TASKS BEFORE FRENCH

Press, Volume LXXX, Issue 24389, 16 October 1944, Page 5

TASKS BEFORE FRENCH

HARD FIGHT AHEAD; FEW RESOURCES DE GAULLE ALLEGES ALLIED NEGLECT (Bee. 10 p.m.) LONDON, Oct. 15. A warning that the French people must prepare for many more days of hard fighting before the Germans are brought to their knees was given by General de Gaulle, broadcasting to France over the Paris radio. • General de Gaulle -said: "In spite of the terrible defeats the Germans have suffered on the Western Front and in the east they have re-established their front from Breda to Belfort. They are stubbornly and savagely resisting m Italy, Poland, and the Baltic countries. They are preparing to fight to the end in the interior of their owh country. "Germany will be beaten only by renewed bloody exertions in which France desires to taTte the greatest possible part. "Our ports, except Bordeaux,, are out of commission, our transport system and railways are practically paralysed, our factories are without coal and electricity, our agricultural equipment is worn out, and our stocks of fuel and raw materials are completely exhausted. Moreover, we are frequently called on by the Allies for what rolling-stock, ships, and stores -we still possess. “Those who thought that Allied aid towards the restoration of our production would be rapid and powerful have deluded themselves. The first task of the belligerents is to feed a voracious war which is a duty imposing heavy burdens and vast problems, Also, our Allies are each pursuing his own interests’ and making his own policies while fighting the same enemy. “Many Frenchmen will be amazed at the neglect with which the other great Powers are at present treating France regarding the conduct of the war and the -preparations for peace. We must recognise that our greatness in the future will not spring from the goodwill of others but only from our own endeavours. "These trials give us a chance to demonstrate to France and to the world what we are notv worth. We must beat the enemy, re-establish ourselves abroad, and rebuild and renovate at home.” General de Gaulle appealed for unity. He said that Frenchmen, except for a contemptible minority, had shown that they were of good faith. Reuter’s Paris correspondent says that General de Gaulle disclosed that 3(50.000 Frenchmen had been killed in battle or executed by the Germans. Three million Frenchmen had been deported. Four thousand bridges in France had been blown up. n • Telephone Line To Berlin.—The Berlin-Stockholm telephone line was re-opened on Thursday night after a break lasting more than 100 hours.