Rome, July 2, 1940
Highness,
Having returned to Rome, I wish to again express to you my deep satisfaction with the discipline, behavior and morale of the troops under your command.
The Divisions and units which I had the good fortune of reviewing presented themselves in a way that, without a shadow of rhetorical exaggeration, can be defined as superb.
Italians and foreigners should know that on the 21st, 22nd, 23rd and 24th they fought what will be called the "Battle of the Western Alps", engaged across an extension of 200 kilometers, at altitudes between 2000 and 3000 meters high, in the midst of incessant snowstorms.
Italians and foreigners should know that from the Little St. Bernard Pass to the Roia River the first system of the Maginot Line collapsed under the onslaught of Italian infantry who broke through it, to a depth between 8 and 32 kilometers.
Italians and foreigners should know that the French nestled in the caves, equipped with cannons of every kind, resisted fiercely until the end that is to say until the Armistice and even a few hours after, since, among other things they had been literally kept in the dark about what had happened in the rest of France.
Italians and foreigners should know that the French themselves were astonished at the tenacity, impetus and contempt in the face of danger shown by the Italian infantry, by the corps and by the artillery. The engineer battalions were effective collaborators of the assault.
Italians and foreigners should know that the battle was been hard and bloody. The thousands of men put out of action testify to this. As is the rule of the Regime, the lists of the Fallen will be published. As for the wounded, whom I visited in the hospitals, I must say that it is difficult to find another race in the world which shows so much calm and so much stoicism in the face of the most cruel lacerations of the flesh like the Italians do.
Highness, I am writing to you at the end of the visit because I believe we should not delay in highlighting these facts which already belong to history and which increase the glory of the Italian Army.
The Fatherland can be proud of these its sons-in-arms, hardened in heart and in muscle by twenty years of Fascism.
MUSSOLINI
