TUNED FOR WAR

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 159, 1 April 1938, Page 11

TUNED FOR WAR

Italian Army, Navy And Air Force MUSSOLINI’S REVIEW Troops In Libya And Spain Not A Weakness By Telegraph.—Press Assn.—Copyright. (Received March 31, 11.30 p.ui. Rome, March 30. The Prime Minister, Signor Mussolini, in a speech in the Senate, significantly stated that the presence of two armies in Libya and Spain had not weakened Italy’s military structure. He reviewed the military, naval, and air force expansion, and said: “The forces are tuned for implacable and rapid war. We have the most powerful fleet of submarines in the world.” “By 1941,’’ he said, “Italy will have eight first-line battleships totalling 240.000 tons. “Our air force is one of the best in the world, comprising several thousand new machines. The war factories are working day and night. Fifty-eight thousand workers are building aeroplanes and aero engines, and we can now muster between 20,000 and 30,000 pilots. “All our ground organisation is ready, and also our fuel and explosive depots. Air warfare must be conducted so as to throw into confusion the preparations of an enemy and destroy the morale of the people. “I am convinced that everything is now ready and that we can sleep quietly in our beds.” Ability to fight was always the determining factor in international relations, he added, and this ability depended above all on the will, which had never been so strong and ardent in , Italy as it was to-day. ANOTHER CAMPAIGN Mysterious Reference By Mussolini (Received March 31, 11.45 p.m.) Rome, March 31. A mysterious reference to another “impending campaign” on behalf of the Italian empire is reported to have been made by Signor Mussolini when receiving a number of senators in the Palazzo Venezia after his Senate speech. After thanking them for raising him to the new rank of Marshal of the Empire, he added: “This new appointment increases my responsibility for the third great victorious campaign of the < empire in which I shall lead you.” The first two campaigns are presumed to be Abyssinia and Spain. NEW ITALIAN RANK Marshal Of The Empire Rome, March 30. Signor Mussolini made his speech in the Senate as Minister of War, the Navy, and Air. He declared that if hostilities broke out he would be the supreme commander of the forces under the King. a special meeting of the Chamber of Deputies created the new rank of “Marshal of the Empire,” which was immediately conferred on the King and Signor Mussolini.