The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1943-09-27
ALLIES ARE WARY
OF ITALIAN ALLY
Continued From Page One)

Continued From Page One)
What do we find now? The
Italians are our allies. They there
fore claim to exercise independence
in internal affairs. A soldier who
wishes to chance his British occu-
patton money finds it hard. if not
impossible. to do so. The Italians
are quibbling about threat of
400 lire to the pound sterling.
Before Italy was our ally, the
army could sequestrate what it
wanted in cars, typewriters, print
ing presses or paper. Now that
Italy is our ally, we have to be
very careful and in some cases
pay for these things.
MANY Italians in fact are under
the impression that because they
say, now we are your allies they
ale going to spare their country
the retribution which just victory
formally demands of a defeated
enemy and which a defeated enemy
expects to make.
with all due sympathy for Ital-
ian sufferings under their self
chosen German friends, we should
get their minds straight on this.
The Italians who sincerely
cheer our troops today when they
enter new city also cheered Mus
solini.
Nov they find they backed the
wrong horse.
''It took Allied air attacks, the
proves of the Eighth Army and
the indomitable spirit of the Royal
Navy to make the Italians realize
they we're wrong. Mussolini, now
they say, misled them. Because
the Italians allowed themselves to
be misled, the war has been pro-
longed at least a year and caused
us untold bloodshed and wealth.
We nearly lost the war in the
Mediterranean.
so let us stop this haggling
about exchange rates and whether
we can borrow this or use that.
If it is necessary for beating Hit
Ter, surely we should have it. We
would then be doing Italy two
good turns: Firstly, we would be
getting the Germans out quicker
than otherwise would be the case;
secondly, by making the Italians
pay the price of their folly in be-
lieving in Mussolini they will learn
not to be foolish again."
Similar views are being express
ed here by American officers and
men, although the feeling in this
regard perhaps is not quite so pro-
nounced among the Americans as
among the British. Many soldiers
also assert the showing made by
the Italian army in Africa proves
they would be of little use as COM
batants in driving the Germans
out.
This scorn for the Italian army,
coupled with the fact that many
of their comrades we're killed by
Italians, makes many soldiers
bristle at the idea of having Ital-
ians as "allies."
Finding Italians in charge of
civil administrator and issuing
DEGREES which indirectly affect the
Allied forces also seems strange
to soldiers who thought they had
defeated the Italians once and for
all.
Officers of the Allied Military
Government of Occupied Territor-
les, who came here to administer
the country and since have found
heir organization sidetracked
while Italian officials control civil
power, likewise are resentful, at
least one high AMG officer has re-
signed and others lounge about,
saying:
"Well, this is a pretty comic
war. We came here to do job,
but find we are not allowed to do
it."
It is difficult here to find just
who is responsible for permitting
the Italians to retain such pow
ers. Badoglio has his own army
with arms, including artillery. The
Badoglio government is permitted
the use of the Bari radio.
The Badoglio government seems
so determined to force itself on
America and Britain as an ally
that it is considered possible it
might declare war on the Germans
by independent action as a means
If getting into the winning camp
and salvaging something in the
post war settlement.
It is known here that from the
very start of the armistice nego-
tiations Italy wanted not to surren-
der as an Axis partner, but to join
up with the United Nations to fight
the Germans.
The Italian delegates were told
bluntly they were presumptuous II
they thought the American and
British governments, and especial
1,r Tho Ar,aricop and British peO-