On July 20, 1942 Mussolini flew back to Rome from Tripoli. The dictator was both physically ill and furious at having wasted a month in the solitude of the desert sands. He was particularly angry at General Erwin Rommel who barely acknowledged his presence in North Africa. The desert warrior was so confident about sweeping through Egypt that he practically announced that victory in the desert was at hand when they had met in Rome in June. The Duce made plans to be present to march into Alexandria and Cairo on a white horse, just like a Roman general at the head of the Axis armies. Italy’s new Caesar!
The white horse was actually waiting patiently in a stable in Benghazi, Libya. But instead of the triumph he longed for, Mussolini was waiting in a hot and muggy hotel in the desert town of Derna. The German commanders were not allowing him to tour the front lines because of the high risk of capture by the British in the expanse of the North African desert. Rommel was moving closer to El Alamein and his supply lines were stretched to the limit. Alexandria was only sixty kilometers away, just a few hours’ march, and clearly within the reach of Rommel’s Panzers. But severe gasoline shortages prevented the Africa Corps from moving ahead decisively.
The relentless heat and the obligation to sleep under mosquito nets made every night unbearable. Then suddenly acute stomach pains overwhelmed Mussolini every time he touched any food. After the humiliation of Rommel’s refusal to attend a military conference because of the intense fighting at El Alamein, an indignant and sick Duce decided to fly back to Rome. His gastric pains were increasing dramatically and he was unable to concentrate on any work as the doctors attempted to understand his condition but were unable to reach a diagnosis. Rumors regarding the Duce’s health reached Adolf Hitler who wanted to dispatch a team of German SS doctors to examine his ally. Dr. Goebbels was even saying that Mussolini had terminal syphilis that had obviously metastasized thus affecting his brain and that he would soon be dead.
Count Ciano was handling most of the daily routine and in particular communications with the Germans. He would brief his father in law at daily meetings in Mussolini’s bedroom at his palatial residence in the Villa Torlonia, carefully omitting any disturbing details and covering up the increasingly terrible news on military operations. By early October Mussolini was bedridden and rapidly losing weight. Persistent rumors of tropical diseases, amoeba, cancer and the inevitable syphilis that he was said to have contracted in his youth were rife around the capital. People whispered that he was near death and most of those stories soon reached the ailing Duce on his sickbed brought to his attention by his wife Rachele. His worse suspicions centered on his ambitious son in law Galeazzo who was busy accumulating power against the wishes of many Fascist leaders who were jealous of his position.
By the end of October Ciano was holding meetings with military leaders, the OVRA and SIM military intelligence while Italy’s most prominent physicians were prescribing continuous long periods of complete rest and relief from pressure for Mussolini. It was against this background that Ciano suddenly summoned Admiral Calamai to his office at the Palazzo Chigi. The Admiral arrived promptly at 0930 on October 22. The magnificent baroque palace in the center of Rome, with its huge glittering chandeliers and priceless Aubusson tapestries, looked more like a museum far removed from the blood and grime of the war’s front lines. The Admiral was immediately ushered into the presence of the foreign minister who received him at the door with a warm smile and a ready handshake, any hint of past friction now erased.
“Thank you for coming, Admiral. I am preparing an important trip to Germany to meet with Hitler and Ribbentrop. Unfortunately the Duce is unable to travel at this time. The reason I called you is to find out about the progress of our special weapons and relevant offensive war plans. Any background information would be very helpful for my upcoming talks.”
Calamai was too much of an old hand not to guess that there was a hidden agenda behind Ciano’s urgent call preceding yet another visit to Hitler. Nevertheless he gave a technical presentation of the current situation and mentioned some of the latest innovations the Italian navy was applying to its submarine fleet. Ciano listened with great interest and asked a few pertinent questions until he suddenly interrupted the conversation with the morning’s true agenda.
“Admiral, I would like to entrust you with a very sensitive mission. Obviously whatever we discuss shall remain top secret.”
The Admiral nodded, put his briefing papers back in his carrying case and listened intently. He had guessed correctly but still couldn’t avoid the irritation he inevitably felt in Galeazzo Ciano’s presence mainly because of his pretentious ‘heir apparent’ attitude. While Ciano was clearly better educated than the peasant-like Mussolini, he remained a petty bourgeois social climber in the Admiral’s eyes and even a phony whose superficial knowledge led him into foolhardy adventures placing the country at great risk. Nevertheless for the moment he was at the height of his power and the Admiral remained first and foremost, a realist.
“I shall do my best, Your Excellency.”
Ciano extracted a sheet of paper from his desk drawer.
“You will travel by air in civilian clothes to Casablanca. Officially you will be on an inspection tour of naval installations on the Moroccan coast and holding meetings with German and Italian armistice officials. Your covert mission is to meet with an unidentified American official, who could be either a diplomat or a high-ranking military officer. You shall be representing the High Command and the Foreign Office to discuss conditions for a separate peace allowing Italy to exit both the Axis and the war. This mission concerns only the Americans, the British will not attend. Originally it was to take place in Lisbon but the Americans for their own reasons moved it to Morocco.”
Calamai was amazed and could only admire the audacity of the move at that precise moment. He had heard rumors that Ciano was encouraging those seeking a settlement with the west rather than with Stalin in Mussolini’s preferred scenario. Therefore his trip was in fact a “palace coup” against the Duce’s pro-German position made possible only because the dictator was thought to be fatally ill.
“I assume Your Excellency has a specific agenda in mind?”
“I trust that with your command of the English language and first hand knowledge of the United States you will have credibility as a negotiator with the Americans. Since the British will be seeking the usual imperial advantage at Italy’s expense in the Mediterranean I have decided to avoid them for now. The Americans, on the other hand, really want to end this conflict as quickly as possible and return to their splendid isolation. With their vast and fertile land and no need for additional soil they have little taste for foreign adventures.”
“Your Excellency, I am deeply honored by the confidence you place in me.”
Ciano nodded and any lingering acrimony that may have existed between them was forgotten. He took a sheet of his engraved letterhead with the expert touch of the journalist he quickly and flawlessly typed a short note in English that he signed and dated without making a copy.
“MOST SECRET AND CONFIDENTIAL”
To His Excellency
The Honorable Sumner Welles
Under Secretary of State
Dear Mr. Welles,
I am pleased to introduce Admiral Count Vittorio Calamai di Sant’Agata, whom you will certainly remember as the former Naval Attaché at our Royal Embassy in Washington. The Admiral is instructed by this government to exchange views and report back on discussions with your representatives. I consider these talks to be in the spirit of the confidential conversations we held in Rome in March 1940.
I hope this message finds you in good health and that this contact shall produce the positive results we sincerely desire. I remain as always,
Respectfully yours,
(signed) Ciano Rome, October 24, 1942”
Calamai was impressed and understood that Ciano, was very serious about the talks he was initiating.
“Admiral, it is clear that we must break away from Germany as soon as possible before it’s too late and she drags us into a vortex of defeat that will cripple Italy and Europe for decades. Hitler is still dreaming of total victory in Russia and has decided to hold off on peace attempts with Stalin because of the new offensive toward Stalingrad and the Caucasus. This latest gamble may fail, and Germany is in my view going to be forced into a separate peace dictated by Stalin. If German officers fail to move against Hitler and the Nazis they will be responsible for the worse defeat in modern history. Italy must therefore attempt to save itself. There may just be enough time.”
Calamai was moved by the thought and understood that Ciano, although poorly equipped for the task at hand, was listening to common sense.
“I shall do my best, Your Excellency.”
On a separate sheet Ciano wrote five questions in long hand for the Admiral to ask the American negotiator as a basis for discussions.
“You will probably be facing a low ranking diplomat or a military officer. The Americans know you and respect your experience and rank. You are not some obscure foreign ministry functionary but a soldier, a decorated high-ranking naval officer! That will carry some weight. Do not be deceived by appearances and remember that this could be the key moment in the war where peace was restored to Europe. Memorize and destroy this page.”
“I shall do my best.”
“Good, a special plane will fly you out tonight via Algiers to Casablanca. The crew has been told that you are on an inspection tour for the armistice commission and so on. Good luck!”
The Admiral shook hands with the foreign minister and saluted formally.