have been busy rounding up Italians.

In Australia, 1,000 Italians were arrested before noon yesterday.

where some 8,000 Italians are employed.

Considerable numbers of Italians having known Fascist sympathis have also been taken

into custody in New Zealand, South Africa and Canada.

The number arrested in India is between 200 and 250. The majority of Italian subjects in

throughout France and the French overseas empire.

DAYS TO REPORTItalians in this country must report immediately to the nearest police station of the

district in which they are registered.

Italians whose names begin with letters A to F should report on Thursday, those G to M

on Friday, and N to Z on Saturday.

estimated that there are 100 Italians in Bristol and the police took prompt action

throughout yesterday under Detective-Superintendant Lush. Every alien in Bristol had

secure their detention.

Collar the Lot!!At the beginning of the second world war, the Britishgovernment had a somewhat relaxed attitude to the tens

of thousands of enemy aliens that had taken up residence

in the country, most of them being refugees who had

found sanctuary in Britain from the Nazis. Following the

fall of France and the fear of invasion in May/June 1940,

panic arose and led to a mass round-up of most Germans

in Britain. When Mussolini chose to join forces with Hitler,

thousands of Italians were rounded up, irrespective of

their political alliegiances nor how long they had been resident in Britain. It was thenthat Winston Churchill, so the cabinet minutes record, issued the order: Collar the Lot!.


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Unruly scenes were witnessed in Gourock last night when a number of young men,

mostly from Greenock and Port Glasgow, demosntrated against Italians. The police

were prepared for all eventualities and assisted by the special constables in Gourock

and Inverkip, prevented the demostrators from getting out of hand.

From about 7 oclock bands of youths arrived in the burgh on foot, in buses, and on

cycles. They congregated near the Pierhead. At 10 p.m. the gathering numbered several

hundreds. The police kept the crowd on the move.Ultimately several stones were thrown and windows were broken in one Italian shop,

the National Bank, and a stationers shop at the Pierhead. The police lost no time

dealing with the situation, and eleven men were arrested, three of them being soldiers.

Riots in the streetsFollowing the announcement that Mussolini had joined forces with Hitler, local people

turned against their Italian neighbours and wreaked havock on their properties.

A Young Lawrence Toma.

Image courtesy of Roland Toma.

The Greenock Telegraph and Clyde Shipping Gazette - Wednesday June 12th 1940

If there is to be any looting, I would prefer the stock to be given to the soldiers. Thesewere the words of Mr R. Toma, owner of the Continental Cafe, Kempock Street, Gourock,

for their use for the duration of the war.

H immediately took possession of the

premises, which are large and commodius.

For the rest of the evening men in uniform

made themselves at home, and were

given everything free of charge.Mr. Toma, whose generous action was

much appreciated, was born

in Port Glasgow and has been brought up

in this country. His wife is an American.

ITALIANS GIFT TO TOC HGourock Cafe Handed Over


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Internment Camps

Whistling Aliens Reach Isle of Man

, arrived in Ramsey, Isle of

internment camp taken on the island.

When the men assembled on the quayside they appeared in good spirits, carrying their

own luggage. By the labels some seemed to have been around the world.

called Does anyone speak English? there was a chorus ofYes, and they were told to

form themselves into fours to march to the camp.

While doing this somebody started to whistle Its a Hap-Hap-Happy Day,and this

refrain was immediately taken up by the majority of the men. Big crowds watched their

arrival in silence.

By the end of 1940, 14,000 enemy aliens were interned on the Isle of Many. Many

of them were University Professors and other professionals and the camp includedsuch inmates as Sir Nikolaus Pevsner, Lord Weidenfeld, Sir Charles Forte, the famous

artist Kirt Schwitters, and the concert pianists Rawicz and Landauer.

Many of the men who were arrested were taken by boat to the Internment Camps that

had been set up on the Isle of Man. The camps were self-governed and relied on theinmates themselves to undertake the responsibility of good order and discipline. The

men were not prisoners but enjoyed freedom of movement and association as long as

they remained within the limits of the Camp.


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on the Isle of Man

Internees kept themselves busy

by working on the island. All

camps had workshops available to

craftsmen, labour was also required

in the Islands quarries and the

demand for labour on the Islands

farms remained strong throughout

the war.

For leisure, the most popular

attraction was the Islands cinema.

Once or twice a week, entire camps

would make a visit to the cinema

where Internees paid 6d to watch

shown to the public. Thee of the

camps on the Island produced their

own newspapers, these were called

the Onchan Pioneer, the Sefton

Review and The Camp.

At Camp Douglas, the internees

organised a football league, as the

camp was divided into houses

and each house had a team or two.

Referees were nominated to see

that the rules were kept!


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Newspaper articles courtesy of the British News Archives.

Images courtesy of SCRAN and Martin Giovanacci/Roland Toma.

THE ARANDORA STAR

of places to put people. On 11th of June, Canada agreed to accept three thousand

prisoners of war and four thousand internees. By 15th of June there were three ships

available to take 7,000 prisoners of war and internees to Canada. Fifteen hundred were

to be transported from Liverpool to Newfoundland, aboard the Arandora Star.

German Interned Males, 86 German Prisoners of War and 734 Italian Interned Males. On

July 2nd at 7:58am she was struck by a torpedo from the German submarine U-47. She

sank just over 30 minutes later.

She had fourteen lifeboats. One had been destroyed by the submarine, another could

not be launched and two were damaged during launch and useless. At least four were

successfully launched, and one other sank shortly after being launched.

682 perished on the Arandora Star. 446 of these were Italian nationals

who had made their home in Britain.

The survivors were taken to Greenock, yet within 8 days over two hundred of them had

been taken back to Liverpool and sent to Australia aboard the Dunera.

The Arandora Star.

Image courtesy of Roland Toma.

A thank you to the pupils of St Columbas High School for their participation in this booklet.

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