Billard Room Proprietor

Giuseppe Di Rollo was born in Rossasecca (Frosinone) Italy on the 11th March 1903.  At the time of his arrest on the 10th June 1940, he was a Billard Room Proprietor.

Giuseppe listed his next of kin as his mother Camilla who lived in Rossasecca, Italy. The 1940-1941 Post Office Directory for Edinburgh, Scotland listed J. Di Rollo, Proprietor of The Billard Centre, 66 Leith Street, Edinburgh.

Giuseppe’s time in Australia was brief and Tatura Camps 2B and 4B were the camps where he was held.  He arrived in Tatura Camp 2B on the 3rd  September 1940 and on the 5th  October 1941 he departed Tatura Camp for Liverpool Camp, NSW until his embarkation on the Stirling Castle on the 13th October 1941.  The voyage was to take the ten UK Italian internees onboard to Auckland New Zealand, Cristobal Panama and Liverpool England.

An oversight on behalf of authorities resulted in several internees and refugees returning to the UK without their financial payments following them. The letter below mentioned the names and amounts due to ten returnees including Giuseppe.

On the ship’s register his address was listed as 66 Leith Quarter, Edinburgh, Scotland and his name was noted as Joseph Dirollo.

A return to the UK came with conditions, the most important being re-internment until such time a decision is made on the individual’s case.

On the 26th January 1942, Giuseppe’s application for release was refused on the grounds that he was not eligible under the categories of the White Paper.  On the 23rd January 1943 his released to the M/L Scheme (Ministry of Labour) was authorised.

(NAA:A2908, P22 Part 8)