Why was the Italian army so useless in World War II? They were humiliated by Greece, were routed by the severely outnumbered British in Egypt (in both cases having to be rescued by Germany), and retreated without much of a fight outside Stalingrad.
They were far from useless. The average Italian had the brains to realise that dying in a pair of cardboard boots while trying to use a 37mm anti-tank gun outside Stalingrad so that Hitler (who looked down on Italians as inferior) could build a German empire was REALLY stupid. Instead they chose the tactic used by so many teenagers when told to do some chores of do it so badly no-one asks you to do it again.
More often that not Italians fought with decency. There are several reports of Italian fighter pilots waving at RAF pilots and breaking off combat when they realised the Brit was out of ammo. For sheer guts try the raid on Alexandria
6 Italian divers riding these things:
Crippled 2 British battleships.
The Italian surface fleet proper didn’t exactly distinguish itself but the guys driving the MAS boats sure did:
Attacking Malta harbour in those means having balls that clang.
The Italians seriously upped their game after Mussolini was toppled. When ordered to surrender to the Germans the Italian garrisons on the Greek Islands instead fought the Germans even though this was suicidal and ended in their mass executions.