Franco D'Ambra in Italian navy - portrait

Andre D’Ambra from Swansea tells the remarkable survival story of his father, Franco:

 

“My father was 18 years old when he was conscripted into the Italian navy. He was stationed in Albania when Italy surrendered.

 

He was taken prisoner by Albanian partisans who threatened to execute him unless he showed them how to fire the guns they had just captured. He escaped from them.

 

But then he was captured by the Germans who used him as slave labour to repair railways bombed by the Allies. One morning he woke up and found the German camp guards gone. In their place came the Soviet Red Army, who shipped him to Russia where he almost froze and starved to death.”

 

After the war Franco married Teresa from Swansea and settled in the city with his wife and their four children. He was also the first non-British veteran to lay a remembrance wreath in Wales.

 

Andre D’Ambra explained how his father’s experiences had made the two of them, father and son, strong supporters of the European Union:

 

“My father’s story is the reason why I am a proud and passionate supporter of the European Union.

 

We shouldn’t forget why the EU was conceived in the first place. It was born out of the carnage of the Second World War, which followed soon after the Great War had killed millions.

 

The EU was designed to prevent such wars happening again, binding former enemies together. And it has been successful – 74 years later we are enjoying the longest period of continuous peace in modern European history.

 

This is due in large measure to the EU – lest we forget.”

 

Done