Saturday, September 4, 1943. British advance in Italy, Australians land in New Guinea, Russian Orthodox services return.

The British took Reggio Calabria and San Giovanni de Gerace in Italy.

The Australian 9th Division landed on New Guinea at Lae.  They were the first Allied forces to land on the island since the Japanese had taken it early in the war.

Joseph Stalin hosted the acting Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church and two Metropolitans.  No installed Patriarch was in place.  In the meeting, he offered to open up religious services if the Church recognized the legitimacy of the Soviet state and abstained from criticizing its policies.  They agreed, and the end of restrictions on religious services was announced the following day.

Among the concessions granted by Stalin were the permission to open the Moscow Theological Seminary and Academy, the release of imprisoned clerics, the return of some church property.  The Church was put under the control, however, of Soviet secret services.

TBF’s returning o the USS Ranger, September 4, 1943.

Friday, September 3, 1943. Italy surrenders and is invaded.

British troops boarding ships on September 2 for the landings the following day.  This soldier is carrying a Thompson submachinegun, but he foregrip is removed, which would make it nearly impossible to actually use.

The British 8th Army's 8th Corps, comprised of British and Canadian troops, crossed the Messina Strait and landed on mainland Italy.  They met with no resistance.

Additional landings were planned for Salerno for September 9.

The Italian government met with Allied representatives at Cassiblile in Sicily to sign a surrender instrument with the Allied powers.

The instrument of surrender stated:

FAIRFIELD CAMP

SICILY

September 3,1943

The following conditions of an Armistice are presented by

General Dwight D. Eisenhower,

Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Forces, acting by authority of the Governments of the United States and Great Britain and in the interest of the United Nations, and are accepted by

Marshal Pietro Badoglio

Head of the Italian Government

1.  Immediate cessation of all hostile activity by the Italian armed forces.

2.  Italy will use its best endeavors to deny, to the Germans, facilities that might be used against the United Nations.

3. All prisoners or internees of the United Nations to be immediately turned over to the Allied Commander in Chief, and none of these may now or at any time be evacuated to Germany.

4. Immediate transfer of the Italian Fleet and Italian aircraft to such points as may be designated by the Allied Commander in Chief, with details of disarmament to be prescribed by him.

5 Italian merchant shipping may be requisitioned by the Allied Commander in Chief to meet the needs of his military-naval program. 

6. Immediate surrender of Corsica and of all Italian territory, both islands and mainland, to the Allies, for such use as operational bases and other purposes as the Allies may see fit. 

7. Immediate guarantee of the free use by the Allies of all airfields and naval ports in Italian territory, regardless of the rate of evacuation of the Italian territory by the German forces. These ports and fields to be protected by Italian armed forces until this function is taken over by the Allies. 

8. Immediate withdrawal to Italy of Italian armed forces from all participation in the current war from whatever areas in which they may be now engaged. 

9  Guarantee by the Italian Government that if necessary it will employ all its available armed forces to insure prompt and exact compliance with all the provisions of this armistice. 

10. The Commander in Chief of the Allied Forces reserves to himself the right to take any measure which in his opinion may be necessary for the protection of the interests of the Allied Forces for the prosecution of the war, and the Italian Government binds itself to take such administrative or other action as the Commander in Chief may require, and in particular the Commander in Chief will establish Allied Military Government over such parts of Italian territory as he may deem necessary in the military interests of the Allied Nations. 

11. The Commander in Chief of the Allied Forces will have a full right to impose measures of disarmament, demobilization, and demilitarization. 

12. Other conditions of a political, economic and financial nature with which Italy will be bound to comply will be transmitted at a later date. 

The conditions of the present Armistice will not be made public without prior approval of the Allied Commander in Chief. The English will be considered the official text. 

MARSHAL PIETRO BADOGLIO

Head of Italian Government 

By:

GUISEPPE CASTEI.LANO 

Brigadier General, attached to The Italian High Command 

Present: 

Rt. Hon. Harold Macmillan

British Resident Minister, A.F.H.Q. 

Robert Murphy

Personal Representative of the

President of the United States

Royer Dick

Commodore, R.N.

Chief of Staff to the C. in C. Med.

DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER

General, U.S. Army,

Commander in Chief, Allied Forces

By:

WALTER B. SMITH

Major General, U.S. Army,

Chief of Staff

Lowell W. Rooks

Major General, U.S. Army

Assistant Chief of Staff, G-3

A.F.H.Q.

Franco Montanari

Official Italian Interpreter

Brigadier Kenneth Strong

Assistant Chief of Staff, G-3

A.F.H.Q.

The SS began raids in Belgium to gather Jews in that country.