Catroux, General Georges

1877–1969

   Catroux was DE GAULLE’s right-hand man and the Delegate General of the Free French to Syria and Lebanon from 1941–43. In October 1940 he arrived in the Middle East to build up a propaganda campaign for the Free French. The French in Syria favored the Vichy regime and were unmoved by this so when the British invaded in June 1941 they fought the Free French forces. Catroux tried to retrieve the situation and proclaimed ‘I come to put an end to the mandatory regime and proclaim you free and independent.’ The Free French took over the administration of Syria and Lebanon after bitter fighting but the countries only became independent after the war. From 1943–45 he acted as Commissioner for Moslem Affairs of the FCNL (French Committee of National Liberation) and Governor of Algeria. After the war he became French Ambassador to the USSR. Cavallero, Marshal Ugo, 1880–1943 Cavallero was the Italian Chief of General Staff who succeeded BADOGLIO after Italy’s disastrous campaign in Greece. He was a man of considerable energy and drive and made every attempt to try to modernize the Italian Army. He was a great admirer of German efficiency and as such was distrusted by his colleagues who felt he was pro-German and only in power thanks to German support. He did improve Italy’s conduct of the war and forced the navy to co-operate by sending supplies to Libya. However he was at the mercy of MUSSOLINI’s whims and knew he would fall when the war turned against Italy. CIANO detested Cavallero and De Bono said of him ‘Cavallero is optimistic. That’s the only reason the Duce prefers him’ so neither were displeased when Mussolini dismissed him in January 1943 after the fall of Tripoli. He was interned for a while but tried to make a comeback when Mussolini fell and found that he was not trusted by either the Fascists or their opponents. He was found dead on a garden bench in the early morning of 14 September 1943.