Hard Fighting and More Likely to Come...In several radio addresses aimed to bolster the resolve of the Italian people and reaffirm the mission of the Repubblica Sociale Italiana, Junio Valerio Borghese Presidente Supremo, boasted of the recent ability of Italian forces to evade the clutches of the Allied forces fighting on the Island of Sicily.
The Invasion of the major Italian Island was simply the latest attempt by our brave boys to take the fight to Axis and the forces of Fascism. Borghese's comments have been dismissed in US government circles as a dictator trying to whitewash a deteriorating situation. While the Presidente Supremo is viewed as little more than a strutting generalisimo, and successor to the late Mussolini, he is undeniably popular in his homeland. Thousands were reported to flock to his latest public address crowding the streets afterwards and chanting fascist slogans.
Borghese spoke of his nation's recent setbacks, but assured the Italian people that their sacrifices and efforts would be rewarded when they stood alongside the pinnacle nations of the world, and Fascism established its place as the new world order. Among the Presidente Supremo's remarks were statements regarding the total focus of Italian industry towards arming and reorganizing the fighting forces of the beleaguered nation, but he assured the Italian people that they were not alone in this struggle, confirming that pacts with Nazi Germany were affirmed and that the Esercito Nazionale Rupubblicano would be reinvigorated by this support.
The dictator went on to brag that new weapons with undeniable capabilities of destruction would signal the end of those nations that would deny Italy and its people their birthright as inheritors of the Roman Empire. Speaking to a source inside the War Department, I was assured that the United States of America leads the world in military innovation and that reports of Axis advances in air and naval warfare paled in comparison.
It is true that since Borghese came to power in January of 1941 he has been busy remodeling Mussolini's Italy to suit his purpose. Outsiders assumed that with the late dictator's sudden death and the dissolution of the Italian monarchy after Victor Emmanuel III unexpected fatal illness, a total collapse of the police state and fascist ruling body was imminent. Instead after a brief period of crackdowns it seems the Italian people have recommitted themselves to the ideas of fascism and the goals of the Axis.
Whatever the future holds for Italy and its dictator, it is clear that fighting in the Mediterranean is far from over. The British Foreign Ministry has been adamant that its commitment to defeating the Axis forces in Italy is central to its plan to liberate Europe from the forces of fascism, and whatever the forthcoming struggle holds for the democracies of the world the British Empire and her Allies are willing to do what is needed in this dark hour.
