THREE-HOUR TALK

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20629, 3 December 1941, Page 6

THREE-HOUR TALK

RETAIN AND GOERING FATE OF AFRICAN BASES NAZI DEMANDS HINTED (Reed. Dec. 3, 10 a.m.) LONDON, Dec. 2. The Vichy radio announced that Marshal Petain and Admiral Darlan have returned to Vichy after meeting Reichsmarshal Goering 80 miles southeast of Paris. M. Benoist Mechvin, the Vichy Secretary of State, told the press at the German embassy at Paris, that as a result of the meeting of Marshal Petain and Reichmarshal Goering the French could envisage the future with increased confidence. He added that the meeting permitted a broad examination of the problems which would be discussed in more detail during the coming weeks. The Vichy Minister in Paris, M. Debrinon, interviewed in Paris, said the meeting of Marshal Petain and Reichmarshal Goering was not for negotiation, but a general conversation between two men having mutual esteem for each other as soldiers. Nevertheless, something most important may emerge from it. The meeting occurred in Reichmarshal Goering’s special train at Saint Florentin station. Marshal Petain and Reichmarshal Goering conferred for 15 minutes'before Admiral Darlan was called in. The talks were then continued for three hours. Step to Full Surrender The Madrid correspondent of the Daily Mail says that Marshal Petain and Reichmarshal Goering are believed to have discussed the immediate German use of the French ports on the Mediterranean and northern Africa for rushing reinforcements to General Rommel in Libya. Diplomatic circles in Madrid emphasise that if Marshal Petain agrees to this German demand, it will be the first step in the full surrender of all French bases, including Oran, Casablanca and Dakar. Semi-official comment in Berlin stated that the principle of co-opera-tion in the spirit of the new order lias been unmistakeably intensified as a result of the conversations.

Another Berlin statement said that Marshal Petain’s visit caused no surprise. Naturally political circles attached considerable importance to the meeting but abstained from conjecture. The statement then pointedly recalled a recent article published in a Paris newspaper by Marcel Beat, emphasising the urgent necessity for adequate and active defence of the French colonial empire.