I, too, have read that Rommel thought well of some Italian formations; and their pilots and naval special operations people have a good reputation - although as you said, they didn’t always have the best equipment.
Rommel said too “If the German soldier has astonished the world, the Italian bersagliere has astonished the German soldier”…
He said too Italians don’t like the war. Probably both sentences were sincere and true. But which people likes the war?
Probably some peoples, northern and anglosaxons, (Americans, Germans, Britons for example…) see the war as an unpleasant matter of fact when it happens. Other peoples, southern and latin, like Italians and Frenches, see it as a terrible fact and a terrible burden when it happens. A slight but significative difference. Just my opinion of course.
Google lt. Gen. Robert Eichelberger Firing Machine Gun During Buna and there is an image of a general shooting a Thompson.
Ok reference 7 RTR and losses during Operation Compass in 1940/41.
One Matilda II was destroyed Gitana, it along with two other tanks reached the beach during the attack on Sidi Barrani when Gitana had a track shot away. The crew stayed in the Matilda II until they had fired all of their ammunition then abandoned it after setting fire to it. So it was not destroyed directly by Italian fire but by its crew as a result of being immobilised and out of munitions.
The one penetration people mention was not an armour penetration, during the attack on Nibeiwa one of the drivers had slid back his visor and a round went through the hole injuring members of the crew, the vehicle itself was not penetrated or destroyed.
Many suffered track damage and jammed turrets from Italian weapons, many others broke down (there were few transporters so they had to drive everywhere, in some cases they had the assistance of heavy trucks to tow them so saving some of the wear and tear).
I saw footage of Vinegar Joe carrying an M-1 Carbine in Burma circa 1944 IIRC yesterday…