Allies and Italians under Occupation This page intentionally left blank Allies and Italians under Occupation Sicily and Southern Italy 1943–45 Isobel Williams © Isobel Williams 2013 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2013 978-0-230-57259-1 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, Saffron House, 6–10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2013 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Palgrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of St Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN 978–1–349–36436–7 ISBN 978–0–230–35928–4 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9780230359284 This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. Typeset by MPS Limited, Chennai, India. Contents List of Figures and Images vi Acknowledgements vii Explanatory Notes viii List of Abbreviations ix Map of Southern Italy xiv Part I Occupation 1 Introduction 3 2 Preparation: Structure, Training and Police 11 Part II Allied Crime 3 Soldier Trouble 31 4 The Moroccan Goumiers of the FEC 45 5 Deserters and Absentees 58 6 Justice and Statistics 77 Part III Italian Crime and Law and Order 7 Allied Proclamations 89 8 Italian Trouble: Crime 107 9 Italian Trouble: Disorder 140 Part IV Collaboration 10 Black Market 169 11 Prostitution 195 Part V Assessment 12 Police Performance 205 13 Occupation 223 Appendix I: Foreign and Other Terms 230 Appendix II: Allied Proclamation No. 2: Articles I and II 231 Notes 234 Bibliography 278 Index 295 v List of Figures and Images Figures 5.1 7 8th Division: casualty rates and absentee rates correlated with frontline action 61 5.2 A ll courts martial convictions of the US 5th Army in Italy against British desertion convictions, July 1944–March 1945 63 6.1 A ccidents and crimes committed by Allied troops against Italian civilians and military, 8 Sept. 1943–31 Dec. 1945 83 6.2 T otal number of crimes committed by Allied troops in different regions of Italy, 8 Sept. 1943–31 Dec. 1945 84 7.1 P attern of Proclamation contraventions in Sicily, Sept. 1943–10 Feb. 1944 101 8.1 C rimes reported in Sept. 1944, Naples, Sicily and Matera 122 Images All images are courtesy of the Imperial War Museum, UK 1 An Allied soldier checks confiscated weapons beneath a plaque of Mussolini at Fascist Headquarters, Noto, Sicily, July 1943 131 2 Italian civil and British military police on joint patrol, Sicily, 1943 132 3 The local population reading the proclamations posted in every town when the Allies arrived 133 4 A Moroccan Goumier sharpens his bayonet 134 5 Italian villagers carrying supplies into the mountains 135 6 Hungry Italians gather around an American Red Cross station distributing hot soup and biscuits, Naples, Jan. 1944 136 7 Canadian, Scottish and American off-duty soldiers enjoy a drink in an Italian bar in the Via Roma, Naples 137 8 An Allied military court in session 138 9 Naples waterfront after the Germans retreated in October 1943 139 vi Acknowledgements This book was based on a PhD thesis completed quite some time ago. Not being employed in academia presented some difficulties in attempting to update it for publication, but I have to thank Dr Jonathan Dunnage profusely for his support and encouragement, and Swansea University for allowing me access to the Library and Information Services and other assistance. As well as the many other people who have assisted me in completing the project, I should like to thank my husband, Warren, and my daughter, Kate, for putting up with the whole thing. vii Explanatory Notes 1. The term southern Italy in the title corresponds approximately to the area which was eventually designated the Southern Region by the Allies, with a little added geographic licence. Broadly, this is territory liberated prior to the fall of Rome in June 1944. 2. Where Italian terms have been used extensively in the English-language Allied documentation, they have been retained as such in this thesis. Thus, for example, ammassi remains ammassi, rather than the unwieldy ‘Italian Government grain collection system’, and Carabinieri rather than ‘military policemen’. 3. Although the Carabinieri were military policemen, they were also used as a civilian police force and it was as a civilian police force that the Allies employed them. Thus any policing reference to the Carabinieri is to them as a civilian police force unless otherwise specified in the text. 4. When dealing with any vaguely militaristic subject, acronyms abound. A full list of abbreviations and acronyms used in the text can be found in Appendix I. 5. The two most relevant British histories, those by C.R.S. Harris and F.S.V. Donnison, were both published without full references. A small number of copies did contain references but these were only available to secure sources at the time of their publication. These references are now in the public domain but their format bears no relation to that currently in use at the Public Record Office, and no cross-referencing index was used when the documents were reorganized. It is not possible therefore to look up directly any of the documents cited in the British official histories. 6. There are many statistics. I apologise. I always believe a graphic repre- sentation of a statistic is more informative, but for publication I cut the number of figures down from 49 to 6. 7. All translations from Italian sources are the author’s own. viii List of Abbreviations A Provost Marshal AAI Allied Armies in Italy AC Allied Commission ACA Armistice Terms and Civil Administration Committee ACAO Official Committee on Armistice Terms and Civil Administration ACC Allied Control Commission ACS Archivio Centrale dello Stato (Central State Archive, Rome) ACSO Assistant Chief Staff Officer ADAG Assistant Deputy Adjutant General AFHQ Allied Forces Headquarters AG Adjutant General AMG Allied Military Government AMGOT Allied Military Government of Occupied Territory AO Administrative Officer AOI Africa Orientale Italiana APM Assistant Provost Marshal APS Agenti di Pubblica Sicurezza (Interior Ministry Police/Urban Security Guards) B Busta (envelope) BEF British Expeditionary Force CAO Civil Affairs Officer CAPO Civil Affairs Police Officer CCRR Carabinieri Reali (Royal Carabinieri – Military Police ) CCAC Chief Commissioner Allied Commission CCACC Chief Commissioner Allied Control Commission CCAO Chief Civil Affairs Officer CCS Combined Chiefs of Staff CGM Commandement des Goums Marocains CGS Chief of General Staff CIC Counter-Intelligence Corps ix