Although occasionally the crossing of the Swiss border was carried out without the help of local guides operating in different points (from the Aosta Valley to the Alta Valtellina), most of the crossings took place in fixed locations, making use of pre-established support points and using specially hired local guides or specially trained people.  The whole of the area can be seen on Google Maps.

THE AREA DIRECTED BY 'THE SERVICE' FROM MILAN

VAL VIGEZZO
A crossing used occasionally, without the involvement of a local organisation, making use of guides hired from time to time, through the CLN of Domodossola who sometimes accompanied the escapers directly to the border.
Route - Simplon railway up to Domodossola, then the Domodossola secondary railway Locarno to Re, continuing from this location on foot for about four hours in the mountains until in the vicinity of Camedo.
In the early days (Sept.- Oct. 1943) the agents of Turin and Novara made use of this crossing; later it was occasionally used as an emergency crossing. It served altogether for about fifty transits.

LIMIDARIO
The Monte Limidario route was used from October '43 until March '45 (the last crossing of a group of eight Slavs and some British and Americans took place in February '45). Partisan formation 'Cesare Battisti' provided an armed escort for the expeditions.

 

Starting point:  the Intragna Border Centre provided shelter for up to twenty men, supplying them with food, weapons, equipment and other necessary material. The escapers remained in the centre from between one to fifteen or twenty days, depending on their number (there had to be a sufficient number to justify an expedition) and the practicability and safety of the crossing.  The route from Intragna to the border involved an eighteen hours walk  The percentage of losses was very low (three escapers captured out of over two hundred and fifty who made the crossing). Two of the partisan guides fell in combat.
The Intragna centre was reached from:-
a) Pallanza Fondotoce  railwaystation
b) Mergozzo railway station
c) Intragna via boat from Laveno
d) Ghiffa: the escapers arrived by boat from Caldè

 

LUINO

The border was crossed mainly at two points:

 - via  Monte Lema (Runo) towards Astano in Switzerland

 - via Voldomino,

and more rarely at intermediate points and via the lake in Zenna.

a) Monte Lema. This crossing was used from December '43 to March '44 but was then abandoned due to the arrest of some guides, including cousins Luigi and Giacomo Morandi and the boatman Aurelio Moro.  THe POWs were taken by boat to a landing place beyond Luino  from where there was a five hour walk walk to the border. About one hundred escapers used this route.

They were also taken directly to the border from the Caldè Border centre, run by the Milan Service  from September 1943 to April 1944). The escapers were put into groups and ferried from Luino to Limidario. A total of two hundred escapers crossed by this route.

b) Voldomino.

It is estimated that about two hundred and fifty escapers used the Voldomino route, two hundred of whom crossed the border in the period September-December '43.

 - Starting point: the Voldomino Border Centre  run by Service agent don Pietro Folli, the parish priest, from September to 3 December 1943, the date of his arrest; subsequently the route was used onlt to a limited extent by the guides.  The escapers came directly to Voldomino from Luino (Novara and Milan lines) and from Voldomino station (secondary line Varese - Luino).

 - Starting point: the Caldè Border Centre, where escapers coming from the Milan and Novara railway lines were generally hosted for a few days, local guides accompanied them to Voldomino, during the daytime by bicycle on secondary roads (via Domo Bedero) or at night on foot with an armed escort; from Voldomino the escapers were handed over to the border guides and accompanied to the border; when for whatever reason they were unable to continue they were put up in a nearby area, in the Baggiolina farmhouse, owned by Giuseppe Garibaldi.

 - Starting point: the Cittiglio Border centre.   Voldomino was also accessed from the Cittiglio centre, used by escapers coming from the Milan - Varese – Laveno rail line. After a stop of a few hours for rest and refreshment, given that the centre was unable to offer accommodation, they were accompanied at night to Mesenzana (Val Cuvia) by an armed escort, after which they were taken over by guides who took them to the border at Voldomino. Operated from October '43 to March '44. About fifty escapers passed through this centre.

 

VARESE

Starting Point: Varese Border centre .
The main routes were:
a) Marchirolo (Val Ganna). Varese to Marchirolo. Necessitated a five-hour walk to the border at a point between Cremenaga and Ponte Tresa after  which included fording the River Tresa.  From November '43 to June '44 it is estimated that fifty escapers were taken on this route by guides Benito Rigazzi and Giancarlo and Osvaldo Provini; the latter, fearing reprisals after the arrest of Rigazzi, revealed the existence of the organisation to the Germans, handing over three escapers and causing other agents of the Service to be arrested and the Varese centre to be closed.

b) Val Ceresio. The border crossings took place in points between Porto Ceresio and Stabio, especially in the vicinity of Viggiù. The guides picked up the escapers directly in Varese.

c) Cantello - Rodero. In this section of the border there was intense movement, the starting point being Varese; some crossings were also organised via Malnate, the escapers being lodged in an abandoned house belonging to the railways after which they walked the stretch up to the border along the Castellanza Mendrisio railway line, inactive during the war.

The Service helped about one hundred escapers to make the crossing via points b) and c).

 

LOWER LAKE COMO

Routes between Chiasso and Porlezza

a) Directly via the town of  Como

 - Starting point:  the area between Erba and Lecco. The escapers were ferried to the opposite shore (usually to Carate or Moltrasio) from where they walked across the mountains to the border in a few hours, led by the  guides who had accompanied them  from Milan or by local guides. A dozen or so escapers from Piacenza crossed using this route.

B) Sormano.

The parish priest don Carlo Banfi acted as the organizing agent, being in contact with a group of partisans who accompanied the escapers on a six-hour march to the Pian del Tivano in Nesso, whence they were ferried to Carate and from there led to the border. The Service used this route only initially (October-November '43), notably  for escapers from Lodi, who had been sent on to the area from Milan using the Milan - Canzo railway. About fifty escapers used this route during that period.

C) Cesello Brianza (Pusiano).

Train to the Molteno or Merone stations, then collected  by partisans, they headed for Ponte Lambro, the Bocchetta di Lemno and Faggeto Lario on the eastern shore of Lake Como, then ferried to the opposite shore near Carate from where they reached the border.

d)  Directly to Lecco.

Escapers from Bergamo, Mantua and the Veneto proceeded by rail or other means to Lecco, then on foot to Cesello. About two hundred escapers were accompanied to the border by this route between October '43 and May '44

e) Casino d’Erba.

In use until March '44 when, following arrests, it ceased to function.

 - Starting Point: Rail to Ponte Lambro station on the Milan - Canzo line, passing over to the eastern shore of Lake Como to Faggeto Lario or Torno in hired boats. The border crossing took place near Bruzella (Switzerland). Altogether about one hundred escapers passed through this centre.

 

UPPER LAKE COMO

In the border area between Porlezza and the Spinga the crossings passed via the Val Cavargna, departing from Acquaseria, S. Maria Rezzonico and Cremia and other nearby towns on the western shore. The mountain route, which followed the Bregagno ridge, S. Bortolo in Val Cavargna, Pizzo di Gino, and Bocchetta Stabiello, could be accomplished in about twelve hours but required suitable equipment and was accessible only to capable men. Nonetheless, this route was used intensively between October '43 and March '44 because it proved to be one of the safest.

 - Starting point: Acquaseria

The crossing from took place in the period October-November '43, the two guides left the Service after that period following the arrest of a group of nine escapers and their escort. In total a few dozen escapers passed through this location, ferried from Bellano on the eastern shore.

 - Starting point: S. Maria Rezzonico

A transit centre was established by don Gino Facchinetti, the parish priest, who organised a rest area with accommodation and also the distribution of food and equipment. He kept in touch with the guides and was responsible for the administration of funds. The centre operated in the period October-December '43 and about one hundred and fifty escapers passed through, ferried from Bellano.

 - Starting point: Cremia

The Cremia Border Centre was active from December '43 to April '44 and about two hundred and twenty escapers passed through it, ferried from Dervio and Dorio on the opposite shore. The escapers alighted from trains along Lecco-Colico line, assembling at the following stations to await being ferried across the lake:

a) Bellano. The transit was organised by the agent don Francesco Rovelli, the parish priest, who maintained contacts with the persons in charge of the ferry and the transport of the escapers and was responsible for the administration of funds. The person in charge of the ferry, Andrea Riva from Bellano, was arrested with six escapers after a few months of satisfactory service and was induced to talk, so this route had to be abandoned.

b) Dervio and Dorio. The escapers were alternately made to pass through these two locations, received by the ferry staff themselves, who delivered them to the Cremia centre. The transit took place under the control of the agents. In the town of Lecco, the stopping point for escapers being sent on to Bellano, Dervio, Dorio and Valtellina, there were other people who lent their assistance to the Service.

THE AREA CENTRES

LOMBARDY

 

For a certain period of time (mid-December '43 - April '44) Lombardy was divided into two main areas: Milan and Bergamo.

From the Milan Border Centre, considered as the centre of the Zone, the following smaller centres were administered:

a) Abbiategrasso. From September '43 to April '44 about eighty escapers were evacuated to Switzerland through Parabiago

b) Lodi. From September to November '43, in various locations - Lodi, Pandino, Gradello, Agnadello, Massalengo and Landriano – the priest don Davide Perniceni organised on-the- spot assistance for several hundred escapers and the evacuation of about eighty of them to Switzerland, via Milano.  In the town of Lodi itself, the assembling and evacuation of about thirty escapers was organised in the period September '43 - February '44. In Spino d’Adda, forty escapers were assisted and evacuated by Franco Spinelli, commander of a group of local patriots.

c) Pavia. The organisation functioned efficiently from September '43 to March '44. Up to  December '43 escapers were evacuated by the local agents from  Vistarino, Magherno, Villanterio, Lardirago Langosco,Vairano, Garlasco, and Landriano, . Altogether about two hundred and thirty escapers were transferred to Switzerland via Milan.

d) Voghera. From early October '43 onwards the escapers scattered throughout the nearby areas (Domo, Lomellina, Vogherese) were concentrated in a mountain location above Varzi (Monte Bogleglio) where they were housed in an abandoned hotel and supplied with necessities. A few dozen escapers were gathered there initially and numerous others (about one hundred and fifty ) were assembled there in mid-December '43, when a delation caused a German round-up and the capture of most of the escapers themselves and their assistants. The activity of the Service in this location was thus interrupted and could not be resumed.

e) Vigevano. From the end of September '43 until December '44 escapers were evacuated from the area to Switzerland, either through the Novara Border Centre or from the Milan Border Centre, about thirty of them being transferred to Switzerland via the city. In January '44 about twenty escapers from the area were sent to the border via Abbiategrasso, Arluno, Parabiago, and Varese.

f) Busto Arsizio. Between November '43 and March '44 a farmhouse in Arluno was used as a stopover. A total of fifty escapers passed through the area (via Arluno and Parabiago) under the supervision of a Milan agent, and twenty were evacuated directly via Laveno, Intragna and Limidario.

 

In the proximity of the Bergamo Border Centre, only 5 Km away, was  a large prisoner-of-war camp (PG 62 Grumello), housing several thousand prisoners of war of different nationalities, hence  this centre became one of the most active and important in Northern Italy. On 8 September 43 there were about 5,000 escapers in the camp, of whom 3,000 were Slavs and 2,000 were of Greek or other nationalities. About half of them left the locality in the days immediately following the armistice, either heading towards the Swiss or Yugoslav borders by following the valleys towards the mountains, which seemed to offer greater guarantees of safety, or heading south, towards the Allied lines; the remainder scattered in the vicinity where they were given hospitality by the local population. Towards the end of September the Germans carried out a series of round-ups in the area, capturing about eight hundred men (including five hundred Slavs) and causing the survivors to spread further afield in search of safer places. In the meantime, the National Liberation Committee (CLN) of Bergamo, in contact with the Milan Service, organised the first transfers to Switzerland: it is estimated that in September '43 about two hundred escapers in the area (one hundred and twenty of whom were Slavs) were accompanied to the border via Lake Como and Valtellina

From the entire Bergamo area, over five hundred escapers, of whom two hundred and eighty were Yugoslavs, were evacuated to Switzerland between 8 September '43 and 25 April '45; the transfers took place via Lecco and Cesello Brianza (by road and rail), via Cernusco or Usmate (by road), via Lecco, Villa di Tirano (by rail), via Milano (by rail) and via Lecco, Bellano, Dervio, Dorio (by rail).

 

VALTELLINA
The main Starting points used by the Service in the area were:
a) Chiavenna. The crossing took place over the Forcola pass and involved a journey of about five hours in the mountains. For various reasons it was little used: it is estimated that some tens of escapers passed this way.

b) Villa of Tirano - Brianzone. The escapers, mostly coming from Bergamo, were accompanied to this locality by rail or on foot through the Brembana and Camonica valleys; The partisans belonging to the Fiamme Verdi 'Tito Speri' formation were responsible for the crossing, made in the Poschiavina valley. The route, which functioned more or less continuously for the entire period from September '43 to March '45, had to be interrupted in February '44 for a few months following the arrest of a group of escapers (about twenty), due to the intensified surveillance that the imprudence of the guides (anxious to get their hands on the large sums of money that allied agents paid in Campocologno, in Swiss territory) had provoked. About two hundred escapers crossed the border at this location in the aforementioned period.

BRESCIA

A few hundred escapers, mostly British, found themselves in the area at the end of September '43, partly in the town of Brescia and its surroundings, partly in Val Trompia (Quarone - Brione area) and in the Val Camonica. About thirty escapers were thus transferred to Switzerland until November '43, when a round-up dispersed those who were still in the area and dissolved the local organisation.

d) CREMONA (Pandino area). About forty five escapers were evacuated directly from this province by the local agent Pietro De Lange; agent don Davide Perniceni, a parish priest, also took care of this area.

PIEDMONT

The organisation of assistance in Piedmont began at the end of September '43. Contact was made with the escapers in various areas (Val Sangone, Val Grana, Val Stura, Val di Lanzo, Vercellese, Novarese), and some dozens were accompanied towards the border in collaboration with partisans and members of the local CLN.

a) Vercelli.  Here, where there were numerous British escapers, Australian Johnny Peck acted as liaison officer and local agent and guide, his activity ceasing in January '44 with his removal from the area and subsequent arrest. About fifty escapers were evacuated.

b) Novara. Escapers from the area and neighbouring ones of Alessandria and Mortara, were evacuated by rail, first to Domodossola, then to Luino. About one hundred escapers were thus evacuated between October and November '43, in addition to the fifty in transit from Vercelli and thirty from Vigevano.

c) Turin. From December 1943 transfers were arranged via Pallanza, Intragna, Limidario and via Milan to various border crossing points. From December '43 onwards a total of one hundred and eighty escapers were evacuated from the Piedmont area of whom one hundred from Turin, forty from Vercelli and forty from Novara; thirty of them passed via Milano.
The routes followed were:
i) Turin - Novara - Luino - (Domodossola or Varese);
ii)Turin - Alessandria - Mortara - Novara - (Domodossola or Varese);
iii) Turin - Casale - Castel d’Agogna (overnight stay) - Mortara - Milan - border;
iv) Turin - Milan – border.

LIGURIA

 

Between October '43 and June '44 fifty British escapers who were refugees in the mountains near Busalla and above Chiavari were collected by the Service and transferred to Switzerland.  With the discovery of the local organisation in June '44, the assistance activity by the Service in this area stopped; however, it was continued by private initiative.

EMILIA

 

The tendency of the escapers who were in the area at the time of the armistice was to move through the valleys of the tributaries of the Po towards the Apennines: in part they found refuge here among the local populations and groups of partisans, though some continued towards the south and the Allied lines. Overall, in the period from October '43 to liberation, about one hundred and seventy escapers, mostly British, were evacuated from the Emilia area by the Service.

a) The Piacentino valleys - Val Trebbia, Val Tidone and Val Nure

The first contacts with the refugee escapers in took place in October '43, when Service agents went to the area from Milan to organise assistance. In the period from October ’43 to January ’44 local agent Giovanni Pareti, with funds raised on the spot and with the help of the Service, arranged for the evacuation of British officers (coming in part from the senior officers' camp, PG 29 Veano) and of refugees in the Nure valley; the transfers took place partly via Como and partly via Bellano, Dervio and Dorio, with transit via Milan, reached by rail or bus from Piacenza.

b) The Parma area
From February '44 onwards, and with British officer William Younger, (presumably 114122 Lt. J.W. Younger, Coldstream Guards) who acted as local organiser, the evacuations continued until the end of July '44.

 

VENETO

Some hundreds of escapers were transferred to Switzerland in the early days by private initiative.

a) Padua. In the period September '43 - March '44 parish priest don Mario Zanin (alias Pilotto) was actively involved in local assistance and evacuation to Switzerland, working in contact with the Service's border agents, as was padre Cortese of Padua, a Franciscan, who is believed to have died after having been deported, and also with his brother and several other local elements. Eighty escapers were evacuated through the efforts of Zanin and his associates.

b) Verona. The first contacts with the Milan centre were made in the month of November, and the first expeditions to Switzerland were organised with means provided by the centre. About thirty escapers were evacuated in this period by rail, departing from the secondary station of Sommacampagna and arriving in Milan (where they were met buy the centre's guides), or in Trechiella (where they were met by the guides of Capriate S. Gervasio).  From mid-December '43 the Milan agent Franco Palazzotta, alias Pallavicini, in charge of the Veneto area, established his centre in Bussolengo (Verona), from where he organised local assistance and the transfer of escapers using associates. This centre operated until the end of February '44 and ceased with the arrest of some helpers; in that period about forty escapers collected from the area around Verona, were evacuated by the same routes.