Italy's part in the present war may be compared with the actions of a loud-mouthed bully, who attacks an opponent he considers weaker than himself, gets the shock of his life when he finds he is losing the battle and calls to another bully for help. Then, when this other bully has come to his rescue, he screams vile threats from behind the latter's broad back, knowing full well that if he were left alone to fight on. his fate would not be a pleasant one. In the last war the Italians were more of a hindrance than an asset and so it is today. In Africa, although possessing numerically superior forces they lost battle after battle until the fate of the Italian Empire was sealed. In Greece an advance was turned into a rout by the valiant Greeks, whose armaments were considerably inferior than those of the Italians. At sea the Italian navy, when it managed to pluck up enough courage to venture out of home ports, received very severe drubbings at the hands of the British Fleet that reduced its strength considerably, And then Hitler, realizing that his Fascist partner was proving to be just as useless as everybody expected, had to come to his rescue. And still the Italians claim "victories."
The Germans finished the Greek campaign for the Italians, who of course, claimed a "victory" after they had been retreating for months. In Libya the Germans managed to push weaker British forces to the Egyptian border. Once again the Italians claimed a "victory." Unfortunately, in Abyssinia, Italian Somaliland and British Somaliland there were no German divisions to bolster up the poor fighting qualities of the Italians and io give them that overwhelming numerical superiority in men and vehicles that was needed to beat back the relentless Imperial forces. And so those places passed out of their hands. Now, as if to atone for the ignominious part they have played in the present struggle, they are telling the world that they are helping the Germans at Crete. Unfortunately, however, the Germans seem to have forgotten the existence of the Italians (no one blames them) and the part played by the Fascists, if any, is not mentioned in the Nazi communiques. Once again it appears that the Germans cannot trust their valiant allies to tackle a big job although puny Italy, like the bully who got a severe shock, is trying to take, some of the credit for what 'a stronger individual is doing on its behalf. "It is better to fight the Italians than have them as allies" probably is a statement Hitler wholeheartedly will endorse.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.