Publications

News 2024

I’m delighted to be the 2024 winner of Sabretache journal Writer Prize for my article: For the sake a few pounds: Discretionary decisions and dissatisfaction regarding the Prisoner of War Trust Fund 1952- 1977. Sabretache is the journal and proceedings of Military Historical Society of Australia Inc (MHSA Inc.)

News 2023 -In the July-December 2023 issue of a newspaper of northern Italy’s Macugnaga and the Anzasca Valley, my article was published about Australian and New Zealand POWs arriving to Switzerland and receiving their first taste of Swiss hospitality (tea, cigarettes, hot soup) at Hotel Mattmark (Saas Valley). The hotel was used during wartime as a base for Swiss border guards. It was submerged postwar under the Mattmark Dam. Visitors can walk the perimeter of the dam and if feeling more adventurous, climb up towards Monte Moro!

News 2022

Katrina’s prose is included in the 2022 anthologies published by Hunter Writers Centre:

  • Grieve: Stories and poems of grief and loss.
  • Where the fairy tales go: Poems and Stories.

BOOKS

Shooting Through: Campo 106 escaped POWs after the Italian armistice (published 2019): https://www.echobooks.com.au/history/shooting-through/

ARTICLES

Co-written articles in academic journals:

Read about some of the Australian escaped POWs who became partisans:

Peter Monteath and Katrina Kittel, Prisoners of War to Partisans: Australian experiences in Italy during the Second World War, War & Society, June 2021, pp. 188-205.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/07292473.2021.1942627

Articles published in Sabretache, the Journal and Proceedings of the Military Historical Society Australia:

Katrina was awarded the Sabretache journal’s Emerging Writer prize for 2013.

‘Chasing a Star: The Evidence for Posthumous Issue of Italy Star and Recognition of Service for WX12891 Ronald ‘Jimmy’ Dean and VX42361 Douglas Smedley‘ Sabretache, The Journal and Proceedings of the Military Historical Society of Australia, Vol. LXIV, 2, June 2023, pp.10-18.

‘Feel fair: Narrabri Shire’s POWs held in Japanese captivity 1942-45 as mentioned in NX41219 Haig ‘Jock’ Logan’s war diary’, Sabretache, The Journal and Proceedings of the Military Historical Society of Australia, Vol. LXIII, 2, June 2022, pp.37-42.

‘Nino Bixio and a Chapel: Australian and New Zealander POWs’ post-war connections to a church at Campo 57, Gruppignano, Udine, Italy’, Sabretache, The Journal and Proceedings of the Military Historical Society of Australia, Vol. LXII, 4, December 2021, pp.35-46. Click to view

‘Without any support whatsoever: 75 years on from Alamein’, Sabretache, The Journal and Proceedings of the Military Historical Society of Australia, Vol. LVIII, 3, pp 18-20, September 2017. Click to view

‘Two to two thousand: captured by a nominal roll of Australian POW in Italy’, Sabretache, The Journal and Proceedings of the Military Historical Society of Australia, Vol. LVI, 3, pp.14-21, September 2015.- http://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=545391199143245;res=IELHSS

‘Had a spot of bother but I am not alone: Gunner Jack Shoveller’, Sabretache, The Journal and Proceedings of the Military Historical Society of Australia, Vol. LV, 1, March 2014, pp 12-16.– http://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=200332890602774;res=IELAPA

‘Hymns and Hints: a prisoner of war’s notebook in Italy’, Sabretache, The Journal and Proceedings of the Military Historical Society of Australia, Vol. LIV, 4, December 2013, pp 4-12. (Winner, Emerging Writer Prize )- http://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=857547791765353;res=IELHSS

‘Capture in the desert: 3 Anti-Tank Regiment at Mechili 1941 and Alamein 1942’, Sabretache, The Journal and Proceedings of the Military Historical Society of Australia, Vol. LIV, 1, March 2013, pp 22-29. – http://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=459622058040895;res=IELHSS

Book reviews in Sabretache

‘Jack of Hearts QX11594’ by Jackie Huggins and Ngaire Jarro, Sabretache, The Journal and Proceedings of the Military Historical Society of Australia, Vol. LXIV, 2, June 2023, pp.50-51.

‘The Other Side of Absence: discovering my father’s secrets (by Betty O’Neill), Sabretache, Journal and Proceedings of Military Historical Society of Australia, LXII, 2, June 2021, pp 51-52.

‘The Battle Within: POWs in postwar Australia (by Christina Twomey)’, Sabretache, Journal and Proceedings of Military Historical Society of Australia, 59, 2, March 2018, pp 55-56. <https://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=882953366582125;res=IELHSS>

‘Kapooka Tragedy: Remembering 21 May 1945’, Sabretache, Journal and Proceedings of Military Historical Society of Australia, 58, 1, March 2017, pp. 57-58.

<https://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=780850370277323;res=IELHSS>

‘Brothers in Arms: The Great War letters by Captain Nigel Boulton R.A.M.C. & Lieut. Stephen Boulton A.I.F. by Louise Wilson’, Sabretache, Journal and Proceedings of Military Historical Society of Australia, 57, 1, March 2016, pp 61-62. <https://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=272412484020481;res=IELHSS>

International publications by others:

Dennis Hill, researcher of Campo 59 Servigliano, acknowledges my identification of names of 69 Australians who passed through Campo 59, on his website. He also acknowledges the significant contribution of Bill Rudd: https://camp59survivors.com/2018/09/26/sixty-nine-australians-who-passed-through-p-g-59/

Katrina was invited to write a preface for the Italian translation of an Australian POW’s memoir: Italian translation of Lynette Oates and Ian Sproule’s book Australian Partisan: a true story of love and conflict, 1995, entitled Partigiani australiani nel Biellese: una storia vera d’amore e di Guerra, by Claretta Coda, Maria Elena Coha and Massimiliano Vigna, Turin, 2016. Also included in this book is an interview with me by the senior school students involved in the project. The original memoir and Italian book is held in National Library of Australia and State Library of Victoria: https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/228528688?q&versionId=251053679 Italian articles about this book: https://www.istitutomoro.it/giornalino/traduttori-con-la-b-maiuscola/ and https://lasentinella.gelocal.it/ivrea/cronaca/2017/05/08/news/partigiani-australiani-nel-biellese-1.15308685

Katrina was interviewed by Jessica Phelan, Local It (Italy’s news in English), 2018, about her research –  How Italians helped Allied prisoners escape during WWI: https://www.thelocal.it/20181025/how-italians-helped-allied-prisoners-of-war-escape-italy-world-war-two

Harchard Singh writes about the Sikh Indians at Campo 57, and acknowledges research contributions of Bill Rudd, Katrina Kittel and Cate Carrigan- https://www.sikhnet.com/news/get-their-hair-cut Cate Carrigan’s blog Italy to Alps can be accessed here: http://italytothealps.blogspot.com/

Katrina attended the unveiling of First Nations artist Tony Albert’s sculpture Yininmadyemi within Hyde Park, Sydney.

A chapter in Shooting Through discusses a dangerous day for Tony’s grandfather Eddie Albert, as an escaped POW confronted by fascist troops. Tony drew on this story as part of his inspiration to create a memorial that represented both Indigenous service and the specific story of the murder of three POWs (the fallen bullets) and the recapture of Eddie Albert and fellow Indigenous POW Jim Brennan (the standing bullets). https://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/vision/sustainable-sydney-2030/communities-and-culture/eora-journey/yininmadyemi Luciano Guala (per ANPI Vallecervo) published the Italian perspective of the events of that day in April 1944 within  ‘L’anello mancante e un cavallo con silenziatore’, Patria Indipendente, December 2015: http://www.patriaindipendente.it/persone-e-luoghi/itinerari-della-resistenza/itinerari-resistenza-sidney-canisei-guala/

Indigenous POW summaries published in 2015 (web archived) by Department of Veterans’ Affairs, ‘Our Mob Serving Country 100 years and beyond’

WX14427 Harold Davis 2/32 Battalion– page link

Katrina’s summary of Harold Davis is cited as a source in Peter Monteath’s 2017 book ‘Escape artist: The Incredible Second World War of Johnny Peck’ (page 173).

Katrina’s summary of Frank Page is cited in the book edited by Lachlan Grant and Michael Bell, ‘For country, for nation: an illustrated history of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander military service’, 2018.

POW summaries for Australian military unit Associations:

‘Summary of 3 LAA Regiment Prisoners of War in Italy in Second World War’, 2nd/3rd Australian Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment Association.  http://antiaircraft.org.au/component/content/article/188

‘2/15th Battalion POWs in Italy: digitised discoveries within NAA records’, In Remembrance of 2/15th Battalion, April 2014.  http://2-15bnaifremembrance.net/index.php/battalion-members/pows/17-pows-an-overview

‘2/24th Battalion POWs in Italy: digitised discoveries within NAA records’, The Furphy flyer in mufti, Vol. 5, 2, May 2014, pp 8-11.

‘Summary of 2/28th POW in Italy’, Tobruk to Borneo: Quarterly journal of the 2/28th Battalion and 24th A/Tank Coy. Association Inc., Vol.68, 273, September 2013, pp 30-33.

‘2/24th Battalion Prisoners of War: Summary of soldiers in Italy WW2’, The Furphy flyer in mufti, Vol. 4, 3, May 2013, pp 11-12.

‘Summary of 2/15th Battalion Prisoners of War in Italy”, Caveant Hostes: Journal of 2/15th AIF Remembrance Club, March 2013, pp 9-10.