Italy - Military medal - Italian commemorative medal of the Zonderwater POW camp (1941–1947)

Kamp Zonderwater

Zonderwater (located near Cullinan and Pretoria in South Africa) was during World War II the largest Allied prisoner of war camp for Italian soldiers. Between 1941 and 1947 the camp housed more than 100,000 Italian soldiers who had been captured by the Brits during the campaigns in North and East Africa.
After the camp's closure in January 1947, the Zonderwater Block Ex-POW Association was established to maintain the ties between former prisoners, their families, Italy and South Africa. This association still manages the Italian military cemetery and the museum on site.
On the occasion of reunions and commemorations, the association over the years has had several official commemorative medals minted for former prisoners and their descendants. This specimen is a tangible tribute to that history