Nazi officials preparing for loss of Italy
Leaflets printed telling people how to resist occupying army
By J. Edward Murray, United Press staff writer
London, England –
German authorities are already preparing for Allied invasion and occupation of Italy, The Daily Telegraph’s diplomatic expert said today.
The Daily Telegraph dispatch said news had reached London that pamphlets were being printed at The Hague, Holland, to be scattered over Italy to instruct civilians in resisting an army of occupation.
Madrid dispatches said German units sent into the Sicilian frontlines fought only a delaying action, falling back whenever pressed.
Quoting reports from Italy, Madrid said the Fascists had complained the Nazi Luftwaffe was not fighting and that German tanks had been held out.
Appeals for planes
Madrid said Gen. Alfredo Guzzoni, commanding Italian forces, had appealed urgently to Benito Mussolini for more planes.
A Stockholm dispatch said Axis reports of the Sicilian fighting were “surprising favorable” for the Allies. Besides trying to temper the Nazi people for receiving news of Sicily’s fall, the propaganda may represent groundwork for an all-out counteroffensive which could be hailed as a major victory even if only partly successful, Stockholm said.
A Berlin dispatch to the Stockholm newspaper Dagens Nyheter said the Nazi press used an increasingly serious tone in discussing Sicily and that one expert, Heinz Bongartz, acknowledged the outcome of the struggle for the island would be “an important advance toward final victory.”
Orders scorched earth
Madrid said it was understood the Italian General Staff ordered Sicilian garrison commanders to destroy all facilities as they retired or face court-martial. The threat, it was said, was made because the British 8th Army captured Syracuse practically intact.
Mussolini reportedly ordered three new Blackshirt divisions dispatched from Rome and Perugia for Sicily if they can cross the narrow straits. They would replace three divisions badly battered by the Allies, Madrid said.
Demonstrations in several Italian cities reported yesterday were said by Madrid to have been outbreaks by workers demanding peace. They were stopped only by police threats to shoot into crowds.