No.128
The Trusty Servant
Donny Mackenzie- a hero in Italy
Shaun Hullis (Co Ro, 02-08) reports on a
recent commemoration:
Donny Mackenzie
It is not every weekend which begins
with a private view of Messina’s
Ecce l’Uomo (his best version) and
ends on a street named after a
Wykehamist war hero. Such were
the powerful frames around two
profoundly moving days in Piacenza,
commemorating the 75th anniversary
to the day of the death in action of
Captain Archibald Donald “Donny”
Mackenzie (B, 28-33). Donny was
killed in a Fascist ambush on
October 6 th , 1944, alongside two of
his partisans. His death and wartime
career are almost unknown in the
world at large, even in Winchester,
but in the Val Nure south of
Piacenza, his name is famous. They
are delighted that ‘Capitano Mack’s’
part in their liberation story has been
made known to a wider audience
because of my research.
Michael Wallis (Co Ro, 86-) and I
were privileged to be invited to the
anniversary events alongside Donny’s
nearest living relatives - daughters
of his cousin, Brian Mackenzie (B,
33-38) - and three generations of
an American family who owe their
existence to Donny’s escape line,
which fed 120 Allied evaders over
the mountains and back to safety. We
were privileged, too, to meet several
people who had known Donny back
in 1943 and 1944: a 95-year-old lady
who recalled him clearly, and four of
his partisans, all in their nineties. One
stated that Donny demanded of them
only coraggio e competenza, both of
which he possessed in great measure;
another said that he was not just a
good leader, but the perfect leader.
The polymathic Dr Stefano Pronti
of the Italian partisan association,
together with local historian Claudio
Oltremonti, had put together a
busy programme which began at
the spectacular Collegio Alberoni
in Piacenza, a former PoW hospital,
before moving on to the Palazzo
Farnese, where the Deputy Mayor
gave us a tour of the city’s historical
collections. Then we began our
contact with Donny, lunching at
the winery – La Stoppa – where he
and his comrade Tresham “Gunner”
Gregg spent their first night of
freedom after the Italian armistice.
The wine is superb: see if you can
get hold of their 2017 Trebbiolo. By
way of the Villa Alberoni at Veano,
the former prison camp PG29, from
which Donny helped to tunnel, we
all drove to Bettola to see where his
funeral and burial took place, as well
as the quarry where 20 partisans were
murdered by the Germans in 1945. A
special dinner back at PG29 preceded
an astonishing concert by the local
Coro Montenero in the villa’s chapel.
Sunday’s anniversary was more
sombre but nevertheless a celebration
10
of gratitude for Donny’s contribution
to the struggle for freedom; a packed
conference in the town hall of
Pontedell’Olio was followed by the
‘execution’ [sic] of national anthems
by an enthusiastic local brass band.
We then proceeded in convoy to
Capitano Mack’s memorial at
Alberola, where we laid wreaths
(including two on behalf of the
British Army). A steep drive led us
up to the spot where Donny and his
companions had been ambushed and
killed.
The last year of Donny Mackenzie’s
life was the culmination of everything
which Winchester, Oxford and the
Army had taught him; he made a
difference to tens of thousands of
Italians in a bleak and harrowing
period of their history, and they
cherish his memory – as we will
cherish memories of their generosity
and hospitality that weekend.
Challenge: I know of three streets named
after Wykehamist casualties of WW2,
one each in Sofia, Heraklion, and
Pontedell’Olio. Can anyone add to the
list?
Shaun Hullis