A Photo for Stan

 


This very worn small photograph (2.75" x 2.25") is not part of the Stan and Grace correspondence.  It shows a man with a boy aged maybe 8  or 9 years.  It has clearly been pinned to a board several times, with torn holes in the corners.  On the back it says:

"A Stan con affetto.  Franco,  Mola, 11.8.44"

I was puzzled by 'Mola', but having looked it up, Mola is a town within the Metropolitan City of Bari, where we know Stan was stationed, so this makes sense.

Clearly this photo meant a lot to Stan, as he kept it long after the war was over, and I wonder what the relationship was between him and Franco.   Maybe Franco was one of the Italian interpreters or a civilian employed in the office?  We will never know.  

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