Three Men Escape From Fascist Prison

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 769, 16 September 1929, Page 13

Three Men Escape From Fascist Prison

AMAZING DARING AT NIGHT IN MOTOR-BOAT How the Hon. Emilio Lussu, Professor Carlo Rosselli and Signor Francesco Nitti, three of Mussolini's most carefully guarded prisoners, escaped from the island of Lipari, where they had been banished, is a tale of amazing daring, says “The Daily Mail.” 11 Duce’s three Monte Cristos fled under the noses of the Fascist governors of Lipari and of the 400 devoted Blackshirt police who guarded the 500 political prisoners in the small island. Today I saw the three refugees in the house of one of their friends here and they told me the full story of their wonderful escape and details concerning the treatment inflicted by Mussolini on his political opponents, says the “Mail’s” Paris correspondent. The’Hon. Emilio Lussu, a most popular figure in Sardinia, and Signor Francesco Nitti, a cousin of the former Premier, are bachelors, but Professor Carlo Rosselli, a young savant, has an ; English wife. He was married two | years ago to Miss Marion Cave, of I Uxbridge, who was at the time a j student in Florence. A few months after his marriage he ; was placed under arrest for having j helped Signor Philippo Turati, the ; deputy and leader of the Socialist Reformists, to escape from Italy, where 1 his life was threatened. His wife was an expectant mother, and for months she lived in anguish. Professor Rosselli was sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment, at the end of which he w r as deported to the island of Lipari, where Signor Nitti and Signor Lussu were already prisoners. Long-Planned Scheme Twice during the winter Professor Rosselli’s wife obtained permission to go to the island. She is now in Italy, with her baby and some of her relatives. “We had been planning this escape since we arrived at Lipari,”-said Professor Rosselli, and, pointing to a young man who had just entered the room, added. “It was this devoted friend here who carried it out. His name may not be revealed. The police had transformed the island into a military camp; Blackshirts, with guns and machine-guns, guarded the coast, while fast motor-boats, with powerful searchlights, wireless apparatus and guns, were patrolling day and night. “The 500 prisoners had to report every morning at 8 o’clock, when they received their daily allowance of 2s, on which they have to live, as they are not permitted to receive funds from relatives or friends. At night the police i call at the prisoners’ homes to make

sure they are there. Many attempts were made' by political captives to escape, but they were always caught before they left the island. “We used to meet almost every day and discuss plans for escape. We came to the conclusion that the most likely one to succeed was the most audacious one, because it was the most simple—and that was to leave in a boat which would come to fetch us. We had discovered in the great police net spread all round the island there was a slight hole through which there was a possibility of escape. Fisherman Disguise “Our devoted friend here, who knows the coast extremely well, secured a racing motor-boat, which was camouflaged. "With it he made many trips in the open sea preparing for the great voyage. On the island, our preparations were most laborious. For months we reconnoitred the movements of the “enemy,” and rehearsed our coming exploit. Signor Lussu. who had been ill for months, and never went out officially from his house, used to steal away in the evening disguised as an old fishernfan. “When everything was ready, we sent word to our friend to come and fetch us ou Saturday evening, July 27, at a certain hour. On Saturday evenings the officials generally enjoy ! a rest in the local cafes after dinner. There was no moon, and the sky was clouded. Soon after darkness I went j quietly toward the sea. Signor Nitti, ; who had been in a cafe, also took a stroll. We had to pass in front of a cafe where the governor and the chief were enjoying themselves. There were 20 police outside, and we also; passed a patrol of Blackshirts, who laughed on seeing an old fisherman, with a swollen face and a handkerchief round his head—this was the Hon. Emilio Lussu. “Finally, by different ways, we all got to the shore, and entered the water fully clothed. We swum along the rocks guarded by several sentries. We {hen reached a point where we were to meet our friend with his motorboat. For three-quarters of an hour we had to wait, holding on to the rocks, with only our heads above the cold water. “If our friend had been half an hour late he would have been caught by the patrol boat, and we, on the other hand, would have been missed by the police. If we had been caught, it would have meant for us six years in a prison col!. “Suddenly we lizard the hum of our friend’s motor-boat. We crawled into the boat, which left at full speed. We did not feel safe until we had covered ! about 100 miles. Whether we were , chased I cannot say, for it was very I dark that night. ; “I believe the governor of the island I could never have believed that a boat ; had come for us a few hundred yards from the cafe, where he was spending the evening, and he must have organised a search for us on the island. After many hours* wandering in the open sea, we finally landed safely on a certain coast, and came to France by ordinary means of transport.**