KICK FOR DUCE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 15 June 1943, Page 4

KICK FOR DUCE

ITALIAN PRISONERS RESENTMENT PEOPLE SAID TO BE SICK OF WAR. PANTELLERIA TROOPS FURIOUS WITH GERMANS.. (British Official Wireless.) (Received This Day, 11.50 a.m.) RUGBY, June 14. As a long column of Italian prisoners marched through Pantelleria on Friday it passed a wall on which was a picture of Mussolini. One prisoner ran from the column and gave the picture a good hearty kick. He was cheered by his compatriots. A correspondent reporting the incident said prisoners declared that the people at home were thoroughly sick of the war. The troops were furious with the Germans for leaving the island shortly before the bombardment commenced. They claimed that the Germans realised that the surrender of the island was inevitable and left in a hurry by night.

DIFFICULT LANDING MADE BY BRITISH PILOT ON PANTELLERIA. SECRET HANGARS INSPECTED. (British Official Wireless.) (Received This Day. 9.38 a.m.) RUGEY. June 14. The first pilot to land on Pantelleria, to collect the first Press despatches for correspondents who landed with the Allied forces, mistook the “white” used by the garrison as a sign of surrender for a landing mark and when he came down he found the field full of bomb craters, some of which were very deep. Despite these he made a successful landing. He was able to see on the airfield some of the great destruction and damage caused by Allied air raids. There were about 90 wrecked planes, including several German types, among them a number of 109 s .with Italian markings. He said: “I saw the much discussed secret hangars hewn in solid rock, capable of holding 90 aeroplanes and 50 trucks. They open on to airfields. Our bomb hits jammed the huge sliding doors. I was told that 12.000 Italian soldiers had sheltered in the hangars during the bombardment. There were sleeping quarters and the stores held enough equipment to keep the garrison going for several months.”