Office of the Historian

740.0011 European War 1939/30487: Telegram

The President’s Personal Representative in North Africa (Murphy) to the Secretary of State 1

secret
us urgent
Algiers, August 2, 1943.

1361. Immediate and secret from Murphy. Your 1406, July 31, 2 p.m.2

Carroll believes that Badoglio Government is going as far as it possibly can to pave the way for an armistice, its limitations being prescribed by a fear of German reprisals if it steps out of bounds. In his opinion, a landing on the mainland is a sine qua non of an Italian demand for an armistice. He believes that military success in Sicily, additional bombing of strategic points in Italy (he emphasizes that church opinion opposes further bombing of the city of Rome) and a landing on the mainland will be necessary to elicit the desired Italian offer.

  1. Sent over the signature of the Consul General at Algiers (Wiley).↩
  2. Not printed (740.0011 European War 1939/30236).↩