02/06/2026
We have managed to discover a lot of information for our Italian enquirer, Mariella Tracquillio, about her father who was a Prisoner of War in WW2 and worked on a farm in Camperdown.
The two children in a picture she sent to us have been in touch, and have fond memories of the two prisoners who worked on their farm.
This is the report from our researcher, Maree Belyea:
FACE BOOK QUERY: Domenico Tracquilio and the Edge Family.
Three Edge brothers, Felix, Cyril & Eric who all took up land in the Leslie Manor Indian Army Officers Settlement at Leslie Manor in 1922, were born and raised on the Northwest Frontier of India by English born parents William Llewellyn Edge and Mary Jane Fish. As William was Engineer-In-Charge of the Khyber Pass Railways the family shifted to various places in India.
When the brothers moved from India to Leslie Manor their parents went to Melbourne and their three sisters went to England.
Felix named his Leslie Manor property Mashobra, in memory of an area he loved in India. Felix married Audrey Marion Sprague in 1935 and the following year they bought a property, then named Oakwood, at Kariah, 14 kms north of Camperdown, from the estate of R.F. Lush in 1936.
Felix and Marion moved to the property, bringing the Mashobra name.
Their daughter Wendy was born in 1939 and son Derek in 1942.
When Felix and Audrey married his mother moved to England to be with her daughters.
Wendy Wilson (nee Edge) recalled today (28th May 2026): -
We had two Italian Prisoners of War living and working on our property. They were housed in a worker’s cottage ‘down the back’. Domenico and Tomas were very nice young men and treated us children very well. Derek often visited their cottage and was fed spaghetti. This was food unknown to most in the area, or Australia at the time. They worked on the farm doing whatever was required and as Felix was also still working his farm at Leslie Manor they may have helped there too. Both enjoyed being here and didn’t look forward to returning to Italy.
The photo in the garden at the front of Mashobra was taken on Victory Day, celebrated in Australia on 15th August 1945 on the fall of Japan.
L-R Domenico, Derek, Tomas, Audrey and Wendy in front.
Audrey was knitting jumpers for the children for Victory Day in red, white and blue stripes.
Derek’s wasn’t finished so can be seen with a piece of it attached at the front.
Wendy thinks the uniform Domenico and Tomas were wearing was maroon.
Both Wendy and Derek have very fond memories of their Italian workers.
Felix and Audrey Edge sold Mashobra in 1950 and the family moved to Toolamba near Shepparton.
Mashobra was changed to Crail by the next owners.
Sources:
Brother Officers on the Sheep’s Back by J G Kristiansen
CDHS research files
