BADOGLIO RIGHT

Wairarapa Times-Age, 3 August 1943, Page 3

BADOGLIO RIGHT

ABOUT WAR GOING ON NAPLES DOCKS & AIRFIELD BOMBED. ITALIAN COAST SHELLED BY NAVY. (British Official Wireless.) (Received This Day, 11.25 a.m.) RUGBY, August 2. The short lull in the bombardment of Italy ended yesterday when the Naples docks and a nearby,airfield were bombed and the Italian mainland was bombarded by the Navy. ’ On taking office, Marshal Badoglio said the war went on. He and 'the Italian people will quickly learn how right he was.

RATHER VAGUE

REPORTS ABOUT ITALIAN PEACE PROPOSALS. REJECTED BY THE ALLIES. LONDON, August 1. The Allies are reported to have rejected peace proposals coming indirectly from Marshal Badoglio, says the Cairo correspondent of the “Daily Express.” . ~ The conditions of the proposals, it is stated, were: (1) Allied troops must not pass through Italian territory to attack Germany; (2). Italy agrees to withdraw all her forces from Greece and the Balkans and concentrate them in Albania, which is to remain Italian, (3) The Dodecanese Islands to be occupied by Allied troops until a general peace conference can decide their fate, but Greek troops must not occupy the island; and (4) the Allies must not use Italian bases, arms, or troops against the Germans. Reuter says that official quarters in London are sceptical regarding the reports of Italian counter-proposals for an armistice. They point out that the reports may be mere “trial balloons sent up by the Italians.

EXCELLENT SOLDIERS

CANADIANS & AMERICANS. GENERAL MONTGOMERY’S PRAISE. (British Official Wireless.) RUGBY, August 1. General Montgomery, flew to Palermo in his Flying Fortress last Friday to confer with Lieutenant-General Patton, commander of the United States Seventh Army. Speaking to war correspondents, General Montgomery said. “The Canadians have proved excellent soldiers. So have the Americans.. This is the first time I have been in contact with them, and I am really full of admiration for them. What they have done has been first-class.” He would not discuss politics. “The Badoglio affair,” he said, “makes no difference at all to our immediate plans. Our job is to eliminate the Germans from this island,' and I am perfectly certain we will do it.” Then he went back to the airport, passing Italian Carabinieri and other officials with white armlets which authorise them to work for the Allied Military Government.