"Our
company leader Danny Bellus brought the news to World History class [on Sept.
8] that Italy had surrendered unconditionally.
This at 11 A.M. When the ship's
clerk made the announcement, regarding Italy's downfall, at noon mess (that he
had been requested to make by Lieut Soderquist) it was no longer news to
me. A lusty cheer was raised by the boys
upon learning 1/3 of the Rome-Berlin-Tokyo axis might be eliminated. However,
an equally impressive cheer was raised when the announcement was made that
'checks are here' Money seems to wield
as much influence as patriotism at least among the sailors at Cape Girardeau.”
--
Letter from my father, Cape Girardeau, Mo., to my uncle, Stanley Brown,
Bloomington, Kans., Thursday, September 9, 1943.
Mussolini had lost power in July, to be
replaced by Italian marshal Pietro Badoglio.
The Badoglio government announced plans to continue fighting for the
Axis, but soon opened negotiations with the Allies. It surrendered unconditionally to the Allies
on September 8. However, German forces
seized control of Rome and northern Italy, freed Mussolini, and made him the
head of a puppet regime. Allies would
not control the Italian peninsula until 1945. (Source:
McNeill, A Democracy at War, 184-85)
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