A "POILU" IN INDO-CHINA

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 237, 5 October 1940, Page 2 (Supplement)

A "POILU" IN INDO-CHINA

By Henry Caloaret

AFTER receipt of a registered letter requesting me to call at the French Consulate in Sydney, I was interviewed by the Consul's secretary, who informed me that I, being of French origin, was called to the colours, and was to hold myself ready to sail by the Messageries Maritime's boat Pierre Loti. The day of departure soon came, and immediately on sailing from Sydney Harbour we had our first taste of life as mobilised Frenchmen.

The food was served in the aft cargo hole, where slept the Arabs and French negroes of Africa. I might add that we were all asked to pay our fare to Saigon, and those who could not afford to do so, like myself, had to "pig it" third class. We were not accorded any bathing facilities, but had to wash ourselves under a tap, and the water was cut off at 8 a.m. We were, all told, 20 who had to suffer these hellish 27 days in a tropical climate.

Treatment on Troopship Despite the tact that there were no passengers oil board other than mobilised men, those of the third class were not allowed the freedom of the ship for sports, nor were we allowed to use the second class smoke room to play' a game of cards. On the later stages of the trip we had to eat up forward, in the fourth class cargo hatch, amongst the Tonkinese coolies who were being repatriated to Saigon. There, owing to the terrible heat and smell, we could not stay for any length of time.

Such foods as butter, tea, milk, sugar, jam, or cheese were not allowed to us. Coffee was had but once a day. That sea trip gave us a foretaste of what we were to expect in the French colonial army in Saigon, French Indo-China.

The military and police authorities at Saigon dealt with our papers, and we were given leave before reporting to the barracks. After having signed on the dotted line, we were given, in all, three weeks to amuse ourselves in Saigon. I p'aced myself under the protection of the British Consul-General, as I am a British naturalised subject. Despite my naturalisation, the French considered me still French. Having been sent to Saigon a« a mobilised man, I had to remain there as a soldier until such time as my nationality was proved. "Black Frenchmen" On receiving orders from Hanoi, the capital and seat of the Government, I was drafted with seven Australian companions to the sth Colonial Regiment in the artillery at the Cap St. Jacques military depot, some 80 miles by road from Saigon. Ag soon as we were given our ill-fitting uniforms, we began extensive training with the 75 mm. mountain guns (3.7 in). These guns could be mounted and dismounted with ease, providing we had a European crew. What surprised and disgusted me most was the fact that we not only ate with negroes, Indians and natives, but we also slept next to them. On the one side of the bed we would have a black

If* eplnlen •( the French Angr fat ?" ch .._ Wt-Cbtai U held hj this utinlM New Zealander. vha recently relnraed here after cmpilMrr service m » "nldler •» France at Saltan. What H means te be a "polio" In that army—the dirt, the had faod, poor pay and the •■- aarenrj retnpanlenihim offered him make • atarUlnc atery.

and on the other a : native. When a black or native naturalises himself French, he is considered not only a European's equal, but French and European as well. He has all the rights of a Frenchman, and if one dares to clash with him, one is liable to 60 days in a military gaol, bread and water.

In our barracks we had 30 white Europeans and at least 1500 blacks and natives. These natives, comprising Annamites, Cambodians and Pondicherrv Indians, were armed with rifles and bayonets. To each artillery gun there is a crew of seven. Two whites would have the specialists' positions; the remainin- five were a mixture of naturalised Indians and Annamites, who were a stubborn lot and would never help with the work. On manoeuvring days they would present themselves on the sick list, and thus leave the battery with a skeleton crew.

The French have treated the native population of 23,000,000 somewhat harshly. They keep them down as much as possible. At the same time, the French fear them. There is a strong native Communistic movement in CocliinChina, and since the big revolt some few years ago, when the French—men, women and children—wpre massacred bv a band of these natives in Yen Bay (Northern Tonking), extra precautions are taken every year for four days on the anniversary of this massacre.

The French Government's reprisal for this revolt was the dispatch of the Foreign Legion to the scene of the mas-

sacre, to machine-gun thousands of Innocent natives. The natives have never forgotten this reprisal, and the French are well aware of the fact. The Foreign Legion has always been stationed in northern Indo-China in order to keep a check on the natives. They are excellent soldiers. They know no fear, and are as tough and hardy as you can make them.

On "manoeuvres," our day would commence at 3 a.m. and terminate at 5 p.m. What with the excessive heat—llo degrees—and the humidity on top of that, we used to be wet to the skin with perspiration, but we had to go oh with our 20-mile march. When the rainy season came, it made life most unbearable.

This life in the tropics was a slow, torturing one. Apart from the heat, there was constant risk of all sorts of deadly diseases. I suffered agony with dysentery, and to cure it had 21 injections. Malaria Prevalent Malaria was very prevalent, as our barracks were situated at the foot of the mountain, where dense vegetation and malaria-infested mosquitoes surrounded us. Fortunately each soldier was supplied with a net. Despite this, however, thousands of natives succumb each year. Every fortnight we had to pass the doctor for an injection in the back against diseases. This waa usually given over the week-end, so as not to interfere with our military train* ing. •

Every day there would be a large attendance to the doctor. All one-had to say was that one-had colic, and the doctor, without giving one-an examination, would «Mer one a. few davs from routine work. When one felt tired one could claim a few days* rest by reporting to the doctor. There had been no ntness test on entering the army. Our first meal of the day was lunch at 11 a.m. This consisted of horse mule or ox steaks, all uneatable owinc to the fact that it could not be cut; it wm like rubber. Beans, rice or potatoes were dished to us with the meat,- and, for dessert, a banana. With this was given a cup of wine, almost vinegar, as a beverage. j ter could not taken owing to the diseases.-Such luxuries as butter, tea, milk, sugar, jam or cheese were out of the question. Bread was 20 davs old before it was allowed tc be servtd t-o us. This was the standard meal every day for lunch and dinner. However, we avoided eating at the barracks as much as possible. A Soldier's Pay ~ The average plain 6oldier, classed as a reservist, received the equivalent of 3d per day. Those doing their military training for the first time received |d per day. The non-commissioned officers of career received good pay. The officers were very well treated and* exceptionally well paid, but didn't know their work. They were reserve officers and were interested mainly in their ipay and amusements.

The reserve officers doing instructional courses with the <5 m.m. mountain *nin presented a sight we all liked to see, as their aim waa not too good. The

colonel kept rebuking them for their silly mistakes. However, onr own battery officer waa a . blade from Martinique. The discipline of the barracks is very severe. It waa like a gaol. If a man is caught away from his post, or asleep, his bayonet is removed, and once that occurs the end has arrived. He is court martiaDed and shot. H»e knowledge of English was a great asset, and saved us from anv unpleasant incidents. We could openly express our thoughts as no one was able to speak English. We had to be*®r® _of the presence of secret service men in the barracks. They were dressed as plain soldiers. Spies Amng Mem One never knew when one was talking to any of these men. Those caught expressing themselves too much anins: tho Government, or the mflitarv, were severely punished and placed in gaoL This created had feeling amongst the «.en in tho barrack* who obj£ted£ having informers about them. Leave was given from 5.30 pjn. .til! , - f s )r 7vaag eonscripta and ta xi p.m. for the reservists. As there -were no amusement, to be h«l at thisTutpost, and as wo were "done," after the day's work, wo welcomed early niehts * nolße from • Uhles French colonial army has a bad reputation in Stizoii It sympathy or civilians even went s<; Siw Ui 7 soldier, and »way ttam the maiS- atrtet, cafea,' TCstaurants, and The army s answer to this demand waa-the »ed bayonet* down the main street. ore was after that. I ' fMl from the French army when it is ill-clothed, ill-paid, and lii 'i ing * nd draining undS such conditions as we were? As the war developed into a critical staee. the morale of the troops sank to zero. AD ere pessimistic of the outcome. When Cabinet after Cabinet feUing we know that all was lost Th» morale was so low that all Frenchmen Rnx i° ,,B^ to j° sn «P on the'Bnalkh " r e,se be demobilised. When the news of the actual Annihilation came through it came as Sv° tbe peopk- Thev eould not believe that France had* signed the Armistice. Bumours circulated throujra the city about the downfall. Th? mentf* Go^pS ti, 6tron ? Communist W t Parliament, sabovrU ? Command's treachery. n . Petain Government took charge of France feeling in the colonv n.tr J,*!} P ro "® ritfe h that the arm'v *. T>. British Consul-General do anvti.- Consul was powerless :« do anything until the men were detJmie thp- T hese . men wan ted to eonTl,e Fren <* were so aehamed of their nationality that ther asked for British citizenship; thev even ™ * a J" . as asking for Chinese nationality. This applied to the civilian* l»opulation as welL

Oram Changed Feeling wh * n thc French fleet admirals "°i f" rrcnder to British at Oran, and the British were obliged to tfc e®, . feelinp was suddenly timr P r^i" P a « ainst Britain. For a Ion? 80 ""-British that it ! K;„!TT ing a bit "W British subjects to remain in the connMT. ,°5 E? nrs ? one mu st realise that it ™\ t Fr J n ? h , P to hear that their niodern battleships were destroyed. Ths lossof life made things worse.* •*. !?? F l ench Foreign Minister criticised the British after this naval actionj, the population in Indo-China no ,^ new " where thev were. an<l which side they sympathised with, and whether to believe the news. We had a pro-British Governor-Gen-eral in General Catroux, and he wanted n "nue the struggle, thoi*rh lie oidn t commit the countrv to any side. As France had dgned the Armistice. I «w no reason to stay in the Freno.l . niade quick representations ii the British consul, who received confirmation of my British nationality after sending reply paid cables to the -ew Zealand • Government at mr expense.

The military gave me a time limit in Ji, i-v t0 P rove myself, and save mo e liberty of the barracks. I resided ia • aigon as a civilian for two weeks. pon receipt of the confirmation ths ixmsul immediatelv demanded mf T f a ! e , from tbe French authorities, it took me 36 hours of running about • j -, m ~' en, °bilisation order was signed by the general of my division, ■who, fortunately, was pro-British; otherwise -with the Petain Government now in control of the countrv—l may t u VB been in Xew Zea land to-day. had to act very quickly to get my necessary papers signed in order to lca\e the country immediatelv. Fortunately a neutral ship had just arrived m Saigon, and on the return voyage ,3f passing through Singapore, which wag the first British port. How thankful I was to go!