PETAIN'S PERFIDY

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 115, 17 May 1941, Page 9

PETAIN'S PERFIDY

Vichy Scathingly Indicted By

Free French

"NEW ACT OP TREASON"

British Official Wireless.

Rec. 11 a.m. RUGBY, May 16. Free French headquarters in h 4 ?™, 1 ?' a „ communique, state: In allowing Syrian aerodromes to be used by German planes the abettors of the June capitulation have been guilty of a fresh act of treason. How could Petain, revoking the promise he so recently made, publicly associate himself with this move against the Allies and French.

"Frenchmen who joined General de Gaulle in order to continue the struggle see with the deepest sorrow the sad end of a French military leader now the mere toy of a small group of careerists who have gone over to the enemy. The Free French have never held that the Vichy Government, which was formed without consulting the French people, is entitled to speak on behalf of the nation. They have always maintained that the action taken by Vichy defies the wishes of the immense majority of the people. Faced with this fresh infamy on the part of Admiral Darlan and his accomplices, the Free French wish to state before the whole world that the Vichy Government does not represent France and that the French people must not in any way be involved in that Government's dishonour."