Quad Cities Times (Davenport, Rock Island, Iowa et al) apparently in an attempt to make a point between the way the US treated "detainees" during WWII, compared to currently in Iraq, reminisces about the 400 Italians billeted in the Quad City area, sixty years ago, that were among 30,000 Italians billeted in the US. at 67 military installations in 25 states.

Technically, the Italian military personnel were not POWs since Italy had surrendered and had declared war on Nazi Germany the previous fall.The Italians  were considered  “signees” because they had signed "pledges" in which they promised to “work on behalf of the United States of America..".

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WHEN WII POWs WERE IN OUR MIDST

Quad Cities Times
By John Willard
Monday, May 24th, 2004
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In the summer of 1944, more than 400 Italians captured in the fighting during World War II arrived in the Quad-Cities to help Americans achieve victory..

They had volunteered to perform work at the Rock Island Arsenal as members of the 39th and 40th Italian Quartermaster Service Companies. They were part of a program that involved 30,000 captured Italians working at 67 military installations in 25 states, including the ordnance depot at Savanna, Ill..

Technically they no longer were prisoners of war since Italy had surrendered and had declared war on Nazi Germany the previous fall. They were known as “signees” because they had signed pledges in which they promised to “work on behalf of the United States of America at any place, on any task except actual combat…in the prosecution of its cause against the common enemy, Germany”.

They lived in barracks, ate in mess halls staffed by their own cooks, marched to church services in Rock Island under the supervision of American escorts and enjoyed weekly escorted outings at Quad-City homes..

During their 14 months at the Arsenal, the Italians performed a variety of tasks at salaries of $24 a month. Many worked in the reclamation department where they salvaged lumber and operated buffing and nail-pulling machines. Others worked as mechanics in the motor pool. Some with technical backgrounds worked in the laboratory.

Arsenal officials said the Italians provided a valuable service at a time when labor was in tight supply. Others in the community argued that they were “the enemy within our gates.”

As the prison scandal in Iraq escalates, let’s look back at how Quad-Citians treated citizens of a defeated nation 60 years ago..

Most of the Italians assigned to the Arsenal had been captured in North Africa. They arrived by train on Sunday July 16, 1944 and were billeted in a stone barracks formerly occupied by a military police detachment. They were issued used U.S. Army uniforms and green armbands with “Italy” imprinted in white letters..

The Davenport Democrat and Leader reported the next day that the Italians found a couple of pianos in the barracks “and continued with song and music until late.” After 6:05 a.m. reveille, they went to work..

Before being assigned to the Arsenal, the Italians took three months of training and English study at Pine Camp, New York..

“These men are very keenly interested in the study of English. These studies will be continued during their stay at the arsenal,” Capt. Gordon B. McIntyre, one of the American officers in charge, told the Davenport Democrat and Leader..

The newspaper reported that the Italians had a special menu featuring food of their liking, in ample portions and “of the best” quality..

“They are to be treated in every essential as well as American soldiers,” the newspaper reported..

Indeed, the Italians seemed to have all the comforts of home. In a story published April 1, 1945, the Des Moines Sunday Register reported they played pool in a barracks room decorated with photos of pin-up girls clipped from American magazines, enjoyed a singing in a chorus and fashioned craft items such as wood carvings..

The Italians also bought sundries at their own post exchange and watched American movies in a makeshift outdoor theater..

Not all was rosy. A lieutenant colonel on an inspection trip in September 1944 found that sanitary facilities “appeared to be sadly inadequate for the number of men housed in the building” and that the mess hall “appeared to be overcrowded.”.

Some civilians claimed that the Italians were a menace to the community. Led by the Marine Dad’s Club of Rock Island, they charged that the signees were coddled, got too many cigarettes, held drinking parties and fraternized with women. The Army denied the allegations, but reduced their cigarette ration..

Signees who did not make the grade were sent to prisoner of war camps. Fifteen Italians at the Arsenal ended up in prisoner of war camps for disciplinary reasons, and another 46 were given company punishment for refusal to obey orders, according to a 1946 history written by the Rock Island Ordnance Center..

On Sept. 22, 1945, 407 Italian signees, accompanied by a U.S. Army captain and two sergeants, left Arsenal Island on a special train on the first leg of their trip back to Italy..

“Many of the Italians expressed reluctance to leave, even for the trip home,” the Davenport Democrat and Leader reported the next day..

One signee, Lt. Victor Favati, returned to work at the Arsenal after earning a doctorate in Italy. He married a woman he met at the Arsenal during the war..

“”We felt very lucky to be there,” he told the QUAD-CITY TIMES in a 1985 interview..

(Kris Leinicke, director of the Rock Island Arsenal Museum, and George Eaton, command historian, U.S. Army Field Support Command, provided research assistance for this story.) John Willard can be contacted at (563) 383-2314 or jwillard@qctimes, com.

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