ITALY.

Taranaki Daily News, 2 April 1918, Page 5

ITALY.

THE BRITISH CONTINGENT. TRANSFERRED TO THE ASIAGO; Received April 1, 0.0 p.mLondon, March 31. British Italian official: Tka British at Monte 1110 liave been relieved anil '(transferred to a new sector on tlie Asiago plateau. The Flying Corps since their arrival have destroyed 83 enemy aeroplanes and lost 10. '

HOW ITALIANS FELL INTO GERMAN TRAP. WHOLE BRIGADE BEFOOLED BY TEUTONIC CIMEJG. y Rome, December 20. Edward Marshall (the well-known American special correspondent) writes: Having made on a previous article a statement of the situation with regard to Austro-German propaganda among the civilian population of Italy, in .this | article I shall make such a as is posaibl# of the corresponding londitions existing in the army. During the months when the Austrians were being driven back slowly the bitter realisation was impressed upon their leaders that, man for man, their troops were very much inferior to the Italian troops and that phychologically tfliey were in ibad condition. It became obvious to them that if anything was to be accomplished wpon the Italian front they must have German troops to work -with, and that straight, flgftting, even :by German troops, coulETnot win a victory.

Military measures therefore augmented by such weakening of the Italian morale as could be brought about 1 ;by devices wtiich are congenial to the German mind, and apparently impossible to the AUics, who remain not only unalble to adopt them, but unable to detect their workings when they are being applied by the enemy. > .An Austrian brigade had been instructed to make friends in every possible way with the Italian brigade in opposition. They were, not to start anything in the way of combat. They were to refuse obvious opportunities to take prisoners. In every Way they were to indicate to these Italians (and the selection of the particular Italian brigade- which was chasen showed the perfection of the Teutonic information service) that they did not wish to fight, ■but wished the war to end.

The Austrian brigade was selected with as much care, as had been given to the' choice of the Italian troops to 'bo

impressed—selected for the pacifistic tendency of its rank and flic. But it carefully was officered by those cynical souls who so frequently are found among the Austrians. BEFOOLED ITALIAN'SThese Austrian soldiers were informed and were led to inform the Italian | soldiery that tho Austrian aimy as a whole would throw down its arms upon a certain signal and bring the war to an end, if the Italian troops would do the same. .They suggested l this to the Italian brigade and led them to believe, as they themselves believed, that the plan'was general throughout the Italian army. At a given signal the Austrians, dropping all their weapons, were to shout the signal "Dinner is ready." Hearing it the Italians were to do exactly the, same thing. The war would then be over. The day came and the hour came. The Austrian troops threw down their arms and advanced,' singing; the overjoyed Italians of the weak befooled brigade did likewise; even merrily dancing over the rough war-littered terrain betweoa the lines as they went to meet their "brothers."

But the way to peace had not been found. As soon as the Italians were off their guard that portion of the Austrian "brigade whi& could be withdrawn was quickly whisked out of the way, revealing immediately ibehind it a stern ( hard faced brigade of brutal Germans. Before the Italians could regain their moral, before they had *at all recovered from the terrible, the ghastly, the inconceivable surprise of the wholei thing, and even before more than a small portion of the bewildered, frightened Austrian could be got out of the way, these Germans began firing with rifles and machine guns. If Austrians were killed ' what did it matter? More Italians would be killed. - The effect of fell this on the befooled Italians can tie imagined. Those who were not quickly slaughtered fled- Most had no chance to run away. Officers were helpless. That the army did not all go stale or bad has been indubitably proved in a thousand ways. At the very start it wa s established through the magnificent retreat of the Third Army, which, with many other troops, reorganised at once without the loss of a single cannon and turned to fight magnificently- Of ttie Second Army only the left wing failed its commanders. All the men along the Bainsizza front fought their way back foiling the enemy, as did also the greater portion of the right wing. On the Treatino the army resisted perfectly, and those same troops have not faltered in their steadfast opposition to the enemy. There can 'bo no doubt that from now on the Italian army will fight furiously, but there should bo no -lack" of every co-operation from the Allies towards something approaching a real understanding of the Italian situation as it actually is. ' It was lack of this which made the Austro-German advance a possibility. In the mind of every man whom I met and who is conversant with the situation, the importance of Americans on tho Italian front is gr^at.

Italians know Americans better than Englishmen or Frenchmen kn&w them. They have learned to believe in themIt would tie hard to find a company in the Italian forces in which are not men ■who liave been in, the United Stated, and who have achieved a great respect for the Americans, the dominating feature of which is a belief that what the Americans start to do they will accomplish.