RELATIONS BROKEN OFF

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 159, 6 July 1940, Page 9

RELATIONS BROKEN OFF

Petain And British Gov ernment

GERMAN PRESSURE

Oran Naval Battle Is Regarded As "Repugnant Act"

"ANCIENT TIES SEVERED"

I United Press Association.—Copyright.—Rec. 1 p.m.)

LONDON. July 5

It is officially announced from Vichy, the seat of the Petain Government, that as a result of the battle of Oran. the Council of Ministers has decided to break off diplomatic relations with Britain.

No official intimation has yet been received in London of a diplomatic breach, though reports to this effect have been received from German and Swiss sources, states a British official wireless message.

M. Roger Cambon, French Charge d Affaires in London, called on Viscount Halifax. Foreign Secretary, and informed him that he had placed his resignation in the hands of the French Government. The Marquis of Castellene has now assumed charge at the French 'Embassy. M. Vleeschanwer, Belgian Minister for Colonics, also called on Viscount Halifax.

A French Embassy member stated that the protest M. Cambon lodged was "as drastic and stern as it was possible to make it."

The Vichy communique says the British Squadron at Oran included the battle cruiser Hood. The Madrid radio says the battleship Resolution also took part in the action. It is noted with interest in Britain, as instancing the control which Germany is exercising over the Petain Government, that the first reports of the intention of the Petain Government to sever diplomatic relations with Britain emanated from Berlin sources, and were only later made from Vichy.

The Madrid wireless says Marshal Petain has issued a pro* clamation from Vichy describing the Oran naval engagement as "a repugnant act," adds a cable message.

Minister's Bitter Outburst.

M. Baudouin, Foreign Minister in the Petain Government, stated that an Anglophobe campaign in France is inevitable.

"I have informed Mr. William Bullitt, United States Ambassador, it is not anti-American,'' he said. "Nothing can break the friendship between France and America, but the ancient ties with England are severed."

M. BaucTouin, in announcing the breaking off of diplomatic relations with Great Britain, outlined Franco-British relations in recent years. He suggested that sanctions, even the French entry into the war, were dictated by the desire "to do nothing which would dissociate us from the foreign policy of Britain. "To-day is the turning point in our history," he said. "Ties of comradeship and excessive fidelity have been broken. Our relations with Britain are being placed on a new footing! "Britain's attack on our ships at Oran will be an indelible blot on British honour. The Bretagne is a total loss and the Dunkerque was badly damaged by several fires. "Sanctions, which separated us from Italy, were solely due to anxiety for harmony with Britain. The same is true of our policy regarding Central Europe and Germany. The Munich negotiations weTe personally conducted by Mr. Chamberlain, and we entered the war against Germany in the wake of Britain. Britain Blamed For French Collapse.

M. Baudouin sought to blame Britain for the loss of the war. He declared that the British had failed to close the gap at Artuois during the German advance, and that the British saved fourfifths of the 8.E.F., while France saved only half of her forces. The British provided 14,000 troops for rearguard actions at Dunkirk, compared with 200,000 Frenchmen. The Berlin radio says the French Cabinet, under the presidency of M. Lebrun, yesterday decided to break off relations with Britain, after hearing an account of the unjustified attack bv the British Fleet at Oran against units of the French Fleet and after Daying a high tribute to the heroism of the French Fleet. The French Charge d'Affaires, M. Cambon, protested to the Foreign Office on behalf of the Petain Government against the British Fleet's action with the French Fleet in the Mediterranean.