Its funny if the Germans did actually published and said this. LOL GERMAN-ITALIAN RELATIONS Is there a spoke or two broken in the Axis? There have been many reports for a long time that German and Italian soldiers do not get along well together. The Italians are said to hate the Germans, and the Germans, in turn, make sly remarks about the fighting abilities of the Italians. Some of these reports have come from official sources. The following extract from a German publication captured in Libya seems to bear out these reports: "ITALIAN WAR COMMUNIQUE" "On the Tobruk front a large force of Italians attacked an enemy cyclist, causing him to dismount. After heavy and prolonged fighting they were able to puncture his tires. The front wheel was destroyed, and the loss of the rear wheel must also be considered possible. The handlebars are in our hands, but possession of the frame is still being bitterly contested." "H. Q. Royal Italian Army" The Japanese are said to make similar jokes about their Siamese (Thailand) allies. http://www.lonesentry.com/articles/misc_oct42/index.html
In the North African Campaign, not only was there in-fighting between the two Axis partners, but at a senior level in the German leadership. Rommel and the senior Luftwaffe commander on his front weren't even on speaking terms ( one time Rommel said something to the Luftwaffe officer which so offended him that he demanded a court marshall in order to clear his name, it was only because Kesselring manage to calm them down that this didn't happen)
This from Field Marshall Kesselring about the Italian military. " We have already noted the weak officer-enlisted relationship which existed during World War I. That tradition continued into World War II and was observed with concern by Kesselring. He said,The ordinary soldier received--even in the field--entirely different rations from those issued to non-commissioned officers and officers. The size of the ration was multiplied according to rank, and larger amounts obviously also meant a better choice of good food. The officers ate according to their ranks, increasingly well and copiously. The ordinary soldier was issued the most frugal ration; had it been plentiful and good, the officer would obviously not have needed the double, or still higher, ration quantity. The officers, etc. ate separately by themselves, without contact with their men, often not knowing what and how much they received. Thus, the war-time comradeship, the main feature of which is the community of life and death, was being undermined...I have often pointed out to Cavallero, what a dangerous effect the above-mentioned conditions had on the morale of the men...I have personally experienced that our German field kitchens were being practically besieged by Italian soldiers, while I was eating excellently on the customary officers ration in the Italian officers mess". But Kesselring continued his unbiased appraisal with: I do not intend to expose deficiencies by making the above statements, but only want to clarify the reasons for the failure of the Italian soldier in order to give interested persons the possibility for taking corrective actions. I also do not want to deny in any way that the relationship ketween officers and men was nevertheless a good one".12 Kesselring did not hesitate to applaude the "fundamental decency of the simple Italian man and of the possibility of progressively developing him into a good tough fighter and soldier". His appraisals of the Italian soldier's abilities must be considered very valid because he saw them first hand. He said, I have seen much too many heroic performances of Italian units and individuals--such as the Folgore Division near El Alamein, the artillery in the Tunisian battles, the crews of the Kleinstkampfmittel (smallest means of combat such as one man torpedoes) of the Navy, the crews of torpedo boats, the units of torpedo bombers, etc.--not to express this opinion with conviction. But the decision [outcome] in a war is not brought about by top performances of individuals but by the training condition and morale of the entire army. It is therefore wrong to represent the Italian soldiers and the Italian people all together as militarily inferior and unsuitable for a tough war.. In this context, Mussoloni and his former state secretaries are either guilty of gross neglect, or Mussolini is definitely guilty of not having desisted from war if he was aware of these precarious gaps. 13" http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/1988/HEG.htm -------------------------------
Depends. Relations between the Western Allies and the Soviet Union were poor, but once you get past the senior allied generals bitching about who deserved the glory, the relationship between Britain, the Commonwealth nations, and the USA was the most effective and efficient large scale military alliance ever seen in warfare.