3. By the end of 1943 German atomic weapons capability was doubted by the Allied commands
The information delivered by the first Alsos mission provided little hard knowledge regarding the German research into atomic weapons. None of the Italian scientists interviewed had direct knowledge of the German effort. Nor did they believe the Germans capable of producing an atomic weapon within a decade. They based their surmises on information from the scientific community available before the war, rather than direct knowledge of current research. In other words, the first Alsos mission could neither confirm nor deny the existence of a German atomic weapons program. Allied leaders had no more or less information regarding the German effort than before the mission. They did extract some information in other technologies of use to the war effort, in particular regarding other advanced German weapons.
The mission remained in Italy in the spring of 1944, supported by armored cars and reconnaissance vehicles operated by the Royal Air Force. They planned to enter Rome immediately after the German defenders withdrew from the city. While waiting for that delayed eventuality, they interviewed senior Italian military and government personnel. The Germans continued to hold Rome. By late March, most of the Alsos team withdrew to the United States or London in frustration. Rome did not fall to the Allies until the first week of June, 1944, only two days before D-Day in Europe. When it did, Colonel Pash and a second Alsos mission flew to the city, joined days later by another team from the United States. Scholastic and government agency files were confiscated, at least two Italian researchers taken into custody, and several interviewed. Some members reported the Germans were not close to acquiring an atomic weapon.