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J THURSDAY. SEPTEMBER li. 1963 MEDFORDMAIL TRIBUNE. MEDFORD, OREGON -
ome Recalls Surrender and 11943 iattle For DtcaHy
United Press International
ROME (UPI) - They cheer
ed and wept with joy that day
in London and New York. The
date was Sept. 8, 1943. The
newspapers broke out the big,
black type and radio announ
cers everywhere gave the tid
ings: "Italy surrenders!"
But in Rome, Florence, Na
ples and hundreds of other
towns and villiages along the
Italian peninsula, there was ap
prehension. "What will they do now?"
The people asked as they sat
by their radios or gathered in
tlie piazzas.
"They" the Germans
gave the answer swiftly.
Within hours, Rome was oc
cupied. King Victor Emanuel III
and the government of Marshal
Pietro Badoglio were in fliight.
Adolph Hitler began marshal
ling fresh divisions to pour
down through the Brenner Pass
to meet the new crisis.
Italy had surrendered. Now
the battle for Italy began.
It wa3 to go on for another
20 months and cost 350,000 Al
lied casualties alone. But that
day 20 years ago was, nonethe
less, a turning point in World
War II.
Link Snaps
The first link in the Axis
chain had snapped. At a cru
cial moment, Hitler was forced
to divert troops from his hard'
pressed Eastern front to do bat
tie elsewhere. The way to Nor
mandy was paved.
Psychologically, the blow was
immense. Everywhere, people
sensed that this was the begin'
ning of the end.
The event that led up to Sept.
8. 1943, had begun two months
earlier with the fall of Fascism
the imprisonment of Benito Mus
solini, the formation of the Ba
rioRlio government and the Al
lied landings in Sicily.
TWENTY YEARS AGO Celebration of the demonstrators, taken in 1943 from a newsreel
ouster of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini is film. The demonstrators are riding through
shown in this photograph of shouting, waving Rome's Via Nationale. (UPI)
Danes Protest Film
On Christine Keeler
COPENHAGEN, Denmark
(UPI) Nearly 50,000 Danes
have signed a protest against
the filming in Denmark of
Christine Keeler's life "because
it may spoil the character of
our children," the newspaper
Politiken said today.
Since Sept. 5, about 300 per
sons have collected the signa
tures. They will work another
week before applying to the gov
ernment for a ban on the film
making, it said.
Miss Keeler is a London party
pirl whose illicit love affair with
British War Minister John Pro
fiimo led to his rcsignatioo and
set off a scandal which nearly
toppled Prime Minister Harold
Macmillan's government.
In late July, the Italians
made secret contact with the
Allies to sound them out about
the possible terms of an armis
tice. Weeks of cloak - and -
dagger operations ranging from
Home to Madrid to Lisbon to
a tiny villiage In Sicily were to
follow before tnat would tin-
ally be effected.
the problem at all times was
to avoid tipping the hand of
the Italians to the Germans,
poised everywhere along the
peninsula with 16 well-equipped
divisions.
The key man in the operation
for the Italians was Gen. Giu
seppe Castellano, charged by
Badoglio with making personal
contacts with the Allies and try
ing to secure the best terms pos
sible for Italy.
Castellano, Key
Castellano, using a false pass
port, left Rome by train Aug.
12 lor Lisbon. The train made
an unscheduled stop of several
hours at Madrid, and Castellano
took advantage of this to make
contact with the British Ambas
sador, Samuel Hoare.
He told Hoare that Italy not
only was ready to break with
the Germans, but also was pre
pared to join the war on the
side of the Allies.
As Castellano continued on his
way to Lisbon, Hoare tele
graphed to British Prime Min
ister Winston Churchill and U.S.
President Franklin D. Roose
velt, then meeting in Canada,
to tell them what the Italians
had proposed. . .
Castellano arrived in Lisbon
Aug. 17 and made secret con
tact with the British Ambassa
dor Sir R. Campbell. It was nec
essary to act with caution be
cause Lisbon was full of Ger
man spies.
Two days later, the Italian
counsul at Lisbon received a
note from the British Embassy
saying: "Mr. Du Bois is ex
pected this evening at 10:30"
It was the signal that the ne
gotiations were to begin.
Castellano went to the embas
sy and met a group of Anglo
American officials headed by
Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower's
personal representative, Gen.
Walter Bedell Smith. Bedell
Smith began by reading the Al
lies conditions for an armistice.
Castellano replied that he was
not authorized to discuss armis
tice terms, but only the terms
of a military agreement.
Allies Suspicious
This surprised the Allied of
ficials, and aroused their sus
picions. The talks seemed about
to bog down. But Churchill and
Roosevelt meanwhile had re
ceived Hoare's telegram, and
they immediately drew up and
sent to Lisbon the so-called
"Document of Quebec," offer
ing military assistance to Italy
as soon as the Italians had giv
en concrete proof of their col
laboration with the Allies.
On Aug. 31, the Allies sent a
secret message to Castellano in
structing him to go to Sicily.
Castellano left immediately,
carrying a message from the
Badoglio government saying It
aly could sign an armistice
only if it were announced after
Allied troops had landed on the
peninsula in sufficient strength
to keep Rome and the rest of
the nation from falling into Ger
man hands.
Bedell Smith, who met Cas
tellano at the Allied command
post at Cassible a village just
below Syracuse on the South
east Sicilian coast told him
the Italian terms were unac
ceptable. Although he didn't spell this
out, the Allies faced a severe
shortage of landing cratt neces
sary to invade all along the
Italian coast. Their battle plan
thus called for taking Italy the
hard way landing in the
smith nnH ftirhlinp their wav
up the rugged peninsula. I
Castellano told Bedell Smith
that at the least the Allies
should land a parachute division
and an armored division at
Rome to keep the Germans
from capturing the King and
the Badoglio government and
setting up a puppet Facist re
gime.
Allies Agree
The Allies finally agreed to
send a parachute division and
100 anti-tank weapons.
Castellano returned to Rome
and reported to Badoglio on
Sept. 1. After an indecisive cab
inet meeting, Badoglio went to
see the King. That afternoon,
the King decided to accept the
surrender and sent a coded tel
egram to Rome explaining what
wer is affirmative . . ."
Then a strange series of de
velopments - comic in any
other circumstances set in.
Castellano returned to Sicily
on Sept. 2 and the Allies greeted
him, thinking he was authorized
to sign the armistice. But gov
ernment officials in Rome had
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believed their telegram was
sufficient to put the armistice
into effect, and had given him
no such authorization.
Castellano quickly sent a tel
egram to Rome explaining what
must be done, but no answer
was forthcoming.
By niightfall Castellano was
desperate, and sent another tel
egram. Accept Terms
At 2 p.m. the next day, a tel
egram arrived from Rome say
ing that the telegram sent on
Sept. 1 contained "implicit ac
ceptance" of the armistice
terms. Nothing was said about
authorizing Castellano to sign.
Then at 5 p.m. a telegram ar
rived from Badoglio, cancelling
the one sent three hours earlier
and authorizing Castellano to
sign.
Bedell Smith went to Castel
lano's tent to notify him of this,
and escorted him to the mess
tent. There Castellano found
Eisenhower standing before a
long table, with the British Gen
eral Strong, American General
Lowell Rooks and two other Al
lied officials beside him.
The ceremony was short. Be
dell Smith handed Castellano
three copies of tthe armistice
and the Italian signed first.
Then Bedell Smith signed for
Eisenhower.
It was 5:15 in the afternoon
of Sept. 3, 1943. Eisenhower
stepped forward and shook Cas
tellano's hand.
At that moment, Allied troops
were pouring onto the beaches
of Calabria in the toe of the
Italian Boot, and meeting little
resistance. Five days later, on
Sept. 8, Eisenhower announced
the armistice to the world. In
accordance with the armistice
terms, Badoglio then announced
it in Rome and the Italian radio
carried his words to the nation.
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