Scars in the Community

Image courtesy of Scran Storm in Douglas Bay, August 15 1906

ITALIANS
IMMIGRATION TO SCOTLAND

ARRIVAL. The Italians began to arrive on Scottish shores from the late

19th century onwards. For some, it was seen as a stepping stone en route to the Americas; for others they were simply looking for a better life. Initially they came from northern areas such as Tuscany, but emigration soon spread to the south by the 1900s.

The main reasons Italians sought a new life was as a direct result of economic conditions. Poverty was rife and living conditions were harsh, with famine and sometimes droughts. Italy had an agricultural based economy that was experiencing severe hardships and industrialisation was slower than in other European nations. Many men siezed the opportunity to go elsewhere to earn a living and therefor left in order to support their loved ones back home. Although many used Scotland as a stopping point before heading further promote their own cuisine, they adopted the Scots most popular supper and this was the ticket to success for many Italian families. Things went well for many years for the Italian communities who prospered living in Scotland. Although things would soon change during the outbreak of the second world war...

Collar the Lot!!

At the beginning of the second world war, the British government had a somewhat relaxed attitude to the tens of thousands of enemy aliens that had taken up residence in the country, most of them being refugees who had found sanctuary in Britain from the Nazis. Following the fall of France and the fear of invasion in May/June 1940, panic arose and led to a mass round-up of most Germans in Britain. When Mussolini chose to join forces with Hitler, thousands of Italians were rounded up, irrespective of their political alliegiances nor how long they had been resident in Britain. It was then that Winston Churchill, so the cabinet minutes record, issued the order: Collar the Lot!.

ITALIANS ROUNDED UP BY BRITAIN AND FRANCE

MUST REPORT TO NEAREST POLICE STATION
EMPIRE - WIDE ACTION
Throughout the British and French Empires have been busy rounding up Italians. In Australia, 1,000 Italians were arrested before noon yesterday. where some 8,000 Italians are employed. Considerable numbers of Italians having known Fascist sympathis have also been taken into custody in New Zealand, South Africa and Canada. The number arrested in India is between 200 and 250. The majority of Italian subjects in throughout France and the French overseas empire.

Italians in this country must report immediately to the nearest police station of the district in which they are registered. Italians whose names begin with letters A to F should report on Thursday, those G to M on Friday, and N to Z on Saturday. estimated that there are 100 Italians in Bristol and the police took prompt action throughout yesterday under Detective-Superintendant Lush. Every alien in Bristol had secure their detention.

DAYS TO REPORT

Riots in the streets

Following the announcement that Mussolini had joined forces with Hitler, local people turned against their Italian neighbours and wreaked havock on their properties.

The Greenock Telegraph and Clyde Shipping Gazette - Wednesday June 12th 1940
Unruly scenes were witnessed in Gourock last night when a number of young men, mostly from Greenock and Port Glasgow, demosntrated against Italians. The police were prepared for all eventualities and assisted by the special constables in Gourock and Inverkip, prevented the demostrators from getting out of hand. From about 7 oclock bands of youths arrived in the burgh on foot, in buses, and on cycles. They congregated near the Pierhead. At 10 p.m. the gathering numbered several hundreds. The police kept the crowd on the move. Ultimately several stones were thrown and windows were broken in one Italian shop, the National Bank, and a stationers shop at the Pierhead. The police lost no time dealing with the situation, and eleven men were arrested, three of them being soldiers.

ITALIANS GIFT TO TOC H

Gourock Cafe Handed Over
If there is to be any looting, I would prefer the stock to be given to the soldiers. These were the words of Mr R. Toma, owner of the Continental Cafe, Kempock Street, Gourock, for their use for the duration of the war. H immediately took possession of the premises, which are large and commodius. For the rest of the evening men in uniform made themselves at home, and were given everything free of charge. Mr. Toma, whose generous action was much appreciated, was born in Port Glasgow and has been brought up in this country. His wife is an American.

A Young Lawrence Toma. Image courtesy of Roland Toma.

GREENOCK RIOTS
Action Against Magistrates
488 CLAIM DISMISSED
The Second Division of the Court of Session yesterday advised an appeal for the defenders in an action brought by Samuel Capaldi, 6 Bon Accord Street, Clydebank, against the Provost and Magistrates of the burgh of Greenock. The pursuer sued for 488 5s as compensation for the loss he had sustained through a number of machines upon which mechanical games were player, belonging to him but in the premises of Italian restaurateurs in Greenock, having been destoryed or taken away, when those premises were looted by persons taking part in riotous and tumutluous assemblies on the night on June 10, 1940, following upon the declaration of war by Italy against Great Britain. The defenders did not, in the appeal, dispute that the pursuer had made relevant averments of riotous and tumutluous assemblies having taken place, nor did they dispute that he would have been entitled to compensation for such loss as he might have sustained, other proper statutory procedure, and brought his action within the proper statutory limit. They pleaded, however, that the action was incompetent in respect that he had not followed the procedure laid down by the Riotous Assemblies Act, 1822. They further maintained that, in any event, the action was incompetently laid against the magistrates alone named. Court at Greenock, repelled the defenders pleas to the competency, and allowed a proof. The presetn appeal was taken against that decision. The Division yesterday sustained the appeal, and dismissed the action as incompetent, it being held that, even if the action had been brought timeously, the only competent procedure open to the pursuer was to have raised an action against the Town-Clerk. Counsel for the Defenders and Appellants The Solicitor-General, K.C., and Mr H. G. S., Edinburgh, and A. H. Gray, Town-Clerk, Greenock. Counsel for the pursuer and Respondent Mr James Walker. Solicitors MLeod & Rose, W.S., Edinburgh, and W. W. & J. MClure, Greenock.

10,000 would be equal to 439,700 in todays money.

Internment Camps
Many of the men who were arrested were taken by boat to the Internment Camps that had been set up on the Isle of Man. The camps were self-governed and relied on the inmates themselves to undertake the responsibility of good order and discipline. The men were not prisoners but enjoyed freedom of movement and association as long as they remained within the limits of the Camp.

Whistling Aliens Reach Isle of Man

, arrived in Ramsey, Isle of internment camp taken on the island. When the men assembled on the quayside they appeared in good spirits, carrying their own luggage. By the labels some seemed to have been around the world. called Does anyone speak English? there was a chorus of Yes, and they were told to form themselves into fours to march to the camp. While doing this somebody started to whistle Its a Hap-Hap-Happy Day,and this refrain was immediately taken up by the majority of the men. Big crowds watched their arrival in silence.
By the end of 1940, 14,000 enemy aliens were interned on the Isle of Many. Many of them were University Professors and other professionals and the camp included such inmates as Sir Nikolaus Pevsner, Lord Weidenfeld, Sir Charles Forte, the famous artist Kirt Schwitters, and the concert pianists Rawicz and Landauer.

on the Isle of Man

Internees kept themselves busy by working on the island. All camps had workshops available to craftsmen, labour was also required in the Islands quarries and the demand for labour on the Islands farms remained strong throughout the war. For leisure, the most popular attraction was the Islands cinema. Once or twice a week, entire camps would make a visit to the cinema where Internees paid 6d to watch shown to the public. Thee of the camps on the Island produced their own newspapers, these were called the Onchan Pioneer, the Sefton Review and The Camp. At Camp Douglas, the internees organised a football league, as the camp was divided into houses and each house had a team or two. Referees were nominated to see that the rules were kept!

THE ARANDORA STAR

of places to put people. On 11th of June, Canada agreed to accept three thousand prisoners of war and four thousand internees. By 15th of June there were three ships available to take 7,000 prisoners of war and internees to Canada. Fifteen hundred were to be transported from Liverpool to Newfoundland, aboard the Arandora Star. German Interned Males, 86 German Prisoners of War and 734 Italian Interned Males. On July 2nd at 7:58am she was struck by a torpedo from the German submarine U-47. She sank just over 30 minutes later. She had fourteen lifeboats. One had been destroyed by the submarine, another could not be launched and two were damaged during launch and useless. At least four were successfully launched, and one other sank shortly after being launched.

682 perished on the Arandora Star. 446 of these were Italian nationals who had made their home in Britain.
The survivors were taken to Greenock, yet within 8 days over two hundred of them had been taken back to Liverpool and sent to Australia aboard the Dunera.

The Arandora Star. Image courtesy of Roland Toma.

A thank you to the pupils of St Columbas High School for their participation in this booklet. Newspaper articles courtesy of the British News Archives. Images courtesy of SCRAN and Martin Giovanacci/Roland Toma.