NA – British National Archives at Kew.
NARA – US National Archives and Records Administration at College Park, Maryland.
Mori quotes are from Cesare Mori’s The Last Struggle with the Mafia. This is a translation by Orlo Williams of his memoirs, Con la mafia ai ferri corti, published in Italy in 1932. It is the principal source for Mori’s campaign against the Mafia. For other accounts of Mori’s victory at Gangi see Petacco, Il prefetto di ferro, pp. 85 – 99; Spano, Faccia a faccia con la mafia.
Most Mussolini quotes are from his My Autobiography. The foreword was written by former US Ambassador Richard Washburn Child, who claims to have encouraged Mussolini to write it. It has been suggested, however, that it was Mussolini’s brother, Arnaldo, who wrote the autobiography for him; see Ridley, Mussolini, pp. 188 – 9.
Mussolini’s police record is quoted in de Begnac, Vita de Benito Mussolini, Vol. ii, pp. 291 – 4. His Agrigento speech is in Opera Omnia de Benito Mussolini, edited by E. & D. Susmel, Vol. XX, p. 264; translated by Lisa Donafee. The Orlando speech is recorded in the Sicilian newspaper L’Ora, 29 July 1925 and is quoted in Duggan, Fascism and the Mafia, p. 117. Professor Duggan’s book is the best English-language account of the Mafia – Fascist struggle in the 1920s; see also Blok, The Mafia of a Sicilian Village 1860 – 1960. Cucco account comes from Cucco, A., Il Mio Rogo (unpublished autobiography), Chap. 2, pp. 2 – 3, quoted in Duggan.
The Don Ciccio Cuccia story comes from Pantaleone, The Mafia and Politics, pp. 47 – 8; Norman Lewis repeats it in The Honoured Society, pp. 59 – 60. Pantaleone’s Mafia and Politics is a translation of his Mafia e Politica, published in Turin in 1962. It is the source for many of the best Mafia stories told by Lewis in The Honoured Society. Denis Mack Smith, in his preface to Pantaleone’s English edition, says ‘This is therefore a fundamental document, authentic and original. Mr Norman Lewis, for example, though he does not say so, drew very substantially on Pantaleone for his book.’ Pantaleone’s accusations of Fascist torture in Mafia and Politics, p. 49, are repeated in The Honoured Society, p. 62, and have been repeated in many other Mafia books since. Lewis’s book first appeared as a series of articles for The New Yorker.
It is worth noting that there were very few recorded deaths associated with Mori’s crusade. If this had been Nazi Germany, surely more Mafiosi would have been shot before they even reached the courtroom? Professor Duggan says: ‘The aim of the operation, certainly in Mori’s mind (and he was an old-fashioned Nationalist), was to show that the state was both stronger and morally superior to the mafia. Use of violence by the state had tended to backfire badly in Sicily. Second, once police testimony had been accepted as decisive in trials they didn’t need much in the way of confession evidence. And the key charge was “criminal association”, not specific crimes.’ (Correspondence with author)
All Bonanno quotes come from Bonanno & Lalli, A Man of Honour. In regards to Bonanno’s protest at wearing a black shirt as a student in Palermo, the importance of this garb is corroborated by Salvatore Cabasino who graduated in 1937. ‘I had to have a black shirt made’, he recalled, ‘so I could get my university degree. I also had a friend who was a member of the Fascist party and he provided me with a Fascist membership card for my graduation. I’ve still got it.’ (Author interview)
All Charlotte Gower quotes are from Gower Chapman, Milocca: A Sicilian Village. See also King & Patterson, A Sicilian Village in the Fascist Era: Milocca Revisited. Poems praising Mussolini and Mori are quoted in Gower Chapman, pp. 248 – 50.
International newspaper quotes are from: ‘Mussolini and the Mafia’, London Times, 20 January, 1928, p. 14; ‘Sicilian Woman, 62, Led Band of Mafisti [sic]’, New York Times, 16 January 1928, p. 5; ‘Mori’s War on the Mafia’, New York Times, 17 January 1928, p. 28; Cortesi, A., ‘The Mafia Is Dead, a New Sicily is Born’, New York Times, 4 March 1928, p. 87; ‘Italy Rounds Up 400 in Drive on Mafia’, New York Times, 23 June 1934, p. 30. A good account of Petrosino’s career is in Radin, E. D., ‘Detective in a Derby Hat’, New York Times, 12 March 1944, p. 17.
This account of Fascist activity in New York in the 1920s is based mainly on contemporary newspaper reports. Newspaper quotes are from: ‘27 Hurt as NY Fascisti Invade Socialist Hall’, New York Herald Tribune, 17 August 1925, p. 4; ‘Six Men Stabbed in a Fascist riot’, New York Times, 17 August 1925, p. 32; ‘Mussolini Debate Turns into Clash’, New York Times, 12 March 1928, p. 2; ‘Mussolini Doubts Democracy Here’, New York Times, 11 January 1926, p. 4; ‘Green Warns Labor of Fascist Menace’, New York Times, 23 December 1925, p. 1; Tucker, M, ‘Carlo Tresca’, The Greenwich Villager, 22 April 1922, pp. 1 – 3; ‘Deplores Fascismo Here’, New York Times, 26 March 1923, p. 3; ‘Mussolini Snubs Cotillo’, The World, 30 October 1923, p. 10; ‘Garfield Rebukes East on Italians’, New York Times, 4 August 1925, p. 23; ‘Police Prevent Italian Battle at Garibaldi House’, New York Herald Tribune, 5 July 1925, p. 6; ‘Fascisti and Reds in Two Riots here over Garibaldi Fete’, New York Times, 5 July 1925, pp. 1 & 3; ‘Two Fascisti Die in Bronx’, New York Times, 31 May 1927, pp. 1 & 7; ‘Mussolini Foes Kill 2 in Bronx Fascist Feud’, New York Herald Tribune, 31 May 1927, pp. 1 & 4; ‘Kill Two Fascisti in Bronx Street’, The World, 31 May 1927, pp. 1 & 3. Witness criticism of Count Ignazio Thaon di Revel quoted from Cannistraro, Blackshirts in Little Italy, p. 86, an excellent short account of this period.
Bonanno quotes are from Bonanno & Lalli, A Man of Honour, pp. 62, 64, 70, 104 – 5 & 127. Luciano quotes are from Gosch & Hammer, The Last Testament of Lucky Luciano, pp. 94 – 6. Valachi quote is from Maas, The Valachi Papers, p. 96. Newspaper quotes are from: ‘Racket Chief Slain by Gangster gunfire’, New York Times, 16 April 1931, pp. 1 & 15; ‘Says 12 Witnessed Gangster Killing’, New York Times, 26 September 1931, p. 4. Aside from cited first-hand accounts, good overviews of the Castellammarese War and the rise of Luciano appear in Sifakis, The Mafia File, and Short, Crime Inc.
Lansky quotes are from Eisenberg, Dan & Landau, Meyer Lansky: Mogul of the Mob, pp. 181, 184 – 5. See also Lacey, Little Man: Meyer Lansky and the Gangster Life. Luciano quotes are from Gosch & Hammer, The Last Testament of Lucky Luciano, pp. 31 & 265. Dewey quotes are from Hughes, Thomas E. Dewey: Attorney for the People, p. 86, and ‘Lucania Convicted with 8 in Vice Ring on 62 Counts Each’, New York Times, 8 June 1936, p. 8.
Hitler’s Ford quote cited in Lacey, Ford:The Men and the Machine, p. 218. See also Wallace, The American Axis. Other Hitler quote is from Trevor-Roper, Hitler’s Table-Talk , p. 618. On Nazis in America see Hoke, It’s a Secret, p. 299; Heym, Nazis in the USA, p. 8; Stein, A., ‘More Fond Memories of Menahan Street’, Times Newsweekly, Ridgewood NY, 29 July, 2004; ‘Veterans Fight City’s Nazis on Hitler Birthday’, New York Herald Tribune, 21 April 1938, pp. 1 & 7; ‘Seven are Injured at Nazi Rally’, New York Times, 21 April 1938; ‘Germany Protests “Insult” by Mayor’, New York Times, 5 March 1937. See also Lawrence, The Coming American Fascism, Higham, American Swastika, and Arad, America, its Jews, and the Rise of Nazism.
Max Hinkes’s story of fighting Bund Nazis in Newark comes from Rockaway, But He Was Good to His Mother, pp. 231 – 2. Rockaway is Professor of Jewish history at Tel Aviv University. Was there a difference in the response of Italian and Jewish gangsters to the patriotic demands of World War II? ‘You have to remember that Italy was allied with Germany during World War Two’, explains Rockaway. ‘When Mussolini came to power in the 1920s and throughout the 1930s, many Italian Americans were very proud and supportive of him. Mussolini gave them a sense of pride because he made Italy seem to be a world power. Once the war began many Italian-Americans expressed ambivalence about him. Nevertheless, Italian-Americans served in the armed forces and behaved admirably. As for Jews, they had no such ambivalence about Hitler and Germany. They hated him and wanted to see him and his regime destroyed. Everyone knew about Germany’s violent anti-Semitic policies toward the Jews as soon as Hitler came to power. Jewish gangsters had acted against German Bundists in the US and Jews went willingly into the army and other branches of service to fight against Hitler.’ (Correspondence with author)
The account of Thomsen’s efforts to restrain Nazi activity in America is based on his telegrams sent to the German Foreign Ministry on 27 March 1940, 21 May 1940, 12 June 1940, 13 June 1940, all published in Documents on German Foreign Policy. The account of the Duquesne spy ring is based on the report in the US Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, IC 65-8946. Edited highlights of the FBI surveillance film were screened as a motion picture short in 1942 entitled The FBI Front. See also ‘Japanese Is Linked to Nazi Spies In Pre-Pearl Harbor Plots Here’, New York Times, 21 September 1942, p. 17, and ‘Columbus Day Crowd Boos Mayor and Shouts “Vivas” for Mussolini’, New York Times, 13 October 1938, p. 1. Haffenden quote comes from Eisenberg et al, Meyer Lansky, p. 181.
The principal source for the deal between Lucky Luciano and US Naval Intelligence is the Herlands Report of 1954. The original copy of this is part of the Thomas E. Dewey archive in the University of Rochester Library, State of New York. It was, at the time, a secret report and it has never been published. New York State Commissioner of Investigation William B. Herlands conducted the inquiry. It was undertaken at the request of Dewey in order to investigate the rumours of duplicity following the premature release of Luciano. Some 57 major witnesses were interviewed and gave sworn accounts of their involvement, producing a total of 2,883 pages of evidence, which was boiled down to 101-page report with appendices.
This account is based on that report and most quotes from the principal figures involved are from affidavits, wire taps and other evidence given to the Herlands investigators. These include Haffenden, MacFall, Espe, Marsloe, Cincotta, Wharton, Kelly, Titolo, Alfieri, Murphy, Hogan, Gurfein, Lyons, McCook, Polakoff, Lanza, Lansky and Luciano. Lansky’s recollection of conversations with Haffenden come from Herlands investigation interview with Lansky on 13 April 1954, pp. 3 – 23; for his assessment of the ‘Luciano project’ see p. 29. For Marsloe’s claim that discussions about the US Navy’s use of the underworld dated from before the burning of the Normandie, from December 1941, see Herlands investigation interview with him, 3 June 1954, pp. 8 – 9; Marsloe’s doubts about working with Mafia p. 18.
See also Campbell, The Luciano Project, based closely on the Herlands Report (Campbell was the editor of Dewey’s memoirs); as is Block, ‘A Modern Marriage of Convenience: A Collaboration Between Organized Crime and US Intelligence’.
The independent commentary of Luciano and Lansky on these events gives a different point of view. Their quotes come from Gosch & Hammer, The Last Testament of Lucky Luciano, and Eisenberg et al, Meyer Lansky: Mogul of the Mob. The Gosch & Hammer book is based on interviews with the aging gangster in Italy in 1961, the year before he died. The interviews were not recorded on tape and the book is based on written notes. In this process, and no doubt in Luciano’s memory of the events, there are some inconsistencies with other reports of the same events. Some historians are very critical of the end result, see Lacey, Little Man, p. 451. New York journalist Tony Scaduto considered it a fraud and devoted an 11-page critique to it, see Scaduto, Lucky Luciano, pp. 197 – 208. But other notable recent Mafia historians are happy to quote from it, including Claire Sterling, Robert Rockaway, and Salvatore Lupo.
Meyer Lansky: Mogul of the Mob is based on interviews with Lansky in Israel and elsewhere in the 1970s; they first appeared in Dan Uri’s three-part series ‘Meyer Lansky Breaks His Silence’, Ma’ariv, July 1971. It tallies more closely with the events recorded in the Herlands Report, though again adding some interesting extra information. The interviews were not taped, but the conversations were conducted by one of the authors and then transcribed. These books are as close as we will ever get to the authentic words of two top gangsters of the period.
Descriptions of the burning of the Normandie come from: ‘12-Hour Fight Vain’, New York Times, 10 February 1942, pp. 1 & 7; ‘Giant Vessel Afire at Pier, Is Kept Afloat’, New York Herald Tribune, 10 February 1942, pp. 1 – 2. For further witness descriptions and photographs of the damage done to the Normandie, see Braynard, A Picture History of the Normandie, p. 90 – 101. See also Maxtorne-Grahame, The Only Way to Cross, and Harvey, Normandie: Liner of Legend. For Luciano’s claim that Anastasia set light to the Normandie, see Gosch & Hammer, p. 261. For Lansky’s corroboration of this see Eisenberg et al, pp. 189 – 90.
Lahousen, Canaris and Hitler quotes on Operation Pastorius come from Lahousen’s secret war diary quoted in Wighton & Pies, They Spied on England, pp. 195 – 237. Lansky’s claim to know about Operation Pastorius comes from Eisenberg et al, p. 197 – 8.
Vizzini’s account of the Luciano deal comes from Vizzini, Fraley, & Smith, Vizzini, pp. 76 – 7. Newspaper report of Luciano’s legal plea comes from ‘Lucania’s Aid in War Cited in Legal Plea’, New York Times, 9 February 1943, p. 17.
Luciano’s suggestion of putting a contract on Hitler comes from Gosch & Hammer, p. 270. The Siegel hit on Goering and Goebbels story is in Jennings, We Only Kill Each Other, p. 74 – 7; the source is the Countess di Frasso talking to Hollywood mogul Jack Warner. See also Carpozi, Bugsy:The Godfather of Las Vegas, pp. 76 – 7, & Freid, Rise and Fall of the Jewish Gangster, p. 246. Berman quote is from Rockaway, But He Was Good to His Mother, p. 189.
Reference to Luciano and Jack Diamond setting up a drug deal in Weimar Germany comes from an FBI memorandum, 28 August 1935, FBI File: 39-2141 Section 1. Monzelli quote comes from Hanna, Vito Genovese, p. 64. For Genovese in Italy see also Orange C. Dickey’s testimony quoted in Reid, Mafia, pp. 185 – 6. Luciano’s story (Gosch & Hammer, pp. 271 – 2) about Genovese supplying drugs to Ciano is not backed up by any other sources and Ciano’s relations with Genovese or drugs are not even mentioned in the latest and most thorough study of Ciano; see Moseley, Mussolini’s Shadow. Moseley says: ‘I have readjust about everything ever written about Ciano, and talked to a number of people who knew him, and this is the first time I have heard this story. I believe Luciano must have been talking nonsense. Certainly Ciano’s enemies would have referred to this in their memoirs or elsewhere if it had been true.’ (Correspondence with author)
For Tresca’s murder see ‘Assassin slays Tresca, radical, in Fifth Avenue’, New York Times, 12 January 1943 pp. 1 & 14; ‘Carlo Tresca Assassinated on Fifth Avenue’, New York Herald Tribune, 12 January 1943, pp. 1 & 3; ‘Death of Carlo Tresca’, New York Times, 13 January 1943 p. 22; ‘Tresca Slaying still a Mystery’, New York Times, 13 January 1943 pp. 1 & 12; ‘5,000 Pay Tribute to Carlo Tresca’, New York Times, 17 January 1943 p. 40; ‘Galante case adjourned’, New York Times, 6 February 1943 p. 28. See also Gallagher, All the Right Enemies, and Pernicone, Carlo Tresca. For Charles Siragusa’s claim that Lucky Luciano knew the identities of Tresca’s murderers and was willing to trade this information, see Herlands investigation interview with Marsloe, 20 July 1954, pp. 3 – 4.
Bonanno wartime quotes are from Bonanno & Lalli, A Man of Honour, pp. 299 – 300. Valachi quotes are from Maas, The Valachi Papers, pp. 169 – 74. Luciano ration stamp quote is from Gosch & Hammer, pp. 266 – 7. See also Grutzner, C., Jr., ‘Black Markets in “Gas” and Fuel Oil Foiled Here by Scientific Methods’, New York Times, 21 August 1945, p. 25.
Churchill’s quotes on Sicily are from his own history The Second World War, the abridged version published London, 1959, p. 645. For discussion of the Casablanca conference and its strategic implications see Weinberg, A World at Arms, pp. 437 – 41, and Stoler, Allies and Adversaries, pp. 103 – 13. Wedemeyer quote is from Stoler, p. 103.
This account of Haffenden’s ‘F’ Section and his gathering of information about Sicily is based on the Herlands Report, including quotes from Haffenden, MacFall, Wharton, Marsloe, Polakoff and Lansky. Rear Admiral Pye’s speech is in the Herlands Report, Appendix V. Judge Wallace’s comments on Lanza come from ‘“Socks” Lanza gets 7 to 15 Year Term’, New York Times, 30 January 1943, p. 17. For Marsloe’s assertion that any methods were valid in defence of his country, including working with the underworld, see Herlands investigation interview with him, 3 June 1954, pp. 29 – 30; for his own involvement in research for Sicily, see pp. 19 – 20; for his account of mission to North Africa, see pp. 22 – 3. Lansky’s recollections about Sicily research come from Herlands investigation interview, 13 April 1954, pp. 24 – 8.
Luciano’s denial of involvement in Sicily is in Gosch & Hammer, p. 267; but see also p. 259. Lansky’s story about Luciano wanting to parachute into Sicily is in Eisenberg et al, pp. 208 – 9. Kefauver and Del Grazio quotes are from Kefauver, Crime in America, p. 37, based on testimony taken during the Kefauver Senate Committee enquiry into organised crime in 1951. For Wharton’s claim that Luciano was prepared to go to Sicily to help war effort, see Herlands investigation written statement by Captain Wallace S. Wharton, 23 June 1954, p. 5. For Lansky’s denial of involvement of White and De Grazio in Luciano deal, see Herlands investigation interview with Lansky on 13 April 1954, p. 29.
Evidence of British interest in contacting Mafiosi on Sicily comes from IS (O) Handbook on Politics and Intelligence Services, 1943, pp. 7 – 12 & 40 (NA: WO 220/ 403). Evidence of wider US military interest in arming Sicilian Mafia and supporting them as a guerrilla force comes from Special Military Plan for Psychological Warfare in Sicily, a report prepared by the Joint Staff Planners for the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, 9 April 1943, pp. 48 – 62 (NA: WO 204/3701).
Sicilian reports of violent clashes with Germans come from Rodd, G. G. R., ‘British Interrogation Report of Sicilian PsW’, 28 May 1943, p. 3 (NA: WO 208/4542). Intercepted German order from Kesselring, instructing German soldiers to go round Sicily in parties with side arms, from 5 June 1943 (NA: HW 1/1717).
Foreign Office report of Sicilian resistance is contained in letters from three anonymous Poles living in Italy, sent 12 December 1941 (NA: FO 371/29931). See also Foreign Office telegram, 22 October 1941, about tearing up ration cards, and ‘Internal Situation in Italy’, Foreign Office report, 5 October 1941, both in NA: FO 371/29930.
US Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC) report, Washington DC, saying British landing might be welcome, sent to the War Cabinet Offices in London on 28 October 1941 (NA: FO 371/29931). ‘Sforza says Italy is Ready to Rebel’, New York Times, 3 June 1942, p. 6. ‘Sicilians in the United States’, report by Vanni Buscemi-Montana, 15 July 1942, passed on to OSS, talking about Mafia resistance (NARA: RG 226, Entry 142, Box 2). Passages about separatist feeling in Sicily in Memorandum on conditions and politics in Sicily prepared by the British Political Warfare Executive in August 1942 (NA: FO 871/35220). ‘Mussolini Neglected the Sicilians’ London Observer, 11 July 1943, press clipping in War Office file (NA: WO 208/ 4542). FBI interview with Bavarian lawyer contained in US JIC report, 20 October 1941 (NA: FO 371/29931).
American proposal regarding US character of military administration of Sicily attached to a telegram sent by Anthony Eden from the Foreign Office to Lord Halifax, Ambassador in Washington, 22 May 1943. Telegram from Halifax about Italian-American interest in Sicily sent 2 June 1943. Telegram from Roosevelt to Churchill about US character of military administration sent 14 April 1943, and Churchill’s response 15 April 1943. Macmillan’s comments on British interests in the Mediterranean sent 28 February 1943 and Churchill’s rebuke sent 4 March 1943. All these documents contained in NA: PREM 3/229.
All quotes from Max Corvo and his son, William Corvo, about the OSS come from Corvo, OSS Italy 1942 – 1945, pp. xvi, 22, 61, & 65. Donovan’s views on the Mafia are quoted in Dunlop, Donovan: America’s Master Spy, p. 398; for other comments on OSS and Mafia, see also d’Este, Bitter Victory, p. 627 – 9. US State Department memorandum on not using American-Italian units quoted in ‘Narrative for Official History of Civil Affairs in Italy (the Sicily campaign)’ by D. S. Duff, 1946, Chap. I, Part II, p. 13 (NA: CAB 44/171).
CIC Major Ray’s view on the OSS is quoted in ‘The CIC in the Sicilian Campaign’, History of the Counter Intelligence Corps, Vol. xi, p. 106. This is part of a 30-volume history produced by CIC staff in 1953 – 5 and is reproduced in its entirety in Mendelsohn, Covert Warfare. In his introduction, Mendelsohn says: ‘In the European Theater of Operations there was a good deal of competition between the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) and the CIC. In fact, the OSS had assumed the counter-espionage mission in Europe and the CIC did largely field security work.’
Gerald Wellesley’s account of Operation Husky comes from his unpublished letter and diary, 10 July – 12 August 1943 (NA: WO 220/295). Herbert White’s account is from ‘Capture of Licata cost US 4 Lives’, New York Times, 13 July 1943, p. 3. Accounts of US Naval Intelligence activities come from Herlands Report interviews with Marsloe, 3 June 1954, pp. 25 – 6, with Paul A. Alfieri, 8 June 1954, pp. 19 – 20, and Joachim Titolo, 8 June 1954, p. 7. Lansky’s story about Alfieri is from Eisenberg et al, pp. 211 – 13.
Allied intelligence reports of surrendering Italians, the ETOUSA summary, Alexander’s letter to Churchill, all are contained in a file of progress reports on operations in the Allied invasion of Sicily, July – August 1943 (NA: CAB 121/589). See also: ‘Italians Surrender in Hundreds’, London Times, 21 July 1943, p. 4. ‘Report of Panzer Division Hermann Goering on the Sicilian Campaign’, translated as Appendix C in Report No. 14, Historical Section, Army Headquarters, ‘The Sicilian Campaign – information from German Sources’ (NA: CAB 44/285). Fascist Italian radio broadcast quoted in ‘Allied Rule in Sicily’, London Times, 19 July 1943, p. 4. Description of desperate German resistance from ‘Notes on Recent Operations, 6th Battalion, The Durham Light Infantry’, by Lt-Col W. I. Watson, 24 August 1943 (NA: WO 231/14).
US Sergeant Jack Foisie’s story published in ‘Tales from the Sicilian Front’, Yank, The Army Weekly, New York, 15 August 1943, pp. 4 – 5.
The Don Calo Vizzini/Luciano ‘L’ handkerchief story originates with Pantaleone, The Mafia and Politics, pp. 54 – 9; Lewis repeats it in The Honoured Society, pp. 12 – 15; see also Lewis, N., ‘Mafia wins Sicily for the US Army’ Sunday Times Magazine, 28 May 1972, pp. 18 – 22. On the veracity of Pantaleone’s story see Schneider & Schneider, Reversible Destiny, p. 49: ‘There is now substantial scholarship questioning the accuracy of this story, while at the same time pointing to a more nuanced relationship between American interests and the Mafia as the Cold War took shape.’ The anonymous Sicilian witness at Villalba was recorded for a BBC TV documentary Allied to the Mafia, broadcast on 13 January 1993.
CIC quotes from ‘The CIC in the Sicilian Campaign’, History of the Counter Intelligence Corps, volume XI, pp. 82, 86, & 91. Information on the 3rd and 45th Divisions near Villalba comes from the official British narrative of the Allied invasion of Sicily, Section 4, Chapter D, ‘The Advance to the Etna Line’, 14 July – 21 July 1943, by Major F. Jones (NA: CAB 44/125). Thanks to Richard L. Baker of the US Army Military History Institute, Carlisle PA, for his help in uncovering the precise reference to the 45th Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop being in the area of Villalba on 19 – 20 July; references are: Fisher, The Story of the 180th Infantry Regiment; Garland, Sicily and the Surrender of Italy.
Thanks to Eric van Slander of Modern Military Records, NARA, College Park, Maryland, for his help in uncovering: ‘The Daily Journal’ of the 45th Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop; the Operations Report of the 3d Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop; and the narrative of the Operations of the 3d Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop Mechanized. In the 5 July 1944 report on the ‘History of the 45th Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop May to 9 Sep 1943’ (NARA: RG 407, entry 4327, box 11000), no reference whatsoever is made to working with local sources of information such as the Mafia.
Luigi Lumia’s memory of Don Calo interrogated by US troops at Villalba appears in Lumia, Villalba, storia e memoria, Vol. II, pp. 428 – 30, translated here for the first time into English; also quoted in Lupo, ‘The Allies and the Mafia’, p. 25, but not given its full weight.
Accounts of British Field Security experiences come from ‘Security work by the Highland Division FS Section during the Sicilian Campaign’ by Captain H. Edwards, 13 FS section, 1 October 1943; ‘A Day in the Life of a FSO’, 29 October 1943 (both in NA: WO 204/824A).
Max Corvo’s account of arrival in Sicily comes from Corvo, OSS Italy, p. 73. Other story about OSS comes from ‘Report on Sicilian Separatism and the Movimento per l’Indipenenza della Sicilia’ by Vice-Consul Manley, British Embassy, Rome, 17 April 1946, p. 3 (NA: FO 371/67786); for Max Corvo’s version of this story see Corvo, pp. 70 – 1.
Allied and Axis casualty figures in Sicily from d’Este, Bitter Victory. Hitler’s comment about Italy always being on the winning side comes from Trevor-Roper, Hitler’s Table-Talk, entry for 26 August 1942.
Wellesley’s description of his time in Sicily comes from his unpublished letter and diary, 10 July – 12 August 1943 (NA: WO 220/295). Many of the details of his posting in Sicily were confirmed in correspondence with the present Duke of Wellington. ‘My father died in 1972 at the age of 86’, he wrote. ‘He was chosen [for AMGOT] because he was a fluent Italian speaker and in fact served in our Embassy in Rome during the 1st World War (where incidentally I was born at that time).’ Wellesley’s comments on the situation in Catania and on Christian Democrats in Caltanissetta come from ‘Minutes of Meeting of SCAOs and AMGOT headquarters staff held at HQ AMGOT, Palermo’ 20 – 21 August 1943 (NA: FO 371/37327).
Most secret cipher telegram, 1 May 1943, draft directive of Allied administration in Sicily, pp. 2 & 5 (NA: WO 220/272). Lord Rennell set out the rules of Allied government in Sicily Gazette, No. 3, 20 October 1943. See also Alexander’s proclamation, as Military Governor of Sicily, quoted in full in ‘Allied Rule in Sicily’, London Times, 19 July 1943, p. 4. Colonel Poletti’s report on CAOs of 15 July 1943 quoted in ‘Narrative for Official History of Civil Affairs in Italy (the Sicily campaign)’ by Duff, Chap. 2, Part II, p. 7 (NA: CAB 44/171); see also report by British CAO in Corleone quoted in D. S. Duff, Chap. 2, Part II, pp. 18 – 21. Colonel Poletti’s 14-page report of 31 July 1943 is his ‘Memorandum to Fifteenth Army Group – AMG – Siracusa’, held in Poletti Papers collection in Herbert H. Lehman Suite and Papers, Columbia University Rare Book and Manuscript Library, New York (AMG file, S3).
Lord Rennell’s first detailed report on Allied government in Sicily on 3 August 1943 in a confidential letter to Colonel French; second secret report by Rennell, 20 August 1943, copy sent to War Office, Whitehall; both documents in NA: WO 220/ 312. Rennell notes ‘Reply to Points Made in House of Commons Debate’, 3 August 1943, in NA: FO 371/37327. More concerns about Mafia expressed by Rennell in ‘Monthly report for August 1943 on the Administration of Sicily’, issued 27 October 1943, pp. 5 – 6, 8, & 17 (NA: CAB 122/442). For details of Rennell’s life see obituary in The Times, 16 March 1978, p. 20.
Allegation of close relationship between Allied officials and leading Separatists in ‘Report on Sicilian Separatism and the Movimento per l’Indipenenza della Sicilia’, by Vice-Consul Manley, p. 4 (NA: FO 371/67786). ‘Two enemies to be faced in Sicily’ quote comes from Duff, op. cit., Chap. 2, Part 1, p.12,; see also Chap. 3, pp. 49 – 50. NA: CAB 44/171.
London Times report on wartime situation in Palermo comes from ‘Amgot Facing its Task’, 21 September 1943, p. 5. The Allied assault on the ‘Mafia fortress’ at Castel d’Accia is reported in ‘Mafia Chiefs caught by Allies in Sicily’, New York Times, 10 September 1943, p. 4, & ‘Allies Smash Mafia Society, Bane of Sicily’, New York Herald Tribune, 10 September 1943, p. 4; see also ‘Mafia in Sicily’, New York Times, 11 September 1943, p. 12. Report linking black market with Mafia, see Section II ‘Report by Mission to AFHQ for Information of CSO’s for Civil Affairs Headquarters COSSAC’, 1 November 1943, p. 5 (NA: WO 204/2823).
For comments on Metropolitan Police in Sicily, see Harris, Allied Military Administration of Italy 1943 – 1945, pp. 43 and 52 – 3. See also Howgrave-Graham, The Metropolitan Police at War, p. 59 (NA: MEPO 2/7030); the brief entry on the police in AMGOT concludes ‘The story of their adventures and achievements ought to be told, but it is rather outside the scope of this record.’ There are no other references in the MEPO files in the NA. William Capp was interviewed by the author on 6 March 2006. Thanks to Martin Gerrard for his memories of his grandfather Bertram Hefford MBE.
Six-page memorandum by Captain W. E. Scotten, ‘The Problem of Mafia in Sicily’, 29 October 1943 (NA: FO 371/37327). Captain Scotten’s second analysis of Mafia and politics in Sicily is in ‘Questions relating to political, social, and economic forces in Sicily and South Italy’ prepared for Security Intelligence Subsection of AMG HQ Palermo, 10 December 1943 (NA: FO 371/43918).
Minutes of Meeting of Provincial Civil Affairs Police Officers, concerning Mafia, held at HQ AMGOT, Palermo, 8 September 1943 & 6 October 1943 (NA: FO 371/37327). American EFOOO intelligence 2-page report, referring to poor conditions of Carabinieri, 3 December 1943 (NA: WO 204/12615). Notes on meeting held in Headquarters Island Base Section on 3 December 1943, involving Lt Col Snook, to discuss security in the western part of Sicily (NA: WO 204/827).
OSS Activities, 7-page report by Exp Det G-3, Palermo, admitting to close relationship between OSS and Mafia, 13 August 1943 (NARA: RG 226, Entry 99, Box 39). Russo interview was recorded for a BBC TV documentary Allied to the Mafia.
‘Italy, Government, Political Parties in Sicily, Mafia and Separatist Movement’, US Naval Intelligence report, 10 December 1943 (NARA: RG38/C-10-f/9632-H). JICA Weekly Stability Report for period 10/17 December 1943, on continuing problems in Sicily and relationship between Mafia and Separatists, 20 December 1943 (NA: WO 204/12615).
FBI account of Genovese’s black-market activities in Italy comes from FBI File No: 58-7146. US Army letters of recommendation for Genovese from Dunn and Holmgreen, plus Monzelli’s account of Genovese and Vizzini connection, are quoted in Hanna, Vito Genovese, pp. 69 – 74. See also Reid, Mafia, pp. 169 – 70. Luciano quote on Genovese making a million dollars in Gosch & Hammer, p. 273. Level of black-market theft of Allied supplies comes from replies by American Civil Affairs Officers to questions asked at War Cabinet Offices, 19 April 1944 (NA: MAF 83/1338).
Lewis stories about black market, Poletti and Genovese in Naples come from Lewis, Naples ’44, pp. 119 – 21. Poletti comment comes from BBC TV documentary Allied to the Mafia. Macmillan’s interview with Poletti contained in telegram from ‘Resident Minister, Algiers, to Foreign Office’, 16 January 1944; see also Rennell’s comments on Macmillan’s telegram, both in NA: FO 371/43918. Rennell despatch about Poletti in North Africa quoted in Duff, op. cit., Chap. I, Part III, p. 29 (NA: CAB 44/171). Poletti on black market in ‘Extract from Report of Headquarters Allied Control Commission’, 14 April 1944 (NA: MAF 83/1338). Luciano’s comments on Poletti in Gosch & Hammer, p. 272. The 27 August 1944 report from Captain J. Kane, Allied Provincial Public Safety Officer in Viterbo, trying to identify Vito Genovese with another bad character comes from the collection of Poletti’s papers and letters lodged in Columbia University Library (AMG file, S9).
Dickey’s testimony about his investigation of Genovese in Italy is printed almost in full as an appendix in Reid, Mafia, pp. 163 – 84; see also pp. 85 – 95. Newspaper reports on Genovese are: ‘Prisoner’s Story “Breaks” 4 Murders by Brooklyn Ring’, New York Times, 9 August 1944, p. 1; ‘AMG Aide in Italy Held in Murder Here’, New York Times, 25 November 1944, p. 5. List of documents found in Genovese’s apartments come from a second interview with Dickey at Beldock’s office on 6 September 1945, quoted in full in Reid, Mafia, pp. 184 – 9. Money offered to Dickey quote by Genovese, and ‘taking me home’ quote, both from Maas, The Valachi Papers, p. 179.
Notes from meeting of Allied intelligence officers in Palermo, about Separatists, 12 January 1944, including JICA and OSS (NA: WO 204/827). JICA Stability Report on black market, 22 – 28 January 1944 (NA: WO 204/12615). ‘Sicilian Separatism with particular reference to the report of Lord Rennell of Rodd’ OSS Report, Research and Analysis Branch, 19 November 1943, p. 15 (NARA: RG59, R&A Report 1521). JICA report on Separatist meeting in Palermo, 18 May 1944 (NA: WO204/12618). The best English-language study of Sicilian Separatism in this period is Finkelstein, Separatism, the Allies, and the Mafia.
‘Selection of a Native Governor’ OSS report, reference to Mafia winning out in Palermo selection of first governor, 10 January 1944 (NARA: RG 226/55277). Royal Navy secret reports on Sicilian graft by Captain Waight and Lt-Cdr Mason sent to the Vice-Admiral, Malta, 11 February 1944 (NA: FO 371/43918).
JICA Military Intelligence Division Report on French incident at Xitta, 15 April 1944; CIC Agent Paul De Mare led the investigation (NA: WO 204/ 12660).
Three letters discussing Separatist threat from Radford and Munro in the US Psychological Warfare Branch, Allied Force Headquarters in Algiers, dated 28 June, 3 July, 8 July 1944 (NA: WO 204/6250).
Finocchiaro Aprile’s letter to Churchill, 6 July 1944, and his joint letter to various foreign ministers, 20 July 1944, both in NA: FO 371/43918. ‘War Recedes From Sicily . . . for and against separatism’ London Times, 15 July 1944, p. 5. Telegrams from Finocchiaro Aprile sent to Italian government September 1944, intercepted by OSS (NA: WO 204/2168).
Sir Noel Charles’s conversation with Marchese Visconti, about Mafia links with Separatists, reported to the Foreign Office on 6 October 1944; see also Charles to Eden, 12 October 1944; both in NA: FO 371/43918. ‘Sicilian Separatist Movement’, memorandum by Harold C. Swan, British Consul-General at Naples, 23 October 1944 (NA: FO 371/43918). Letter from Lucio Tasca on 31 August 1944 in which the leading Separatist and Mafioso thanked Poletti for his help with the Separatist movement is held in the collection of Poletti’s papers in Columbia University Library (AMG file, S9). ‘British Policy in Italy’ OSS report, usual OSS suspicions of British, Research and Analysis Branch, 15 August 1944, pp iv – v & 23 (NARA: RG59 R&A Report 2318).
Crime increase figures in Palermo are from Blok, The Mafia of a Sicilian Village, p. 190. ‘New Hydra-Headed Mafia Called Rampant in Sicily’, New York Times, 31 October 1944, p. 8. Russo report on Palermo riot sent to AFHQ, 19 October 1944 (NA: WO 204/4458). JICA report on meeting of 26 October and Separatist plans for action, 2 November 1944; Letter of warning from Commodore Ellery W. Stone to Ivanoe Bonomi, 3 November 1944; both in NA: WO 204/2168.
Rennell admits to failings of AMGOT in appointing Mafia mayors in Harris, Allied Military Administration of Italy, p. 63. See also similar comments in his first report quoted in Chapter 12. The anonymous Sicilian witness at Villalba of appointment of Don Calo as mayor was recorded for a BBC TV documentary Allied to the Mafia. Luigi Lumia quote from Lumia, Villalba, storia e memoria, Vol. II, p. 432.
The Pantaleone view of the ‘Villalba massacre’ is told by Carlo Levi in his preface to Pantaleone, The Mafia and Politics, pp. 12 – 13. An alternative view is given in ‘Family Feud Officially Blamed in Communist-Separatist Clash at Villalba’ OSS report, Palermo, 2 October 1944 (NARA: RG226/100643). See also Finkelstein, Separatism, the Allies, and the Mafia, pp. 95 – 7. Pantaleone’s descriptions of Mafia links with Separatism in The Mafia and Politics pp. 66, 73, & 75.
‘Report on Sicilian Separatism and the Movimento per L’Indipendenza della Sicilia’ by Vice-Consul Manley mentions Mafia links with Separatists, p. 5 (NA: FO 371/67786); see also JICA’s ‘Comprehensive Outline of the Sicilian Separatist Movement’, 17 January 1945, pp. 3-4 (NA: WO 204/12618). Vizzini dining with Finocchiaro Aprile reference comes from US Naval Intelligence Report for 15 February 1945, Palermo (NA: WO 204/12618).
Report by US Intelligence Division Office of Chief of Naval Operations on rioting in Palermo and Palma di Montechiaro, 10 January 1945; US Naval Intelligence report of riot at Alcamo, 30 December 1944; Prime Minister Bonomi speech about trouble in Sicily from JICA report, January 1945; all three documents in NA: WO 204/12660.
US Naval Intelligence report from Palermo to AFHQ on Ragusa insurgency, 8 January 1945 (NA: WO 204/4459). ‘General Castellana Seeking Mafia Accord’, OSS report, 13 October 1944. (NARA: RG226/103050). US Psychological Warfare Board report on Sicily insurgency, 10 January 1945 (NA: WO 204/4459).
Train robbery reported by Allied Commission (Public Safety Division), 16 February 1945 (NA: WO 204/12660). Armed bands approaching Corleone in US Naval Intelligence Report for 15 February 1945, Palermo (NA: WO 204/12618). Report by Salvatore Aldisio, High Commissioner for Sicily, on events in Sicily, to the Italian Ministry of the Interior, 21 February 1945 (NA: WO 204/1261).
Police report of 7 March 1946 about Salvatore Giuliano meeting Separatists is quoted in Pantaleone, The Mafia and Politics, pp. 134 – 5. For short biography of Giuliano see ‘Giuliano and Sicilian Banditry’, a memorandum prepared in the British Embassy in Rome under the direction of Sir Victor Mallet, 7 October 1949 (NA: FO 371/79312).
Two articles by Matthews, H. L., both in New York Times, ‘Sicily in Throes of Civil Disorder’, 1 February 1945, p. 8, & ‘Separatist Crisis in Sicily is Acute’, 4 February 1945, p. 16. ‘Separatists Celebrate Anniversary of Sicilian Vespers’, OSS Report, Palermo, 14 April 1945; ‘Communist and Christian-Democratic Parties Demand Government Action against the Separatist Movement’, OSS Report, Palermo, 1 May 1945; Assault on Separatist HQ reported by 51 Field Security Section, Palermo, 22 April 1945 (the last report from the FSS as it was withdrawn from Sicily by the end of April); all three documents in NA: WO 204/12618.
Separatists going underground mentioned in ‘Report on Sicilian Separatism and the Movimento per l’Indipendenza della Sicilia’ by Vice-Consul Manley, p. 6 (NA: FO 371/67786). ‘Monarchy Seeks Support of Separatist Movement’, OSS report, Palermo, 3 May 1945 (NA: WO 204/12618).
Account of Mussolini’s last night alive comes from The GI Story of the War by the staff of Yank, pp. 232 – 5. ‘Luciano plea cites his aid to US Army’, New York Times, 23 May 1945, p. 7.
‘Situation in Sicily Reported Improved’, New York Times, 27 May 1945, p. 14. ‘Landowners ask Permission to form their own Police Force’, OSS Report, Palermo, 15 May 1945; ‘Broadcast alleging future control of Italian territories’, JICA Report, 19 May 1945; both documents in NA: WO 204/12618. Letter from Enrico Sorrentino intercepted by US Army Office of Communications Censorship and distributed to AFHQ and the War Office, 18 October 1945; Report from Lt Col G. E. Monsell, AFHQ, Office of the Assistant Chief of Staff, US Army, 26 September 1945; both documents in NA: WO 204/12615. ‘Reaction to the arrest of Sicilian Separatist leaders’, G-2 Report, 30 October 1945; ‘Separatism in Sicily’, Security Intelligence Summary, month of December, 1945; both documents in NA: WO 204/12619.
Flt Lt R. J. H. Gillingham’s letter about Giuliano train raid sent to British Consulate in Palermo, 24 January 1946 (NA: FO 371/60655).
Four-page memorandum on ‘Sicilian Separatist Disturbances’ by Special Agents Gabriel B. Celetta and Saverio Forte for US Army CIC Naples Detachment, 29 January 1946. This includes references to Nick Gentile and American colonel, as well as mentioning British officer fighting with Separatists (NA: WO 204/12619). Luciano reference to Gentile in Gosch & Hammer, pp. 93 & 95. For details of Poletti’s life see obituary in New York Times, 10 August 2002.
CIC memorandum on ‘Political situation in Sicily’, 31 January 1946; Drop in Carabinieri morale, ‘Security Intelligence Summary: Month of January’ 7 February 1946; Vizzini arrest threat, CIC memorandum on ‘Sicilian Political Situation’, 4 February 1946; street fight in Palermo between US sailors and Italian soldiers reported in CIC memorandum on ‘Sicilian Political Situation’, 11 February 1946; all four documents in NA: WO 204/12619.
Reports of army offensive against Giuliano in February 1946 are in: ‘Daily Digest of World Broadcasts and Radio Telegraph Services’, 14 February 1946; AFHQ report, 27 February 1947; AFHQ report 9 March 1946; ‘Daily Digest of World Broadcasts and Radio Telegraph Services’, 9 March 1946; Security Intelligence Summary 16 March 1946. All contained in NA: WO 204/12619.
‘Present Political Situation in Sicily’, CIC memorandum, 15 July 1946; CIC report of 26 August 1946; ‘Public Security’, Land Forces Intelligence Summary, 27 June 1946; both documents in NA: WO 204/12617.
Dewey’s statement on Luciano’s deportation, Herlands Report, p. 2; see also ‘Dewey commutes Luciano sentence’, New York Times, 4 January 1946, p. 25. Berger, M., ‘Deportation set for Luciano today’, New York Times, 9 February 1946, p. 15, ‘Luciano taken on ship’, New York Times, 10 February 1946, p. 12, ‘Luciano Departs for Italy with 3,500 Tons of Flour’, New York Herald Tribune, 11 February 1946, p. 17, ‘Pardoned Luciano on his way to Italy’, New York Times, 11 February 1946, p. 26. Lansky’s description of Luciano farewell party is in Eisenberg et al, p. 223 – 4; Bonanno’s denial of being there in Bonanno & Lalli, p. 165.
‘Luciano reaches Naples’, New York Times, 1 March 1946, p. 1. Luciano’s comments on Havana, Sicily and Genovese come from Gosch & Hammer, pp. 284, 299, 318 – 20. Reference to Luciano in Palermo is in note by A. E. Watkins in British Consulate, Palermo, 5 July 1947 (NA: FO 371/67786); the note also says that Luciano’s presence coincided with Salvatore Giuliano’s announcement of his war against Communists in Sicily and wondered whether the two were connected.
Luciano’s views on Communism, see Gosch & Hammer, pp. 327 – 8 & 295. CIA Cold War strategy comments come from The Current Situation in Italy, Central Intelligence Agency, 10 October 1947, pp. 1—4.
For Giuliano’s anti-Communist press announcement see ‘Sicilian Gangster opens war on Reds’, New York Times, 24 June 1947, p. 14. Foreign Office note about Giuliano photograph dated 4 November 1949 (NA: FO 371/79312). Stories about Giuliano’s exploits are repeated in ‘Giuliano and Sicilian Banditry’, memo from British Embassy in Rome, 7 October 1949, p. 4 (NA: FO 371/79312). ‘Sicilian outlaws anger the Italians’, New York Times, 6 July 1949, p. 13. ‘200 in Sicily Seized in Round-up’, New York Times, 8 May 1949, p. 5.
Italian Prime Minister’s views on Giuliano given to the Italian News Agency, ANSA, 27 August 1949, and reported by the British Embassy in Rome (NA: FO 371/79312). Luca’s interview and the priest’s sermon in Messaggero, 28 October 1949; the article was translated for Foreign Office use and sent with a letter from the British Embassy in Rome, 5 November 1949 (NA: FO 371/79312). Letter from Sir Victor Mallet, British Embassy in Rome, to Prime Minister Attlee, 13 October 1949 (NA: FO 371/79312).
Arduino case covered in Metropolitan Police statement by Ann Braithwaite Young, 8 June 1951, Metropolitan Police Criminal Investigation Department report, 14 February 1964, and Maltese police statement by Ernest Zahra, 11 April 1964; this file opened under Freedom of Information Act (NA: MEPO 2/9107).
Death of Giuliano reported in ‘Sicilian Bandit Shot Dead’ London Times, 6 July 1950, ‘Bandit Giuliano is Slain in Sicily’, New York Times, 6 July 1950, & ‘Police Kill Sicily’s Bandit King’, New York Herald Tribune, 6 July 1950, pp. 1, 10 & 22. Pantaleone’s story about Mafia killing Giuliano is in The Mafia and Politics, pp. 149 – 50 and p. 156; see also Schneider & Schneider p. 54. Pantaleone gets the date of Giuliano’s death wrong, citing 14 July. Pantaleone claims that Colonel Luca worked with the Mafia to curtail Giuliano’s activities (p. 154). The slaying of Giuliano’s last gang members was reported in ‘Two Sicilian Bandits Found Shot’ London Times, 11 August 1952. Judge Giuseppe Guido Lo Schiavo quoted in Stille, Excellent Cadavers, p. 20.
Bonanno’s description of his visit to Sicily comes from Bonanno, pp. 196—201. Good description of Bonanno’s Palermo Mafia conference is in Sterling, Octopus, pp. 82 – 6. Sicilian Mafioso Tommaso Buscetta later claimed to have had dinner with both Lucky Luciano and Joe Bonanno at Spano’s seafood restaurant in Palermo in October 1957 to discuss Mafia matters, see Sterling p. 84 – 5; see also Arlacchi, Addio Cosa Nostra: La vita di Tommaso Buscetta.
Lansky talking about his son comes from Eisenberg et al, pp. 230 – 1. See also Rockaway, pp. 202 – 3.
Giuseppe Alessi’s quote on Mafia infiltration of Christian Democrats comes from Stille, Excellent Cadavers, p. 19, a fine English-language guide to the history of the Mafia after World War II; see also Dickie, Cosa Nostra, a good overall history of the Mafia in Sicily.
Lupo quotes are from Lupo, ‘The Allies and the Mafia’, pp. 21, 29, & 30. Renda quote from Renda, Storia della Sicilia dal 1860 al 1970, Vol. III, p. 95, the definitive history of Sicily for this period in Italian; translated by Lisa Donafee.