ITALIAN WAR PRISONERS

Evening Star, Issue 25169, 8 May 1944, Page 3

ITALIAN WAR PRISONERS

NOM-COMBATAHT DUTIES

NEW YORK, May 7. The War Department announces that Italian prisoners of war are being given an opportunity to volunteer for special service units in any duties except actual comibat, reports the Washington" correspondent of the ' New York Times.' They will remain prisoners of war in fact, .but will be more on their honour. They will be under less rigid surveillance and will receive more privileges than hitherto. The arrangement is expected to release thousands of American soldiers for other duty. Similar arrangements are being made in the United Kingdom. There are 50,136 Italians on American iprisoner-of-war rolls. It is understood that the Italian volunteers may be used either in the United States or abroad.

vital communications on which the enemy must depend for his ability to resist our land attacks during the coming weeks or months. " When the British Tommy lands on the Continent, his foothold will be made more secure, with a path more direct because of' the destruction throughout the length and breadth of occupied Europe, which was carried out by these 138,000 Allied airmen during April."