ITALY’S FEARS

Grey River Argus, 18 May 1943, Page 5

ITALY’S FEARS

TRIAL OF STRENGTH APPROACHES EVACUEES FROM SOUTH King’s Abdication Discounted (Rec 7.45.) LONDON, May 17. British broadcasts to, Italy are increasing the Italians uncertainty and fears about the Aines’ next move. The general tenor of the British talks is that the sooner ItalJ gets out of the war the greater chance she will have to save ei country. Italians must decide whether they will save the tyrants by destroying Italy, or save Italy by destroying the tyrants. The Morocco radio with reserve, quoted the Berne report that the King of Italy had abdicated and that there was increasing opposition to Signor Mussolini, but .the Rome Radio announced that King Victor Emanuel had opened an art exhibition at Rome which was attended by various Ministers and Fascist Party officials. Mussolini did not attend. The imminence of the danger confronting Italy is being stressed with the arrival in other parts of evacuees from Sicily and Southern Italy, says the “Daily Telegraph s” Zurich correspondent. The Italian authorities are trying their hardest to minimise the effects of Allied air attacks. The Minister of Corporation, Signor Gianetti, in a speech, claimed that the Italians are rallying round the administration and said that Italian industry after three years of hard war showed no symptoms of disorganisation and weakness. The fuel situation was no more serious than from 1915 to 1918. On the contrary, other reports state that the Italians are increasingly bitter because military objectives are thinly protected against air raids, while the Germans are hedging the Ruhr factories with the best and latest searchlights, and anti- j aircraft guns. . Signor Valori, wiiting in “Corriere Della Sera,” warns that Italy’s supreme trial of strength is ap- | proaching, but suggests that an Allied attempt to land tanks and other j heavv material would be an undertaking fraught with tremendous difficulties. Reports that the Algiers radio had broadcast a statement that the King of Italy had abdicated, created great interest in London, but investigation revealed that the broadcast merely quoted a suggestion made in the United States last week that the King might abdicate.

Peace Talks ? DR. SPELLMAN IN ISTANBUL. (Rec. 7.45.) LONDON, May 17 The “Daily Express’s’’ Istanbu’l correspondent says that Turkish diplomats in Istanbul believe that a move to establish a basis for Italian peace talks may be occurring. They point out that Rt. Rev. Dr. Spellman, Archbishop of New York, arrived in Istanbul almost simultaneously with Monsignor Clarizio, the Vatican Under-Secretary of State. It is known that they are going to meet. A high official of the Italian Embassy yesterday contacted Archbishop Spellman through the Resident Papal Legate in Turkey, Monsignor Roncagli. It is not suggested that anything sensational will immediately develop, but there is reason to believe that Archbishop Spellman was obtaining up to to-day an understanding of the degree of Italian hopes for a separate peace this summer.

GERMANS ABANDONING ITALY? LONDON. May 16.

The “Daily Mail’s” diplomatic correspondent says that German officials and Gestapo agents are withdrawing from Italy. It seems, therefore, that unless this move is a “blind”, Hitler is about to abandon Italy to her fate, and leave her to face the threat of Allied invasion unaided. The correspondent states: There are unmistakable signs that Hitler may withdraw his armed forces from Italy and establish strong fortress defences for the protection , of the Reich on the Brenner Pass. It would not be surprising to observers in London if he did so. There has been no official German declaration of continued . Axis solidartiy nor are there indications that the Germans are ready to supply Italy with the means for defence. In these circumstances, it seems fairly certain that Hitler - is preparing to leave Mussolini in the lurch in the same w.ay as Marshal Von Rommel deserted his Italian colleagues in the desert. RESTRICTIONS IN BULGARIA. (Rec. 7.45.) LONDON, May 17. “The Times’s” Lisbon correspondent says that increased restrictions on foreign travellers are reported from Belgrade, where it is virtually impossible for foreignes to stay over two nights. All hotels are reserved for the army. The Royal Palace is being used as a prison, mostly for hostages. RIGOROUS DISCIPLINE IN SOUTH FRANCE. (Rec. 8.0.) LONDON, May 17. The Vichy radio says that Laval, addressing the prefects of South France, requested the enforcement of rigorous discipline. GLIDERS “foFInVASION TO CARRY JEEPS AND SOLDIERS. (Rec. 8.0.) LONDON, May 17. A “Daily Express” correspondent, after a visit to the United States Headquarters of the Air Support Command, said that Ford-built gliders loaded with jeeps and in two-way radio communication with the towing planes will be taken into the enemy lines when the invasion starts. The Ford glider has a wing-span of eighthy-four feet and is more than forty-eight feet. long. It accommodates fifteen fully equipped soldiers and two pilots, or a jeep and six soldiers The jeep's two-way radio will guide fighters and bombers during an attack. The Air Support Command was established a year ago under Brigadier General R. C. Candee.

BRITISH NAVAL VESSELS AT GIBRALTAR. LONDON, Mav 16. The German-controlled Scandinavian telegraph bureau quotes a report from Madrid stating the shipping concentrations, including fifty freighters and tankers and the battleships Nelson and King George the Fifth, have been seen at Gibraltar. The report adds that British naval forces at Gibraltar include the carriers Formidable and Furious, sixteen destroyers; also . one American and one Polish destroyer.