DUCK’S BOAST

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19597, 31 March 1938, Page 6

DUCK’S BOAST

FORCES TUNED FOR WAR

LAND, SEA AND AIR

ARMAMENT FACTORIES

WORKING DAY AND NIGHT (Elec. Tel. Copyright—United Press Assn.) (Reed. March 31. 2 p.m.) ROME. March 30. 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 an implac able and rapid war. We have the ’iuost powerful fleet of submarines ir. the world.’ Signor Mussolini said that by 1941 Italy would have eight first-line battleships totalling 240,000 tons, and an air force which would be one of the best in the world, comprising several thousand new machines. “The war factories are working day and night,” he continued. “Fifty-eight thousand workers are building aeroplanes and aero engines. We can now muster 20,000 to 30,000 pilots. All our ground organisation is ready as are also the fuel and explosive depots.

“Air warfare must be conducted to throw into confusion the preparations of the enemy and destroy the morale of the people. I am convinced that everything is now ready. We can sleep quietly in our beds.”