Joseph Abramovitch

Private, Essex Regiment
2/5th Bn.
Service number: 6021252
Died 25 May 1944
Buried Ancona War Cemetery, Italy
Age 26

Headstone Inscription
‘MOURNED BY HIS DEVOTED MOTHER AND FAMILY’


Joseph was born on 5 October 1917 at 1 Planet Street, Stepney in London to Romania born parents Morris, a ladies tailor, and Hannah (Tone) nee Cohen. Joseph had two brothers and two sisters and their father Morris died in 1936. Joseph known as Joe worked as a tailors baister before enlisting into the Army.

Joe was captured by the enemy in Italy and was for a time incarcerated in the POW camp PG70 Monturano (Fermo) in Italy. He managed to escape from a prison train and joined up with a guerilla band consisting of English and Australian troops and he fought under the name of Giuseppe Morris.

They fought together with local partisans from September 1943 until April 1944 and were responsible for killing forty-eight enemy, disarmed eight barracks of Carabinieri and destroying two bridges. He was badly wounded during a fight and went into hiding from where he was captured. He later died in hospital. An article in the Daily Mirror newspaper dated 31 July 1945 details his death and the promise of the local people of Sarnano who built him a coffin and buried him in their churchyard until his body was moved to his final resting place at Ancona War Cemetery.

Joe’s burial report states: ‘When I opened fornetto 19 at Sarnano Civil Cemetery I found a coffin with a metal plate with the following inscription: ”PRAMAVITZ GIUSEPPE Age 26 Date of Death 24.5.44 Born – LONDON” The wall had the name John Morris set in cement. When the coffin was opened, a zinc casket was found. This contained the body of a man dressed in civilian clothes of good quality and well laid out for burial. Suit-grey pin stripe, shirt cream silk with green stripe collar attached, handkerchief (silk) in left breast (outer) pocket; Black cotton socks. rosary in left hand. Hair semi blond – teeth good – one missing near front in upper jaw; Corpse was that of a well built man. As I could not tell the nationality of the corpse I had the Custode produce some one who had known deceased. A girl, RITA CALVANI a native of of SARNANO, without seeing the body accurately described deceased as the British Prisoner of War whom she had known as GIUSEPPE MORRIS.

Photo credit Find a Grave