Italy surrendered to the Allies more than a year previous. Any Italians who were still fighting for the Germans, who had invaded Italy after the fall of the Fascists, were doing so under the barrel of a gun. Seriously, if they resisted, they were shot.
Were they really POWs of the Allies by this point, or they simply interned citizens of a now-allied power?
I don’t know the answer, technically, but just thought I would ask.
By this point, some Italian units were fighting with the British in Italy, units of the Navy and Air Force loyal to the King had also changed sides. On the other hand, the Italian Social Republic had been set up by Mussolini in Northern Italy. So the status of these prisoners was a bit ambiguous.
Certainly the German prisoners would be treated much more poorly after the unconditional surrender by that country, but those facts are a bit different. The British still had a moral duty to protect the prisoners, whatever their status, from hazardous work, which they clearly were not doing.
Today, the Japanese have begun their main effort against the Battalion, with heavy weapons and bayonet charge. They succeed in cutting off C Company and fighting continues through the night.
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas is an ironic song as at that time in the movie the family has had anything but. It will take on even more irony during Christmas 1944.