NO EFFORTS SPARED

Evening Post, Volume CXXX, Issue 6, 6 July 1940, Page 11

NO EFFORTS SPARED

PERSUASION OF FRENCH

OFFERS TO THE NAVY

BRITAIN'S ACTION JUSTIFIED

(British Official Wireless.) RUGBY, July 4. The First Lord of the Admiralty, Mr. Alexander, in a broadcast today paid a tribute to Admiral Somerville for his command of the squadron at Oran, and said that he and his officers and men carried out their mission to the full, sparing no effort to persuade the French to accept the offers made to them. He was happy, he added, to know that the British suffered the very minor casualties of "one officer and one man wounded and the crew of one aircraft missing." Mr. Alexander also remarked: "We are glad to know that already somehundreds of French officers and men have volunteered to join us to continue the fight in our common cause. We welcome them and wish them godspeed." The First Lord said that the capitulation by the Bordeaux Government had left the British Navy to . deal single-handed with the Nazis and,

though it was undaunted by such a prospect, it was obviously of the greatest importance that the powerful French fleet should not be allowed to pass into German hands and help Hitler in his avowed intention of destroying Britain together with the Commonwealth of Nations. "I myself visited Bordeaux a fortnight ago," the First Lord said. "I made it clear that in seeking to ensure the continued use of the sea power of the French and British Empires in the common cause we were convinced that therein lay the only real hope of restoring the liberties of the French nation and the territorial integrity of the French colonies. APPEALS WITHOUT RESULT. "I received most solemn assurances that no armistice would be signed containing terms which placed the French fleet in danger of being handed over to the enemy for use against an ally of France. The published terms of the armistice, however, made it quite clear that there was no safeguard against this grave possibility, except the word of the leading aggressor and his henchman —a word which the world knows has been broken at every turn during the last four years. "On this vital issue we were dependent upon the treacherous bond of those who had broken every _ major pledge as soon as it suited their purposes. As soon as we knew this both Admiral Sir Dudley Pound (Chief of the British Naval Staff) and myself addressed fresh personal appeals _to the French commander, Admiral Darlan, in the name of our long friendship and long personal associations in the naval affairs of the two services. With profound regret we had to admit that these appeals were without result." Action of a most painful and distasteful character had therefore to be taken by the British Navy, and this action had resulted in the immobilisation or destruction of a substantial part of the French Navy, the result being achieved as far as British ports were concerned with the loss of only one life on either side, the Minister said. "At Alexandria steps which have been taken will provide for the safe keeping of a French battleship, four cruisers, and a number of destroyers and submarines." Speaking of the action at Oran, Mr. Alexander said: "To our great sorrow heavy losses have been inflicted on French seamen. But our Navy by its action has gone far to redress what might have been a serious adverse balance created by the terms accepted by the Bordeaux Government in spite of the previous assurances." There must be no recriminations, Mr. Alexander said, deeply though he felt the retreat of those with whom Britain might have fought side by side to the end.