GOVERNMENT HAS PULLED OUT OF THE WAR AND IS ACTUALLY—ARE YOU READY FOR THIS—PREPARING TO SWITCH SIDES. YES, YESTERDAY’S ENEMY IS ABOUT TOBECOME THE NEWEST MEMBER OF THE ALLIES.
SECRET TALKS HAVE BEEN GOING ON IN ROME BETWEEN REPRESENTATIVES OF GENERAL EISENHOWER AND THE NEW ITALIAN BOSS, PIETRO BADOGLIO. EVER SINCE GENERAL GEORGE PATTON’S THIRD ARMY CROSSED THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA FROM NORTH AFRICA AND LANDED IN SICILY, THE ITALIANS HAVE BEEN GETTING MORE AND MORE UNHAPPY.
THEIR HOME-GROWN DICTATOR, BENITO MUSSOLINI, IT SEEMS, HAS TURNED INTO AN ERRAND-BOY FOR ADOLF. AND THE ITALIANS, WHOSE FABLED HOSPITALITY AND FAMOUS PASTA AND VINO ARE KNOWN WORLD-WIDE, DON’T LIKE ALL THOSE KRAUTS FREELOADING OFF THE FAT OF THE LAND. ITALY’S KING—YES, THE OLD BOY IS STILL AROUND, LURKING IN HIS PALACE IN THE ETERNAL CITY—FINALLY GOT FED UP WITH ITALY BEING PRACTICALLY AN OCCUPIED COUNTRY RUN BY THE NAZIS. SO HE SACKED IL DUCE AND CALLED ON BADOGLIO TO STRAIGHTEN THINGS OUT.
WE DON’T KNOW MUCH ABOUT THIS NEW FELLOW YET, BUT ONE THING IS CLEAR. HE’S GOT A LOT MORE SENSE THAN OLD MUSSO HAD. AND I’LL BET HE DOESN’T HAVE AS BIG A CHIN.
ANYWAY, BEFORE WE CELEBRATE TOO MUCH, TAKE NOTE THAT THE NAZI ARMY OCCUPIES MOST OF ITALY, AND THE AMERICAN AND BRITISH FORCES THERE WILL FACE STUBBORN RESISTANCE AS THEY ROOT HITLER’S GANGSTERS OUT OF THEIR RAT-HOLES.
STILL, IT’S A BIG BOOST FOR ALLIED MORALE AND ANOTHER BLOW TO THAT CLIQUE IN BERLIN. THE WAR ISN’T OVER YET, BUT YOU CAN BET THAT HITLER SEES THE HANDWRITING ON THE WALL, AND IT GETS CLEARER EVERY DAY.
MEANWHILE, NEWS IS ROTTEN FOR THE NAZI RATS ON ANOTHER FRONT. EVER SINCE THE HEROIC FIGHTERS OF THE RED ARMY AND THE PEOPLE OF STALINGRAD STOOD OFF THE AXIS SIEGE, SOVIET TROOPS HAVE BEEN KNOCKING THE DAYLIGHTS OUT OF HITLER’S ARMY.
YES, STALINGRAD WAS THE TURNING POINT. THE GERMAN BOSS, VON PAULUS, HAD THE WHOLE RUMANIAN PUPPET ARMY TO PLAY AROUND WITH, AND THEY SEALED OFF THE RUSSIAN CITY BUT THEY COULDN’T BREAK DOWN THE DETERMINED RESISTANCE OF ITS DEFENDERS. THE GERMANS LOST MORE THAN THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND OF THEIR BEST TROOPS TRYING TO OVERCOME THE SPIRIT OF THE RUSSIAN PEOPLE, AND THEY FAILED.
NOW THE RED ARMY IS ON THE MOVE, THE NAZIS ARE FALLING BACK ALONG A THOUSAND-MILE FRONT, AND THE RUSSIANS ARE EXPECTED TO RETAKE BOTH KHARKOV AND KIEV ANY DAY NOW.
AND, SAY, HERE’S A LIGHTER NOTE IN THE NEWS. IN THE MIDDLE EAST, THE SO-CALLED GOVERNMENT OF LEBANON DECLARED THAT COLONY’S INDEPENDENCE. UNFORTUNATELY, THEY FORGOT TO GET PERMISSION FIRST FROM FRANCE. THEY WON’T MAKE THAT MISTAKE AGAIN. FRENCH TROOPS ROUNDED ’EM UP, TO THE LAST MAN, AND CHUCKED ’EM IN THE HOOSEGOW, OR WHATEVER THEY CALL THE VILLAGE LOCKUP THERE IN LEBANESE.
THE FRENCH WILL PROBABLY LET ’EM OUT AGAIN. THEY’RE NOTORIOUSLY EASY-GOING IN THIS KIND OF MATTER, THE FRENCH ARE. I GUESS THEY’LL APPOINT A NEW GOVERNMENT FOR LEBANON. MEN WITH MORE SENSE THAN THE OLD BUNCH!
[YOUR WAR REPORT WITH J. B. O’BRIEN, WPRK, PERKASIE, PENNSYLVANIA, 1943]
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