[Squeelig]

Nick, the exact words were, "Italy left the field of combat in September of 1943."

I was referring to Italy as a combatant country. Sorry for the misunderstanding.

"are you saying that the Repubblica Sociale Italiana did not imagine itself a legitimate national government, irrespective of its actual power?"

It was not the legitimate Italian government. It was not the government that declared war on Britian and the USA. King Vittorio Emanuele III called Mussolini to his palace and stripped the dictator of his power. Upon leaving the palace, Mussolini was arrested. Mussolini was replaced by Badoglio who quickly signed an armistice with the allies. The co-belligerant force was a puppet regime installed by Hitler. I think you know that.

yogybär, do you know where I can get a hold of that report? Interesting that there appears to be a contradiction. I think it would be a good read and it appears to be highly relevant to this issue.