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September 8
The surrender was signed five days ago in secret
1943: Italy"s surrender announced
England have
Italy has signed an unconditional armistice with the Allies, General Dwight
D Eisenhower has announced.
The surrender was signed five days ago in secret by a representative of
Marshal Pietro Badoglio, Italy"s prime minister since the downfall of Benito
Mussolini in July.
General Eisenhower - the commander in chief of Allied forces in the
Mediterranean - said the Italian Government had agreed to end all hostilities
with the United Nations.
In a broadcast on Algiers radio at 1730 local time, he said: "All Italians
who now act to help eject the German aggressor from Italian soil will have the
assistance and support of the United Nations."
Afterwards, in a personal message to the Italian people, Marshal Badoglio
confirmed the surrender and even hinted his people should turn against their
former allies, the Germans.
"The Italian forces will cease all acts of hostilities against the
Anglo-American forces, wherever they may be. They will, however, oppose attacks
of any other forces."
The Italian Government first suggested an armistice in August, three weeks
after the fall of Mussolini during a meeting on neutral territory - probably
Portugal.
When the surrender was finally signed on 3 September in Sicily, it was
agreed to keep it secret until the Allied invasion of Italy was well under
way.
German radio has broadcast a furious attack of Marshal Badoglio for asking
for an armistice, calling it "open treason".
Marshal Badoglio and the Italian King Victor Emmanuel had insisted to the
Germans that there had been no surrender, but now the truth was out.
"With this," said the German broadcaster, "a veil has been torn from a
treacherous intrigue which for weeks had been enacted by an Italian clique ,
serfs to Jews and alien to their own people."
The surrender indicates the Axis and the Tripartite Pact is now in
tatters.
But US President Franklin D Roosevelt has said it is too early to assume
this is the end of war in the Mediterranean.
In a broadcast from Washington he said: "The great news you have heard from
General Eisenhower does not give you licence to settle back in your rocking
chair and say "Well, that does it. We"ve got "em on the run. Now we start
celebrating." The time has not yet come for celebration."
There were a number of "go-slow" protests
2000: French fuel protests spread to UK
Artificially 1969: FilmTheTheAA The fuel protests which have been crippling
France for the past week have now reached Britain with a series of actions
across the country.
The protesters - mainly road hauliers and farmers - are displaying their
anger at Europe"s highest fuel prices, which are due to rise another 2p per
litre within the next few days.
This afternoon there was a 100 lorry "go-slow" protest on the A1 in Tyne
and Wear and a convoy of 200-300 people set off to Wales to block the Texaco
refinery near Pembroke.
The actions follow blockades at oil installations at Ellesmere Port in
Cheshire and Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire.
The chairman of the Farmers for Action UK group said the demonstrations
were only the beginning of a "winter of unrest".
A taxi driver taking part in the A1 protest said drivers were frustrated
with their plight being ignored by the government.
"Everything"s gone up and our money"s gone down, so that"s why we feel so
strongly - we"re losing out all the time, we"re always on the sharp end," he
said.
But the Transport Minister, Lord McDonald, said the government was in tune
with motorists.
He told the BBC that Chancellor Gordon Brown had reduced road taxes and
stopped fuel duty escalating as it had done under the Conservatives.
Vocabulary:
armistice: a state of peace agreed to between opponents so they can discuss
peace terms(停战;休战)
treacherous : tending to betray(背信弃义的)
clique: an exclusive circle of people with a common purpose(私党;派系) |
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发表于 2016-7-9 23:18:09