Evening star., 1943-06-20
Axis Denies Rumors
italian Peace Envoys
Have Gone 10 AIgiers
I, Reported Trip by Umberto
And BodoeIio Also Is
=; Uneonfirmed by Allies
BY the Associated Press.

; Uneonfirmed by Allies
BY the Associated Press
LONDON, June 19.-Reuters
said in dispatch-whollyu un-
confirmed by other Allied sources
and denied by the Axis-that
there were rumors that high
italian peace ENJOYS were In Al
giers today as Premier .Musso-
lini called his cabinet into an
other war conference.
Even as Mussolini's subordinates
approved new DEGREES, the mightiest
Allied air blows since those dealt to
Pantelleria were falling on Sicily
and Sardinia, outpost islands guard
ing the mainland. Nine provinces
comprising the toe and heel OF the
Italian boot were freshly placed
under martial law-"made zones Of
operations" as Rome radio put it.
Official London and Algiers
sources declared they had no infor-
nation on the Reuters report from
the French African capital that
Crown Prince Umberto, an army
group commander, and the deposed
Marshal Pietro Badoglio had come
to the Allied camp bearing the olive
branch.
Absurd, Says Nazi Radio.
A German broadcast quoted a
Rome dispatch as saying the report
about Umberto and Marshal Bado-
Clio on a peace mission was 80
absurd and senseless that it denies
itself"
A little earlier, the same radio had
said Umberto has been visiting for
several days Calabria localities hit
by air raids" Calabria is the toe
of the italian boot, the nearest part
of the mainland to Algiers. Both
broadcasts of DNB dispatches were
recorded by the Associated Press.
The Rome radio, in a broadcast
recorded here by Reuters. said the
Allies were dropping leaflets inviting
the Italian population to collaborate
with them.
The Morocco radio said the Fas-
cist party directorate had asked
Mussolini to hand over the entire
conduct Of the war to the party.
The Morocco radio has been a
source of frequent misinformation.
This report suggested that a party
revolt might be brewing which
would put II Duce on the skids in a
move preliminary to eventual bar
gaining with the Allies.
Morale Is Big Problem.
The Italians know, however, that
unconditional surrender" is the
only Allied term because it was
thus pronounced in January at the
Casablanca conference of President
Roosevelt and Prime Minister
Churchill. The rumor of an Italian
peace bid was the latest of a series
of three. Reports of similar feelers
from Rumania and Hungary were
denied violently by Axis spokesmen.
The Rome radio, as heard by the
Associated Press, said Mussolinis
meeting with the cabinet dealt with
domestic affairs.
Obviously, the most pressing do
mestic affairs were the stiffening of
home front morale and the bolster
ing of the exposed coast. The ex-
tension of martial law was an
nounced last night.
(CBS announced the recording
of British radio broadcast say
ing that one decree of the cabinet
provided FOR requisitioning of
buildings for housing evacuees.
1t said that "a plan for financial
aid to Cardinal, because of bomb
devastation, was also approved.O
Italian Officialdom Jittery.
A Berlin broadcast said all Italian
men from 18 to SO and women from
ID to "a not otherwise engaged in
war work had been ordered placed
under labor conscription effective
july l. The Ankara radio quoted
Zurich dispatch saying the main
cities of Sicily and Naples would be
evacuated of nearly all civilians by
July 10.
The jittery state of Italian
ofhc'aldom, as well as of the Fascist
publc, was reflected in two swiftly
succeeding orders The first fixed
hard penalties for Italians failing to
report landings of Allied para
chutistS or other agents; the second
offered cash rewards to soldiers dis
covering parachutists or Allied
secret works in Italian cities.
The ministry of information re-
corded a broadcast which said the
menace of landings of single Allied
'chutists had become acute of late"
This was followed by another Rome
broadcast boasting that 80 far, not
a single Allied soldier has set foot
on European soil"
Radio Algiers reported that ten
sion between German and Italian
troops occupying Greece is rising
steadily"
The Tass report from Istanbul said
italian authorities at the Adriatic
port Of Pola had arrested several
German spies after the Nazis dis
regarded an italian warning to stop
espionage in Italian military bases.