No Regard for the Truth

Friendship and kindness. Tragedy and Injustice. Rowville’s Italian prisoners of war

Shortlisted – Victorian Community History Awards 2020
Community Diversity Award Commendation – Victorian Community History Awards 2020

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March 1946. The war was over. Italian prisoners of war who had been captured several years earlier in northern Africa were interned in camps around Australia and waiting to be returned home. One Saturday evening, the commandant of the Rowville internment camp, Captain Waterston, shot and killed a prisoner, Rodolfo Bartoli, who he claims was attempting to escape. Rodolfo, a young prisoner from Florence, had met a local girl whom he was hoping to marry one day.

Only days before the shooting, a government inquiry into the alleged mistreatment of prisoners at the Rowville camp had been announced. Was it really an escape attempt? Was Captain Waterston justified in his actions? Using the original court transcripts, official documents and personal accounts, No Regard for the Truth follows the police investigation, Military Court of Inquiry, Coroner’s Inquest, Government Inquiry and the subsequent court-martial hearings. Disturbing revelations about the camp administration begin to emerge – drunkenness, prisoner assaults, theft of property, the reckless firing of weapons and a desire to brush away the facts.

RRP: $30
ISBN: 9780648679608
Published by BookPOD

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RRP $30 plus $6.60 postage for a single copy within Australia. For overseas postage, please contact darren@darrenarnott.com prior to purchasing. You can purchase directly from author safely with a credit card via PayPal by clicking on the credit card of your choice below. No PayPal account required.

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Contact

darren@darrenarnott.com

Twitter: @darrenarnott

Darren is available to speak at history groups, book clubs and community events about his research into ‘No Regard for the Truth’.

Contact Darren directly for details.

About the author

‘Following up historic clues’ is the hobby of amateur historian Darren Arnott. Darren is a Melbourne based IT Security Consultant. Outside of work, he was a former editor for The Rowville-Lysterfield Community News. Intrigued by the history of Rowville’s Italian prisoner of war camp, Darren’s research has uncovered this incredible story.