ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the role and function of communal myth, its influence on personal narratives and finally question who speaks or remembers on behalf of the Italians in Scotland. The experiences of the Italian community in Scotland have been largely marginalised within national commemoration of the Second World War, yet the 1939–45 conflict had a highly damaging impact on Italian immigrant families. The sheer human tragedy of internment and the Arandora Star disaster has encouraged the development of powerful myths and stories about the war within the Italian community. Indeed, the commemoration of the Arandora Star victims appears to have merged over time with POW memorials to become a symbol of what it meant to 'be Italian' in Britain during the war. A crucial aspect of communal myth is that the fascio club was simply a social club running dances, sporting events and providing cheap holidays to Italy for immigrant children.
