President Roosevelt to the British Prime Minister (Churchill)17
366. I have sent the following to U.J. regarding Eisenhower’s NAF 426:18
“The Allied Supreme Commander in the Mediterranean Area, Eisenhower, has recommended the following changes in the ‘Instrument of Surrender of Italy’:
- “1. Change the title to ‘Additional conditions of the armistice with Italy.’
- “2. Change the last sentence of the preamble to read ‘and have been accepted unconditionally by Marshal Pietro Badoglio, Head of the Italian Government’.
- “3. Omit the statement of unconditional surrender in paragraph 1.
“General Eisenhower and all of his senior commanders concur in this recommendation as highly advantageous to our progress in defeating the German forces in Italy in that it will help to align the Italian Army, Navy, and civil population on our side.
“Eisenhower urgently requests that pending a decision on these recommendations secrecy in regard to the Terms of Surrender document is ‘absolutely vital to our success in Italy’.
“I hope that these recommendations of General Eisenhower will be approved by the Allied Powers because they are highly advantageous to our war effort and can be of no disadvantage to us.
“Your concurrence is requested by telegraph at the earliest practicable date.”