CONTEMPORARY SIGNED PHOTOGRAPH OF THE PARTICIPANTS IN THE SURRENDER OF ITALY, SEPTEMBER 3, 1943

CONTEMPORARY SIGNED PHOTOGRAPH OF THE PARTICIPANTS IN THE SURRENDER OF ITALY, SEPTEMBER 3, 1943
CONTEMPORARY SIGNED PHOTOGRAPH OF THE PARTICIPANTS IN THE SURRENDER OF ITALY SEPTEMBER 3 1943
Exceedingly rare if not unique contemporary photograph of the signatories to the Italian Armistice signed at Cassibile Sicily on September 3 1943 effectively ending Italy’s military and political participation in the war with the Axis Powers and immediately provoking hostilities against the Italians by Germans already pouring into the country. This photograph 8 x 10 inches depicts signatories American Gen. WALTER BEDELL SMITH (1895-1961) in uniform and his Italian counterpart Gen. GIUSEPPE CASTELLANO (1893-1977) in civilian garb at center. They are flanked on either side by Eisenhower’s intelligence chief British Gen. KENNETH STRONG (1900-1982) in uniform at left and FRANCO MONTENARO who served as Castellano’s translator at right. Excellent condition and almost certainly the only contemporary signed item extant from this historic event. SOLD WITH: a signed copy of the declassified typescript submitted by Gen. KENNETH STRONG to war correspondents on Sep. 28 1958: “Story of the Signing of the Italian Armistice” 5pp. 8.5 x 11 in. each page signed by Strong adding his rank as “Major General”. Strong sets forth in great detail the events in Sicily surrounding the negotiations which preceded the signing and the pressures placed upon both sides to finalize the document in the face of German invasion and threatened massive Allied attacks. Both items are in fine condition. Following the Allied conquest of Sicily preparations were undertaken for landings to be made on the Italian mainland. King Victor Emmanuel III had already been secretly conspiring with fascist leaders to remove Mussolini from power especially so following the bombing of Rome on July 19th. On July 26th with the support of the Grand Council of Fascism the king dismissed Mussolini as prime minister and appointed Gen. Pietro Badoglio in his stead. Negotiations were secretly commenced with the Allies in Lisbon to effect an armistice but Allied demands for an unconditional surrender were flatly rejected through the summer. Finally under pressure from his generals and with the threat of Allied air attacks the government and king accepted the Allies’ conditions. On September 3 1943 Castellano in lieu of Badoglio and General Walter Bedell Smith in place of General Dwight D. Eisenhower (who was nonetheless present) signed the armistice agreement in the town of Cassibile near Syracuse in Sicily. The agreement was not announced until September 8 when Badoglio addressed the nation in a radio broadcast. Confusion reigned as Italian forces were left without orders and the Germans who had been expecting this move for some time quickly disarmed and interned Italian troops and assumed control of Italian Army-held territory in the Balkans France and the Dodecanese as well as in Italy itself. Many of the units that did not surrender joined forces with the Allies against the Germans. Four days later German commando Otto Skorzeny and his small band of men rescued Mussolini from his captors at Gran Sasso and brought him to meet Hitler at Führer Headquarters “Wolf's Lair” near Rastenburg.