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PERTH, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 20, 1943.
NO. 3,098
. . .
SEVENTIETH YEAR
events Prior to Vussolini's ownPall
Proposal to Abandon Two -Thirds of Italy 11
Duce's Disagreement with the King
Difficulties for Axis Strategy Mussolini had been his own Minister War, and of Air and of the Navy. This was why he asked the assistant Ministers to consider this plan. They declined to accept the responsibility of deciding the matter, and suggested that the entire Cabinet be convened. The other Ministers were then sent for. The Cabinet had a heated debate for of
and against the German recommendation. It was decided to shift the responsibility upon the King, in whose name the decision would have to be made, This occurred about 4 p.m. Mussolini was in favour of accepting the German plan. The King's reaction was He opposed abandonunfavourable. Mussolini then ing any part of Italy. resigned. At 11 p.m. (their time) Rome's powerful radio station announced Mussolini's resignation, and read out the King's appointment of Marshal BadogThis decision aplio as his successor. pears to have been a hasty one. For if Badoglio had known in advance of this change, he would have had his own announcement ready. It was not
MUSSOLINI. Colonel. Conrad Lanza,
noted
US,
strategist for the authoritative military paper, "Artillery Journal," reveals in the New York Catholic weekly, "America," Hitler's demands which preceded the fall of Mussolini. The Duce, he asserts, on July 26, made known to his Minister the German plan to evacuate two-thirds of Italy south of FlorHeated debate followed with ence. appeal to the King.
Mussolini resigned his high office of
Head of the Government on July 26. The reason was stated to be a differ-
ready. The radio station went off the air until 11.20 p.m., when Badoglio's proclamation was read. It reads as if it had been drafted suddenly-purely formal. Both proclamations (of the King and of the new Head of Government) stated that the war is to be continued. Radio instructions were sent out to the troops to that effect. What is the value of the German plan? There had been a conference of German and Italian generals of the High Commands at, or near, Verona, between July 17 and 19. Those attending were competent generals, and the military situation was such that the advisability of abandoning the Italian peninsula, rather than trying to defend The it, must have been considered. invasion of Sicily called for prompt decision and action. According to Axis sources, the Allies had about forty divisions in the Mediterranean available for invasion purposes. About ten were used in the This may initial landing in Sicily
ence of opinion between himself and the King as to contemplated military
measures. From dispatches from neutral sources, it appears that early on Sunday, the 26th., Mussolini convened the assistant Ministers of War, Air and Navy. He laid before them for consideration a German proposition urging the evacuation of Italy south of a line across the peninsula through the Apennine Mountains north of Florence. This would mean the abandonment of Rome, and two-thirds of Italy. Only that part which surrounded the plain of the Po River would be seriously defended. The evacuation of the peninsula could he deferred until the Allies had been forced to undertake an invasion. But initial steps were to be taken at once, commencing with the removal of war supplies, railroad rolling stock, motor vehicles, and importWhat could not be ant industries. removed was to be destroyed.
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KING VICTOR EMANUEL. have been the maximum number which could be moved at one time. To meet such forces, the Axis would need something comparable, They did have
about ten divisions in Sicily. But the Allies could bring over another ten within a few days, and more later if they needed them. The Axis, not having control of the sea, could not reinforce their troops to the same extent, nor as quickly. It seemed a foregone conclusion that the Axis troops in Sicily would sooner or later be overwhelmed. The same situation would apply to any other island. If the Axis knew which one was to be attacked, they might arrange to have a superior force there beforehand. But if this was =known, the Axis did not have enough troops to place more on Sardinia, on Corsica, on Crete, and on other islands, than the Allies could concentrate against whichever one of them they chose. For the Axis it did not make sense to defend islands whose ultimate loss was practically certain. With regard to the Italian peninsula: if Axis troops concentrated on the south part, the Allies might land as far north as Leghorn, and cut off troops to the south. They might land opposite Rome, or in Naples itself. The Axis has not enough troops to defend all of these places simultaneously, The Germans proposed to give up territories where Allied sea power made a surprise invasion possible. A line through the north part of Tuscany across the Peninsula would be about 140 miles long. It is moun(Continued on Back Cover.)
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