A British veteran who was sheltered by an Italian family after he fled a prisoner of war camp is showing his gratitude by helping people whose homes were destroyed by a recent earthquake.  

The son of well-known Watford doctor C L Batteson, Eric Batteson, now aged 97, was captured in 1942 and taken to the Sforzacosta prison camp in Macerata in central Italy.  

However he and two other British inmates escaped to the tiny hamlet of Colleregnone in the mountains of the Marche region, where they were harboured by peasant farmers Pompilio and Rosa Buratti.

While they hid from Axis forces, the residents of Colleregnone risked their lives to protect them. In a neighbouring village, German soldiers rounded up 12 men suspected of hiding British soldiers and executed them.

“I could never repay the sort of care they gave me. The way I was looked after and the danger that those people faced is something I can never forget,” he said.

In the years following the war, Eric remained eternally grateful and always kept in touch with the people living in the remote village.

Watford Observer:

His children and grandchildren have since visited Colleregnone, with some even flying out to attend the wedding of the granddaughter of the family who harboured him.

However in October Colleregnone was badly damaged by an earthquake which levelled many settlements across central Italy.

In a show of gratitude to the people of Colleregnone, Eric donated a portion of his life savings to the community, on behalf of him and his family.

Eric and his brother William, who later became a prominent solicitor, grew up in the family home in Devereux Drive, Watford.

He attended Watford Grammar School for Boys and is still an Old Fullerian. He moved to Chester in 1955, where he still lives.