The person dearest to me is Col. Giovanni Borghi
- Joanne Tapiolas
- Mar 15
- 2 min read
Pacifico ‘Vittorio’ Tolaini was born in Camporgiano (Lucca) Italy on the 5th November 1918. At the time of his arrest on the 10th June 1940 Vittorio was part owner in a restaurant in Tottenham, London.
Vittorio had arrived in England as a four-month-old baby and grew up and was educated in London. He worked in his father’s restaurant at Stoke Newington and when his father passed away in 1937, he and his brother Amelio, took over the business. In January 1939, he together with brothers Amelio and Giuseppe opened a restaurant at 348 High Street, Tottenham, which continued while Vittorio was in Australia. His brother Giuseppe was interned and released but died in April 1942. One sister Rosa was serving in the British Army, sisters Laura and Alfida lived in England as did his mother and his sister Maria lived in Italy.
In 1933, Vittorio had joined the Italian Youth Organisation and in 1938, he completed three months military training in Italy.
His records noted that Vittorio was an intellectual type, with a retiring disposition, who was industrious and reliable. He worked in the camp office in administration with Colonel Borghi who Vittorio looked upon as a ‘father’ figure and his main associate was Gino Guanieri, another London café owner who was viewed as industrious and a loyal Italian.
Pacifico Vittorio TolainiTatura Camp 2A January 1943 (AWM)
On 29th May 1944 he was released to employment at Dookie Agricultural College together with Luigi Beschizza and Pietro Strina.
Post internment, his good friends were Londoners Nicola Cua and Luigi Beschizza. All three men made significant contributions to the documentation of the history of the Arandora Star, the Dunera and internment in Australia.
Vittorio’s Voyage of an Alien (1982) is insightful and detailed.
On the 16th June 1990, Vittorio was among a group of 22 Dunera Italians who were bestowed the honour of Cavaliere al Merito della Repubblica Italiana.
Vittorio met his future wife Noemi Vendramini in Melbourne and they were married in 1945. On 11th August 1946, they departed Australia on the Stirling Castle sailing into Southampton, England.
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