The Pittsburgh Press (September 8, 1943)
ITALY QUITS WAR!
Unconditional surrender
Badoglio agrees to fight Hitler; Allies get fleet
By Richard D. McMillan, United Press staff writer
Bulletin
Allied HQ, North Africa –
Axis radio reports insisted today that the U.S. 7th Army was sailing northward across the Mediterranean against the continent. The Axis radio reports have persisted since Monday.
Allied HQ, North Africa –
Italy has surrendered unconditionally and ordered its armed forces to resist the Nazis if they should try to interfere with the surrender.
The Italian collapse was announced today by Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, Allied Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean, who said that he had granted Italy a military armistice on Sept. 3 and that it was effective “this instant” (12:30 p.m. today ET).
At that hour, Gen. Eisenhower went to a microphone of the United Nations radio station here and read his statement to the world.
Gen. Eisenhower said:
This is Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, Commander-in-Chief Allied Forces. The Italian government has surrendered its armed forces unconditionally. As Allied Commander-in-Chief, I have granted a military armistice, the terms of which have been approved by the governments of the United Kingdom, the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics acting in the interests of the United Nations. The Italian government has bound itself to abide by these terms without reservation. The armistice was signed by my representative and the representative of Marshal Badoglio and becomes effective this instant. Hostilities between the armed forces of the United Nations and those of Italy terminate at once. All Italians who now act to help eject the German aggressor from Italian soil will have the assistance and support of the United Nations.
Thus, five days after the Allies invaded Italy proper, the nation was officially out of the war.
A special announcement issued from Allied headquarters explained the developments leading up to the capitulation of Italy as follows:
Some weeks ago, the Italian government made an approach to the British and American governments with a view to concluding an armistice. A meeting was arranged and took place in neutral territory.
It was at once explained to the representatives of the Italian government that they must surrender unconditionally. On this understanding representatives of the Allied Commander-in-Chief were empowered to communicate to them the military conditions which they would have to fulfill.
One clause in these military terms binds the Italian government to comply with the political, economic and financial conditions of the Allies which will be imposed later.
Further meetings were arranged and took place in Sicily. The armistice was signed at Allied advanced headquarters there on Sept. 3, but it was agreed with the representatives of the Italian government that the armistice should come into force at a moment most favorable to the Allies and be simultaneously announced by both sides. That moment has now arrived.
The possibility of a German move to forestall publication of the armistice by the Italian government was discussed during the negotiations. To meet this eventuality, it was agreed that one of the senior Italian military representatives should not return to Rome.
He is now in Sicily.
Further, Marshal Badoglio arranged to send the text of his proclamation to Allied headquarters.
Badoglio’s proclamation as the head of the Italian government recognized the impossibility of continuing “the unequal struggle against overwhelming power,” and said the armistice was requested to avoid “further and more grievous harm” to the country.
Under terms of the armistice, Badoglio pledged Italy to “oppose attacks from any other quarter,” which meant she would war against Germany if the Nazis attacked Italian soil.
Negotiated secretly without Hitler’s knowledge, according to official reports, the armistice represented the most severe blow the Germans had suffered and meant that the original Axis was no more.
The armistice was signed on the fourth anniversary of the declaration by Britain and France that a state of war with Germany existed.
The Italian government bound itself to comply with the political, economic and financial conditions which the Allies will impose later.
Italy fell out of the war just under three ways and three months after she entered it on June 10, 1940.
The armistice was signed on the day the British 8th Army launched the invasion of southern Italy, apparently explaining why slight resistance was encountered. The Allies, however, continued bombing the key centers of Italy, presumably directing their continuing offensive against the German elements in control of them.
The announcement of the Italian surrender was prepared in greatest secrecy, unlike any previous formal statement at Allied headquarters.
At noon, correspondents were told that a special press conference would be held at 5:15 p.m. local time (11:15 a.m. ET). At 5:30 p.m., the doors were closed. The censors and correspondents were alert and tense when Lt. Col. Joseph B. Philips said the tiny press work room would be sealed for 70 minutes, during which officers would collect the copy and take it to the censors, eliminating the usual mad scramble to file the first flash.
Thereafter, 25 correspondents typed madly at tiny tables while their colleagues, who had no immediate deadlines, clustered on the balcony overlooking the busy street.
An hour after Gen. Eisenhower made the announcement by radio, a special release was issued, saying that the Italian people were being informed by radio and leaflet of the armistice.
The leaflets said:
Italians! Backed by the might of the Allies, Italy now has the opportunity of taking vengeance on the German oppressor and of aiding in the expulsion of the enemy from Italian soil.
The Italians were exhorted to see that no single train carrying German material be permitted to pass and that dock workers allow no German ships to unload.
Sailors of the Italian Navy and mercantile marine were being notified that “the Germans have become your enemies.” But they were asked not to scuttle their ships, instead sailing them, if possible, to safe ports in North Africa, Malta, Black Sea ports or wherever they could be put into Allied hands.
The sailors were told to fly a black or blue pennant and identify themselves to Allied ships and planes, to burn dim navigation lights at night, and to follow all directions of the United Nations forces.
The Italian Navy consists of seven battleships, three aircraft carriers building, two heavy cruisers, nine light cruisers, 25 destroyers, and 60 submarines.
Besides completing the Allied control of the Mediterranean, the new acquisition of the Allies curtails German U-boat operations there.
With the use of Spezia, Pola, Taranto and Genoa naval bases, the Allies will be able to command and blockade the French coast, as well as the Adriatic including the Yugoslavian, Albanian and Greek coasts.
Italian shipping resources remaining in the Mediterranean are estimated at 300 vessels (totaling 1,500,000 tons). Italy had 2,000,000 tons of shipping in the Mediterranean when she entered the war.
An official announcement credited the Italians with still having possession of the Rex and Conte di Savoia, two luxury liners, despite a Washington announcement that one of the class was sunk off Bagnara last August.