FRENCH MASTERY

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIV, Issue 227, 24 September 1943, Page 3

FRENCH MASTERY

COR3ICAN STRUGGLE Allied Air And Naval Forces Blockade Coast N.Z. Press Association —Copyright Rec. 12.30 p.m. LONDON, Sept. 23. General Giraud is firmly convinced that the struggle in Corsica will end in from 10 to 15 days. He expressed this view on returning to Algiers to-day from a two-day visit to Corsica, which he reached by plane. The French are now masters of twothirds of the island.

General Giraud said the Germans hold the north-eastern corner and are trying to get out, but the French are holding them. General Chambe disclosed that the attack against Corsica was prepared for six months ago. Ten thousand Corsicans have been armed since February with Tommy-guns dropped by parachute and landed by submarine. The 80,000 Italians on the island are taking orders from the French, but there are only a handful of Germans. The eastern coast of Corsica is toeing blockaded by Allied air and naval forces. General Headquarters states that the Germans have withdrawn from the Levie sector in Corsica after heavy fighting. The enemy is also withdrawing from the Bonifacio and Porto Vecchio northward. Another report says that particularly sharp fighting is going on in the south-east of Corsica, where in the past few days more than 1000 Germans have been killed and several hundred taken prisoner.