SPEECH BY MUSSOLINI

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 85, Issue 47, 25 February 1941, Page 5

SPEECH BY MUSSOLINI

WAR IN REVIEW ITALY’S DECLINE SINCE TARANTO (By Telegraph—Prees Association—Copyright) LONDON. Feb. 23. Mussolini to-day admitted for the first time that the slashing blows dealt by the British Navy and the Fleet Air Arm at Taranto marked the starting point of the decline of Italy in the war. Addressing leaders of the Fascist Party in Rome, he said that since Taranto the course of the war had been unfavourable to Italy. He also admitted that the Italian soldiers who were fighting in Africa were without hope of reinforcements. Signor Mussolini excused the Italian defeat by saying that Italy had been at war since he sent Italian soldiers to Spain six years ago, and at present she was carrying the weight of the war against a million British and Greek soldiers. Speaking of Albania, he said. “Spring will soon come, and with it our turn,” and he went on to assure the Italian people that Britain could

not win because German armaments were greatly superior. He said that the intervention of the United States was an illusion. The main impression created in London by Mussolini's speech is that lie is still looking to Herr Hitler to pull the Italian chestnuts out of the fire. In contrast with his earlier utterances, he no longer made the boastful claim that his forces would be able to throw back the British beyond the Suez Canal and that he was master in the Mediterranean. The note struck now is that the Italian people should take comfort from the strength of Germany.

“WILL HAVE TO FIGHT FOR LONG TIME”

MUSSOLINI'S SPEECH "FIERCE DAYS AHEAD" LONDON, Feb. 23. Addressing a Fascist rally, Mussolini said that Italy would fight to the last drop of her blood against England. He admitted that one army, the Tenth, had been swept away with almost its entire strength in men and guns. He admitted, also, that the Fifth Air Force Squadron was almost literally wiped out. “I come to look you firmly in the eye," he said, “and to break my silence by saying that we will fight to the last. We would have entered the war in September, 1939, it we had been prepared, but after fighting in Ethiopia we received an appeal from Spain which we could not deny. We would have preferred that the war should be delayed so as to enable us to build up materials, but history takes one by the throat and forces a decision.

“It is our late that we had our most difficult fronts on the seas and ill the African desert. The British attack in Africa preceded one which we had planned for five or ten days later. The British thus reached Bengkvz.i. The British claim that they lost only 2000 men in Libya is a lie. They must have lost 20,000.

“These months exasperate our will and must intensify our hate for the enemy. We shall probably have to fight for a long time, but the Axis will win. Britain cannot. Italy and Germany will march shoulder to shoulder to the end. Italy has an army of two millions, and it necessary will find four millions. American aid for Britain cannot compensate for all the losses inflicted by the Luftwaffe. “Britain will soon be aware of ItaloGerman co-operation in the Mediterranean. New successes will come to us. The ground we have lost at all four cardinal points in African territory will be retaken without difficulty, and when we want it. “There are days of fierce fighting ahead on all battle fronts. “Talk of a separate peace is idiotic. The war will end when Britain is defeated, unless the Dominions wish to continue at the risk of losing their independence. Neither Italy nor Germany intends to attack the United “It is ridiculous to expect further weakening of Italy. This will never occur. The real Italian fighters, the workers, must not be misled by a few anti-social persons who complain about rations. “British armies must invade the continent in order to conquer the Axis. No Briton would ever dream of such a step." Mussolini went to great lengths to prove that careful preparations had been made for the war in Libya, “which was always considered the most important strategically.” He said ths.t over 14,000 officers and 356,000 men had been sent to Libya, equipped with 1900 guns of all calibres and of the most recent types, 15,300 machine-guns, 11,000,000 artillery shells, a billion rounds of ammunition for automatic weapons. 24.000 tons of clothing, and 759 armoured cars.