Oct, 24. arly in September there appeared in the New York "Herald Tribune" two articles! written by "A diplomat recently arrived from Europe," which set out Hitler's plan for the invasion of Britain as it is alleged it wi iseussed_ with Mussolini at the conference at Munich on June 18. In. all ports from Antwerp to Boulogne and. down to Brest, Nazi troops told off for the invasion, and including 200,000 Italians taken chiefly from the army on the Po, were to be assembled. A great many Small ships! were gathered with the addition of swift gutiers and motorized rafts which could jor troop-carrying aeroplanes. High speed experiments were being carried out with a new enlarged amphibian type of tank, which could be towed over a part of the water route, while the question of carrying light auks and cannon by air was also being, westixated.
The invasion itself was expected to take two forms of operation, one purely a feint and the other the real thing, the first to divert the attention of the defending forces. Both Nazis and Fascists did not expect many engaged in it to survive, and the plan envisaged the loss of many' vanguard detachments. Those who followed were expected be able to obtain a foothold on British soil, and to make possible further landings of infantry, tanks, artillery and all other vital equipment. 'The Halians were expected to be the main cannon fodder of the British ju the Channel, the North Sea, and the Bay' of Biscay, for the time had apparently come when Mussolini would have to sacrifice hundreds of thousands of men to prove that he is in truth the ally of the Nazi Reich. The men taking part in the first operation were to be considered as doomed men and about ninety per cent. of them were to be Italian, Then in the subsequent landings the proportion of Germans would be increased, while if the invasion succeeded the troops fighting inland would be overwhelmingly. German, and, if Hitler won the laurel wreath ry eaves.
wiclory, Mussolini's share would be a few The story is an interesting one and has about it features which suggest that it is] accurate, Mussolini has done very little indeed in this war up to the present. True, he managed fo declare war on France, when was clear that that country could offer offensive against Egypt which if it progressing at all is at Jess than a snail's pace, has achieved some minor successes the Sudan, and has occupied British Somaliland. His' naval contribution to the Axis campaign has been remarkable for facility with which his navy avoids engagements and loses these in which it has not been able fo escape. Thus on balance Mussolini has made very little contribution {0 the cause of the Axis and apparently the invasion of Britain was to be the occasion then Mussolini would be called upon to offer up a holocaust with which to consecrate most uneasy alliance.
Obviously Hitler still desires to conduct war with as little loss of German Li possible, and if he could get the Halians Dear the gamble against the shores. of in, what could positly be veticr? If the attempt the Blaine: could be laid on the Halians; if it succeeded he would have the glory for which the Fascists would have had 10 pay the price. But the activities of the RALP., the watehfulness of the British Navy and the the British Army to meet stich have undoubtedly led to a postponement of the event, if, not to its abandonment, The Gificulties of the invasion are such that hour command of the air and sea it is, Imust impossible, and under the most yourable conditions likely to be costly in the extreme, but, if the Halians could. be xpeeted {0 ead' the attempt, so well andi Rood, for Hitler would be able to save many. lives of his own people by embarking upon
st Mahan, adventure in which he could fight to the
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.