Richard Offen  - Historian, Author, Broadcaster

Early Music in Perth

Richard Offen&nbsp; -&nbsp;Historian, Author, Broadcaster
Early Music in Perth

Remember When – an entertaining romp through bygone days every Sunday night. Join Harvey Deegan and guests as they bring history and our heritage back to life.

Remember When with Harvey Deegan

Historian Richard Offen, 23 August 2026

Katrina Kittel

Long Journey Home - Book

 

The perilous escapes of Anzac POWs from fascists in wartime Italy

Captured at Alamein, used as forced labour on farms in northern Italy, thousands of Australian and New Zealand diggers escaped their captors when Italy signed an armistice in September 1943, including the author's father. Could they make it over the Alps to freedom in Switzerland before winter set in?

After her father's death, Katrina Kittel opens his old Globite suitcase and finds tiny photos, postcards in beautiful handwriting from a mysterious Swiss woman, and memorabilia from his war.

 

Katrina Kittel's father Colin Booth was captured during the disastrous July 1942 attempt to take Alamein's Ruin Ridge. He was among 80,000 Allied soldiers sent to camps in northern Italy as prisoners of war.

 

They suffered hunger, illness and cruel punishments for petty offences, and they were used as forced labour on farms. When news arrived of the Italian armistice with the Allies in September 1943, POWs escaped the camps, scattering across the countryside.

 

Col was among those who headed north, aiming for neutral Switzerland. Life in the camps had been challenging, but not nearly as nerve-racking as life on the run, as they dodged German soldiers, Royalist sympathisers and fascist loyalists, while scrounging for food and shelter, trying to reach the navigable mountain passes before winter set in. Kind Italians shared what they could, but for some impoverished mountain villagers, the 4000-lire German bounty for a captured POW was very tempting.

Katrina Kittel
Long Journey Home - Book
&nbsp;
The perilous escapes of Anzac POWs from fascists in wartime Italy
Captured at Alamein, used as forced labour on farms in northern Italy, thousands of Australian and New Zealand diggers escaped their captors when Italy signed an armistice in September 1943, including the author's father. Could they make it over the Alps to freedom in Switzerland before winter set in?
After her father's death, Katrina Kittel opens his old Globite suitcase and finds tiny photos, postcards in beautiful handwriting from a mysterious Swiss woman, and memorabilia from his war.
&nbsp;
Katrina Kittel's father Colin Booth was captured during the disastrous July 1942 attempt to take Alamein's Ruin Ridge. He was among 80,000 Allied soldiers sent to camps in northern Italy as prisoners of war.
&nbsp;
They suffered hunger, illness and cruel punishments for petty offences, and they were used as forced labour on farms. When news arrived of the Italian armistice with the Allies in September 1943, POWs escaped the camps, scattering across the countryside.
&nbsp;
Col was among those who headed north, aiming for neutral Switzerland. Life in the camps had been challenging, but not nearly as nerve-racking as life on the run, as they dodged German soldiers, Royalist sympathisers and fascist loyalists, while scrounging for food and shelter, trying to reach the navigable mountain passes before winter set in. Kind Italians shared what they could, but for some impoverished mountain villagers, the 4000-lire German bounty for a captured POW was very tempting.

Long Journey Home's Katrina Kittel, 16 August 2026

John Maiorana - The Gourmet Godfather

History on a Plate - Artichokes

John Maiorana - The Gourmet Godfather
History on a Plate - Artichokes

The Gourmet Godfather John Maiorana, 16 August 2026

Dr Anthony Clarke  

Ancient shipwreck cargo reveals surprising global trade secrets of the 1600s

 Using cargo recovered from one of Australia’s most infamous shipwrecks, new Curtin University-led

research has revealed how surprisingly sophisticated global supply chains helped source and transport construction materials in the 17th century.

The study analysed stone blocks, bricks and ballast from the Dutch East India Company ship Batavia,

which wrecked off the coast of Western Australia in 1629, revealing the materials came from multiple

quarry sources in Europe — not a single site as previously assumed. 

Dr Anthony Clarke &nbsp;
Ancient shipwreck cargo reveals surprising global trade secrets of the 1600s
&nbsp;Using cargo recovered from one of Australia&rsquo;s most infamous shipwrecks, new Curtin University-led
research has revealed how surprisingly sophisticated global supply chains helped source and transport&nbsp;construction materials in the 17th century.
The study analysed stone blocks, bricks and ballast from the Dutch East India Company ship Batavia,
which wrecked off the coast of Western Australia in 1629, revealing the materials came from multiple
quarry sources in Europe &mdash; not a single site as previously assumed.&nbsp;

Historian Richard Offen, 23 August 2026

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