How an Italian WWII POW came to call his West Australian prison home

When Italian-born Pietro Verazzi was captured by the Australian army in North Africa, his life would change course forever. 

He didn’t know it then, but one day, the WA farm where the young man would be taken as a prisoner of war would become home.

Pietro was a mechanic living in rural Italy when World War II broke out. 

He enlisted in the navy, but not long out of training the young corporal was sent to Tobruk, in Libya. 

He was captured by Australian troops in February 1942, and along with tens of thousands of Italians, he was taken to a prisoner camp in Egypt.

The poor conditions and lack of food during those 10 months in Egypt, she said, led him to temporarily lose his sight. 

“He always said that was the thing he hated the most,” she said. 

From there, prisoners were sent to various Commonwealth countries.

Pietro — or Peter as he came to be known —  was destined for Australia. 

Life as POW labourer begins

As a prisoner in a new country, Peter was moved between states and jobs, even renewing sleepers on the Perth railway line. 

He was then transferred to a POW camp in the bush near Dwellingup, 100 kilometres south of Perth. 

Marrinup No.16 Prisoner of War Camp was built to alleviate a shortage of firewood in Perth and labourers in rural areas. 

Historian and author of A Cage in the Bush, Ernie Polis, said there were hundreds of German and Italian PoWs kept in separate areas of the camp.

“They were well looked after, well fed,” he said. 

“Camp life was easy. It was strict. There was a lot of security. There were guard checks. There were barbed wire fences, lighting around the perimeter.” 

After the lack of food in Egypt, the food at Marrinup always featured in the stories Peter would later tell.

“Food was a big deal when you were a POW. He recounted the food thing quite a lot,”  Anita Verazzi said.

From Marrinup, prisoners were vetted for “extreme political views”, Mr Polis said, before being sent to hubs in farming districts.

“It was difficult,” he said.

“Australians couldn’t speak Italian, and the Italians couldn’t speak English, so they had translation books.”

Peter’s first transfer was to a farm near Williams, 168km south-east of Perth.

“That was pretty tough going,”  Ms Verazzi said.

“They were working from five in the morning to 10 at night, so they actually requested to be sent back to camp.”

Peter’s next destination was Mount Barker, where he was placed with the Mills family. 

Peter’s son, Lori Verazzi, said it was like night and day, compared to his previous experience.

“They were treated like family,” he said.

“They used to sit down with them at meals.”

For more than two years, he worked with Percy Mills, building a house on Mills Street in Mount Barker, in the dairy, and on the apple orchard on the nearby farm.

Seven years away from home

The end of World War II saw him return to his Italian home, arriving by ship more than a year after the war had concluded and seven years after he had left as a teenager.

“When Peter went back to Italy, they sent photos and letters,” Ms Verazzi said.

 “Then the Mills sent him a letter and said, ‘Would you like to come to Australia?'”

Peter and his soon-to-be wife Nella decided to take a chance.

“Mum was saying one day, they landed at Fremantle with a suitcase in their hand and a 350-pound debt, and that’s all they had to their name.

“Peter worked for him [Percy Mills] for two years to pay back his fare. They treated him like he was one of their kids. They helped him do things like get his mechanics licence in Australia.”

A farm called Verbany

Peter and Nella threw themselves into work on the farm and life in the community. 

As the years went by, they purchased a parcel of land from the Mills family, and named it Verbany after an area of Italy where they grew up.

It was on that farm that Peter and Nella’s son Lori grew up, and later, he and Anita raised their children. 

Eventually, on the day of Lori and Anita’s daughter Tash’s wedding — where Percy Mills’ granddaughter Tammy was the makeup artist —  the homestead block came up for sale.

They leapt at the serendipitous sale, buying the homestead so Tash and husband Carlton could return to the family farm.

“It’s a full circle and we couldn’t be happier.”

Peter died in 2001, and Nella in 2022. 

Eighty years on

Now, Tash has taken the reins on the farming operations. 

“It’s hard work and it puts a lot of stress on your life, but I think the rewards are worth it.”

While the farm is a family affair, Tash’s passion is training farm dogs.

“My main goal for them is to get into a bit more trialling,” she said.  

Raising the next generation on the farm where Peter found a home as a POW 80 years ago, holds meaning for them all. 

“I love the fact that we are now living somewhere I grew up, my dad grew up, and my Nonnel had such a connection,” Tash said.