Allied soldiers became prisoners of the Italians almost always after the Germans captured them first. They were spoils of war, but above all a burden that soon proved difficult to manage. The camps in the sand, where the prisoners died of thirst, hunger and dysentery, were undoubtedly the worst part of captivity in Italian hands. Overseas, the Italians gained a reputation as poor soldiers and incompetent dictators, inferior to their enemies but also to their German comrades. The experience of many Allies in Africa confirmed the stereotypes, which became the prisoners’ only baggage after their captors had plundered the rest of their few possessions.