EXCITED ITALIANS

Evening Post, Volume CXXII, Issue 131, 30 November 1936, Page 5

EXCITED ITALIANS

A TROOPSHIP MUTINY

VOLUNTEER'S STOttY

The following notes on the^ expediences of a. young Italian volunteer were taken down after a long conversation with him immediately afl.er his ' return from Africa (says a wrY.ter in 1 the "Manchester Guardian"). Tihe in-1 - formation was voluntarily offere\d —in . deed, he seemed most anxious t|i tell me his story—and I can vouch for the veracity of my informant, who iaolds 1 a respectable positio.n in his country - town. For this purpose he may be called B. B volunteered early this year for 1 service in Abyssinia, and after itwo : months' training at home was shipped • with his battalion of Black Shirts,f'or , Mogadiscio. When within a few hours' steaming of | this port counter-orders were received, an/d the ship's course 1 was altered for Suez again. It soon\ . became known that their destination} was Derna, in Libya, and a mutiny* broke out among the volunteers drawnj i from all ranks of society. Cries werei raised: "We want to fight the Abys-i sinians! We volunteered for that, noti for the Libyan Desert." The rations were thrown overboard, ropes were} cut, glass broken, and other damage* done to the ship's fittings. An at-» tempt was even made to set fire to* the boat. This lack of discipline brokej out again when Derna was reached. The volunteers, headed by a young lawyer, renewed their hostile attitude, crying out, "Send us back to Italy; we have been tricked." All refused to land, and it was only after two days that they were gradually disembarked, a platoon at a time. Their ringleader was arrested and sent home. SENT TO THE FRONTIER. From Derna B was sent to the Egyptian' frontier, some hundreds of kilometres from the coast. He spoke of Kufra as the nearest oasis. Here he found five lines of barbed wire, the central ones electrified: The tents were pitched thirty metres behind the wire, but there were no trenches to speak of. The desert wind sometimes covered the wires with blown sand, and then they had to be unearthed. The heat was unbearable, and the nominal ration of water was two litres a day per man. This was all transported by camels,,., but the supply was uncertain, and. on one occasion, last- ] ing a week, they had only enough for cooking purposes. Bread consisted of hard tack, and what rations they received were often mixed with sand. 1 The casualty list from disease (there ;

was no fighting) was high. After each sandstorm men down with fever and unable to defend themselves were found smothered by the sand-drifts. Suicide from despair or sunstroke was not uncommon. Even on their return to Derna in the autumn men were found drowned in the sea. B said the prevailing sentiment among the men was one of disgust - at what they thought was a useless - campaign. They were convinced the forces opposite would never attack' unless provoked, and no one believed their Consul's assertions that war was imminent between England and Italy. All disputes had to be referred -to him, as little distinction was made between men and officers. The latter were even assaulted, and the usual punishment was to be tied to a post in the full sun. Only if a man spoke against Mussolini' was he sent home to be tried by the special tribunals. B said the utmost confusion and discontent prevailed, combined with the conviction that -they would be lost in case of an attack, isolated as they were in the desert. SEVEN DIVISIONS. According to B, who, as a messenger between various commands, gained .some information, the number of Italian and native troops was much greater than was given out: He' said there were seven divisions between Derna and the front, consisting of Black Shirts and Regulars, Libyan and Somali Arabs, and even Abyssinian levies. These were paid 7 lire a day, and had wives and children with them. The Black Shirts received something over 4 lire. The return to Derna took nearly two months, and ■ was accomplished on camels, as marching was impossible, four and five men to a camel on .special saddles. At Derna B came across the notorious Dumini several ftimes. The latter is nowthe most important "Ras" of the district, and doing a thriving trade in cattle, and being referred to as the chief local authority. On disembarking at Naples the battalion was reduced to 400 men from their original strength ofi 680, but of) these the greater part were suffering; from bouts of fever, and B himself had lost ten kilograms. He was indignant that his bonus of 300 lire (reiduced from 600) was again reduced byi 100 lire, but he is at least lucky in j-egaining his old post in the local factory. He is suffering, like his companions, under a keen sense of injustice—^mortificato," as he puts it—at not halving had his promised "whack" at the :Abyssinians. He is even thinking bt' applying for work in Abyssinia, but there will be no more "volunteering" for him, he says. National health insurance cost Britain £126,148,000 in benefits alone last year. ;in 1934 the cost was £25,637,000.