DARNAND TAKEN

Auckland Star, Volume LXXVI, Issue 152, 29 June 1945, Page 5

DARNAND TAKEN

EX-VICHY MINISTER

Captured By British And Handed Over To French N.Z. Press Association—Copyright Rec. 10.30 a.m. LONDON, June 28. Three British sergeants arrested Joseph Darnand, former Vichy Minister of the Interior and head of the quisling French militia, at a house north of Bergamo, in Northern Italy. Darnand has already been turned over to the French authorities and is en route to Paris. The British United Press correspondent describes him as a ruthless collaborationist, second only to Laval. One of the British sergeants, Sergeant Lable, from Jersey, was in a civilian garage at Sondrio and heard a mechanic under a car whistling a French song. He found, after questioning, that the mechanic was a former member of the French militia. Sergeant Lable, with Sergeants Hepburn and Gorfunkle, from information obtained from the mechanic, began to search the Bergamo area.

Sergeant Hepburn, feigning hunger on June 25, approached a house where Darnand was believed to be hiding. He called on the occupants to surrender. Darnand stepped out and revealed his identity. He had arranged to meet his secretary, Suzanne Charcasse, in Milan on June 27. She was arrested at the rendezvous.