A CHANGE MADE

Evening Post, Volume CXXXV, Issue 27, 2 February 1943, Page 5

A CHANGE MADE

ITALIAN CHIEF OF

STAFF

LONDON, February. 1. The Rome radio announces that Cavallero, Italian Under-Secretary for War, has retired at his own request and will be succeeded by Vittorio Ambrosio, who is at present Chief of Staff of the Army. Ambrosio will be replaced by General Exio Rosi, at present Chief of Staff of the Sixth Army. Cavallero has had a career of little distinction. During the, two years in which he has been responsible for Italian military operations his troops have been regularly defeated in two major theatres of war. In Africa his failure resulted in the loss of 450,000 men. There are over 250,000 Italians in British hands, including JOO generals. While Cavallero was chief of staff Italy lost her entire empires— Abyssinia, Eritrea, Somajiland, Cyrenaica, and now Tripolitania. "The eclipse of General Cavallero deserves more attention than is usually given to the frequent reshuffles in Fascist Italy," says the "Daily Telegraph." "Cavallero Is an officer whose personal popularity is considerable, whose proGermanism is reported to be lukewarm, and who before the war knew and admired things British. Rumours have been afloat lately that in certain circumstances he might play a far more important role than Minister of War if the Italians extricated themselves from the Nazi stranglehold and endeavoured to direct their own policy regarding the United Nations. That Cavallero suffers eclipse may mean that Mussolini was tired or even suspicious of him, but there is probably far more'behind the change. We may regard it as largely being dictated from Berlin, where Cavallero is suspected of harbouring ambitious designs or of being frankly defeatist."