CONQUEST OF ABYSSINIA

Grey River Argus, 12 October 1936, Page 2

CONQUEST OF ABYSSINIA

PLANNED 10 YEARS AHEAD. LONDON, October 9. The Rome correspondent of the “Daily Telegraph” says that Marshal de Bono, who commanded the Italian forces in the early part of the Abyssinian war, in his book, “Preparation and the First Operations,” sensationally discloses that Signor Mussoliniplanned the Abyssinian war as fai back as in July. 1925, though the actual preliminary preparations were not made until 1933, “in the greatest secrecy.” Marshal de Bono was then Colonial Minister, but after M. Pierro Laval’s visit to Rome in January, 1934. he was made High Commissioner in East Africa, where he went so secretly that lew knew he had left Rome. Plans for starting the invasion were already well ahead, and in November 1934, the Gondar and Walwal incidents gave S'gnor Mussolini the pretext for which he had been wailing to settle the Abyssinian question once and for al’. A* few days afterwards mobilisation of the Eritrean native troops was begun, ami a little later a partial mobol sation of Italy’s national troops was ordered. White, labour gangs were also sent out to Eritrea to make roads up to the Abysinian frontier. Signor Mussolini then knew that, an evasion of Abyssinia was inevitable and while the League of Nations was still discussing the problem he sent a cable message to Marshal de Bono to “push on for the attack.”