Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Charles Henry Dietman of 18 John Street, Solomontown, Port Pirie, South Australia enlisted into the Army on the 17th June 1940; Service Number SX5578.

He was a part of the 2nd/43rd Infantry Battalion that formed a month later at Woodside camp, near Adelaide. The 2/43rd left South Australia at the end of December and moved to Melbourne, where it joined the convoy taking the brigade to the Middle East. The battalion arrived at Egypt at the end of January 1941.

On the 18th August that same year, a telegram was received by Charles' parents stating that Charles and good pal Colin Murn, also from Solomontown, had been wounded by shrapnel. Both were wounded in Tobruk, Libya.

Tobruk finally fell on the 21st June 1942 with the surrender of 33,000 British, Australian, Indian and Polish soldiers. On the 1st November 1942 Charles was named on the casualty list as Missing in Action and confirmed as a Prisoner of War in February 1943 by Red Cross lists. He spent time in Campo 85, at Tuturano, near Brindisi, Italy up until the Italian armistice.

When the Italian armistice was announced on 8th September 1943 there were an estimated 80,000 Allied POWs in Italy. At this point all Senior British Officers (SBOs) informed their men of Field Marshal Montgomery’s so-called 'standfast' order. This instructed them to remain in camp and await imminent liberation by the advancing Allied forces.
In reality, overall victory in Italy took far longer than anticipated. Reaction to the armistice varied from camp to camp. In some, the Italian Commandant refused to hand over control to the SBO or his equivalent; others opened the gates and disappeared along with the guards. In the latter circumstances, the more perceptive SBOs, realising the Germans would quickly take control, encouraged individual escapes; while some of the more enterprising prisoners escaped without official sanction. Some escapees fled northwards towards Switzerland or southwards towards allied lines. Others hid near their camp to await developments or took the opportunity to explore the vicinity before voluntarily returning to their camp.
Ultimately, the confused situation meant that by the end of 1943 some 50,000 POWs had been rounded-up and transported to camps in Germany.
Charles was transported to Stalag 18A in Wolsberg, Austria. His Prisoner of War number was 7464 and he was held here until liberated on the 15th June 1945.

On Saturday the 15th September 1945 Corporal Charles Dietman was afforded a Welcome Home celebration at St Barnabas Hall to honour his service.
Sources:
Virtual War Memorial Australia
2nd/43rd Battalion War diaries.
University of Melbourne
Trove Australia