Letters from Ma make me anxious
- Joanne Tapiolas
- May 8
- 3 min read
Ivaldo Cleland Antinori was born in Bagni di Lucca (Lucca) Italy on the 16th December 1918. At the time of his arrest on the 10th June 1940 he was living at 267 Buchanan Street, Glasgow, Scotland with his parents Francesco and Constance. His father Francesco, a restauranteur, named as his next-of-kin was not interned until the 28th October 1940 and his uncle Adorna was interned on the Isle of Man until the 13th May 1941.
An 11th June 1940 newspaper article captures a scene in Glasgow on the night of 10th June 1940: Glasgow Uproar A systematic smash and loot campaign against Italian shops was started by crowds in Paisley Road district of Glasgow about midnight. Crowds gathering in various streets in the area and moved along them smashing windows of every Italian shop they came to and looting the contents. In half a dozen streets in the district, not a single Italian shop escaped the attention of the crowds. (Aberdeen Press and Journal 11 June 1940)
A German Dunera internee Hans Heinrich Gurland wrote in Mein Weiter Weg that while at Tatura Camp 2A, he met Ivaldo Antinori, a student who wanted to learn German. From 1st January 1943 – 14th April 1943, Hans and Ivaldo would practice German and Italian every evening with the assistance of an English Italian Grammar book. On his death certificate Ivaldo's occuaption was noted as 'translator'.
Ivaldo was a university student and initially, he had applied to join the Civil Aliens Corps for work in forestry. By May/June 1944, he was one of six Italians who withdrew their applications. Ivaldo indicated that he might injure his hands during forestry work, and he couldn’t risk this as he was a violinist.
On the 24th May 1944, Ivaldo wrote to another young Glaswegian, Rando Bertoia not long after Rando joined the Civil Aliens Corps: I was glad to get your letter the other day and to know that you were able to see the head of the terrazzo firm in Melbourne. I hope that you will succeed, before long in being transferred to terrazzo work, especially as I understand that conditions out there are not like home… Give me Scotland every time. I don’t think you need to worry, however as I am sure there is every chance of your being put finally to terrazzo work. (NAA: MP70/1 37/101/185 Tatura Part 2)
Ivaldo also provided a thought-provoking insight into internment. Four years after his arrest in Glasgow, on the 9th June 1944 he wrote to his parents:
Some of the letters I receive from Ma make me rather anxious. She is allowing bitterness to get too much of an upper hand. I know as much as anyone else, what it is to be bitter and, although in an internment camp, I have had my battles, and they have been horribly too. It took me nearly three years to realise that, whatever injustices was perpetrated by other people, I could not get free of my greatest enemy, myself. To preserve my sanity, I had to find some solution to the problem. I formed some sort of philosophy, which gave a meaning to life. But I formed it in the manner of a sculptor who fashions his block of marble, only by shattering it. I hope that Ma will be able to go through this phase, speedier and easier than I did… (NAA: MP70/1, 37/101/185 Tatura Part 4) Ivaldo’s father, Francesco, a Glaswegian restauranteur was interned from 28th October 1940 – 30th May 1941 on the Isle of Man.
On the 1st July 1945, Ivaldo was transferred to the UK onboard the Dominion Monarch and arrived at Liverpool, England on the 2nd August 1945. He was released from internment on the 24th August 1945.
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