The Monte San Martino Trust

The Monte San Martino Trust was founded in 1989 by J. Keith Killby, a former prisoner of war in Italy, together with other veterans of the Second World War. The Trust awards English-language study bursaries to Italians, aged 18 to 25, in recognition of the courage and sacrifice of the Italian country people who rescued thousands of escaping Allied PoWs after the Armistice in 1943. The Trust is a registered charity and is supported by PoWs, and the second and third generations of their families, many of whom keep in touch with Italian families who gave refuge to the escapers.

The bursaries are usually granted for four weeks’ study at language schools in Oxford and London. The students come from schools in Italian regions where prisoners were on the run. The Trust relies on donations to fund these bursaries, and is currently running a £1m Appeal to secure their long-term funding .Good progress is being made, with more than £420,000 raised so far. Building on funds already in the bank at the outset of the Appeal in November 2011, we are now three-quarters of the way towards our £1m target. (Click on Fundraising in the Contents panel to find out more, or on the banner above to support the Appeal).

The Trust also supports Freedom Trail walks in Italy. These run along routes taken by escaping prisoners aiming to reach Allied armies in south Italy, or neutral Switzerland. The Trust holds an annual Fontanellato luncheon, named after the PoW camp near Parma from where 600 officers escaped. It issues an annual newsletter and its archive contains more than 300 books and manuscripts by those who were “on the run”.