Holograph 1942 Christmas Menu from P.O.W. Camp 52

[Chiavari, Italy: Prigionieri di Guerra no. 52], 1942. Holograph menu written inside the trimmed wrapper of a Neilson's Jersey Milk Chocolate bar (Toronto: William Neilson Limited, c.a. 1942). Approx. 7-1/8 x 4-1/4 inches. Cream stock printed in brown and red, holograph text in black ink. Light creasing and staining; corners bumped. Very Good.

A rare WWII Christmas menu from P.O.W. Camp 52, which we presume is Prigionieri di Guerra (Campo) no. 52, located in Chiavari, Italy. The camp operated from 1941-1944, and ultimately held over 15,000 British, South African and New Zealand troops. 

The menu features three remarkably well-appointed meals, all of which, according to a note at the bottom, were "made possible by the kindness and generosity of the British Red Cross Society". Breakfast was porridge, fried bacon, eggs, tomatoes, toast, bread and butter, marmalade and jam, and tea. Lunch included kidney soup, Scotch salmon, beef, fried pumpkin, green peas, onions, Yorkshire pudding, Christmas pudding, white souce, biscuits and cheese, celery, cafe-au-lait, and Italian stew. For tea, the men had strawberries and cream, fruit jelly, trifle and chocolate sauce, Christmas cake, bread and butter, jam, and tea. Additionally, oranges, sweets, chocolate and wine were available, probably for lunch dessert. 

Three signatures are scrawled near the end of the menu, and appear to be [C?].Harvey, W. Viles, and G.H. Graham. We have thus far been unable to locate which unit(s) the men may have been serving in.

A unique culinary remnant of P.O.W. Camp 52, revealing the importance of Christmas dinner to the prisoners as well as the involvement of the British Red Cross in ensuring they were able to have such an extravagant (for a POW camp in wartime) trio of meals.