Catroux Is Fine Soldier

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 86, 12 April 1941, Page 17 (Supplement)

Catroux Is Fine Soldier

"A BOUT 80 per cent of t\ Frenchmen in Syria are in sympathy with the British cause." These are the words of General Georges Catroux, most noted and influential of the leaders of Free France after General de Gaulle. After recent happenings in the Near East there may yet be eventful moves in Syria—gateway to Iraq oil fields and Hitler's most coveted goal—nor may those moves be to the advantage of the Axis. The dislike and fear of native Syrians for the Axis is well-known, so that it is doubtful that they would be any obstacle if their French governors turn to Free France. It is fortunate for the Allies that Free France has entrusted the Near Kastern sphere of its activities—extending from the Balkans across Egypt to the Red Sea—to a man with the power among Frenchmen and the proved courage and ability of Catroux. Some believe that Catroux's influence with his countrymen is greater, because more tried by time, than that of General de Gaulle, to whom he escaped from Indo-China to swear allegiance, and to whom he was senior in the French service.

Is Valuable to British De Gaulle himself is staunch in the belief that both to Free France and Britain the value of Catroux's advice is second to none. Tall, straightly-built, distinguishedlooking (51-year-old General Catroux, High Commissioner of Free France in the Near East, comes from a military family. His father was also one of France's distinguished generals. On the collapse of France last June General Catroux was Governor-General of Indo-China, where he had been sent in 1939 by M. Mandel, French ""Minister of the Colonies, to hasten the preparations of the important French possession. When he refused to surrender to the Germans he was relieved of his post by the Vichy Government, and threw in his lot under de Gaulle. As the latter was of junior rank, General Catroux voluntarily gave up three of his five stars in order to be on equal "military plane with his leader. He still retains, however, his two dozen medal ribbons—a tribute to his past services to his country. His whole training makes his services important to the cause of the Allies, for he has had a life-long experience of the colonies with the French Foreign Legion, both as diplomat and soldier. On leaving the military college of Saint Cyr, he joined the Foreign Legion and was sent out to Indo-China. Two years later he found that most famous of all French colonial administrators, Colonel Lyautey. Under him he partook in campaigns in Northern Africa, remaining there until the declaration of war in 1914. In France he fought at Charleroi, Arras and the Somme before being wounded and taken prisoner at Bailleul.

<s> After several attempts at escape, he was imprisoned in the fortress of Magdeburg, where he had as companion the famous French airman, Roland (iarros. The two tried to escape but were caught, and General Catroux spent three weeks in a dark cell. Like many French generals, Catroux has literary tastes. In prison lie studied German and taught his fellow-prisoners with such intensity that the} - called him "the German professor."' Translated Goethe in Prison His study had a purpose. He designed German uniforms which he used in his unsuccessful escape. He spent his period of punishment translating Goethe's "Wertlier," and his greatest literary ambition is to have this translation accepted by the French Academy. It was while a prisoner, too, that he first met General de Gaulle, with whom lie has much in common. General Catroux is something of an orator. One of his lectures in Paris was on the possibility of an Egyptian invasion by Italy. His conclusion was that it could not be successfully accomplished.

At the end of the war Catroux was appointed military attache at Istanbul, later joining General Wevgand in Syria when he took part in the campaign against the Druses. Next Catroux joined Lyautey, once more in Morocco, for tlic Kiff campaign. For some years he remained in the colonies, engaged in important administrative problems. His experiences have ranged from building the highest road in the Mid-Atlas Mountains to the delicate work of defining the frontier between Turkey and Greece. Throughout his career he has seen a great amount of active service and wears the decoration of Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour, a distinction only rarely bestowed. In 1936, recalled to France, he commanded a division at Mulhouse for a time. Then he returned to Algiers until he was relieved of his post owing to a disagreement with General Gamelin. It was after this that he was sent to Indo-China, from whence he escaped to join de Gaulle in London. <S>