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| March 12, 2010 | Britain planned to assassinate Mussolini in 1943: Undisclosed documents | |
London:Undisclosed documents in Britain's National Archives have disclosed that a plan was hatched to assassinate
former Italian dictator Mussolini through a bomb raid on his headquarters in Rome by the Royal Air Force's Dambusters Squadron. According to documents, Air Marshal
Arthur Harris had proposed using a squadron to fly over Rome at "roof-top level"
and drop bombs on Mussolini's headquarters and residence in an attempt to kill
or maim him. The operation, which was conceived in early 1943, had also been approved
by then Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden. In a memorandum to Prime Minister Winston
Churchill, dated 13 July 1943, Eden wrote: "Harris has asked permission to try
to bomb Mussolini in his office in Rome and to bomb his residence simultaneously
in case the Duce is late that morning." "I suggest that if Mussolini were killed
or even badly shaken, at the present time this might greatly increase our chance
of knocking Italy out (of the war) at an early date. And I therefore ask your
permission to lay the operation on," The Telegraph quoted Eden , as having wrote
in the memorandum. However, within weeks of the proposed plan, Mussolini was ousted
in Italy and was replaced by a caretaker government led by King Vittorio Emmanuele
III, who later surrendered to the Allies. Mussolini fled to northern Italy to
lead a Fascist republic, but was later captured and executed by Italian partisans
in 1945. |
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