GERMANS ANGRY WITH ITALIANS

Southland Times, Issue 24875, 15 October 1942, Page 5

GERMANS ANGRY WITH ITALIANS

Military Failures (Rec. 8.45 p.m.) LONDON, October 13. Rising feeling between Italy and Germany concerning Italy’s military failures is reported in dispatches to The Times and The Daily Express. _ Hitler is reported to have told Mussolini that Germany will soon occupy all Croatia and the adjoining territory south of the Tyrol as far as Trieste “to obtain more direct access to the Adriatic and the Balkans and better control of the war.” The German demands naturally are meeting with very strong opposition and the dispute has led to the postponement of a projected meeting between Hitler and Mussolini. _ . According to one usually reliable source the Germans are infuriated by their frustration in Russia and are throwing the blame for their failure on their satellites, especially Italy, for their slender assistance. The Italians are blamed for having sent to Russia insignificant forces of very poor quality, which, instead of being an asset, have been a hindrance and a nuisance. The Germans have again begun to rub in the Italians’ defeats in North Africa, Albania ‘and the Mediterranean, which compelled Germany to come to the assistance of Italy, thereby wasting time, men and material which could have been better used in Russia. The Germans say that even the Rumanians have revealed themselves as better soldiers than the Italians, who are not even able to deal with General Draaga Mihailovitch’s Yugoslav patriots. ITALIANS~MUTINY Troops On Duty In Greece (Rec. 7 p.m.) LONDON, Oct. 13. Alarming reports of unrest and mutiny among the Italian garrison of Greece caused Mussolini recently to visit Athens, says the Cairo correspondent of The Daily Telegraph. The troops for months have been displaying increasing reluctance to be drafted from comparatively easy-going garrison duty to the uninviting Western Desert. A large part of a regiment recently blew up a ship at the quayside at Keradzini, near Piraeus, which was waiting to embark them. Two hundred ring-leaders, manacled in groups of four, were marched to a concentration camp through Athens. The population turned out and cheered.