NEAR EXECUTION

Manawatu Standard, Volume LXIII, Issue 25, 29 December 1942, Page 4

NEAR EXECUTION

GIRAUD'S CLOSE CALL

ORDERED TO BE SHOT The Chateau of Tourlaville is just four and a-half kilometres from Cherbourg. When 1 saw it last on J une 19, 1940, it was the setting for a historic scene which 1 and all Frenchmen hope will never be repeated, wrote Michael Bernin in Lire. He was a motion picture producer in Paris before the war. A member of the naval reserve, he was attached to the photographic division of the French navy. The French navy, at least that part of it which fought so bravely in the defence of Dunkirk, was preparing its surrender to a detachment of Germans who had captured Cherbourg without a struggle and were coining to get us in their own good time. 1 became part of the convoy of prisoners to be sent to the fortress of Koenigstein, 25 miles from Dresden, in the German province of Saxony.

Our caravan set out. First went the car of the German officer in charge. Then six cars full of our admirals and their orderlies, plus several French generals who had been rounded up in the region. I was picked out to drive Admirals Abrial and Leclerc, and our car was the last of the six. A German scout car, full of guards, followed behind. At the entrance to a military camp in Mainz we were ordered to stop. The officers, wearied by the long journey, alighted from the cars. There were already 30 of them and the number was increased on the arrival there of another group of prisoners. Among the latter was General Giraud, who had come from Berlin, where lie had been held since his capture by the Germans.

We were left alone for a few minutes while the officer in charge of the prisoners went to get his instructions regarding our future itinerary. He soon returned in the company of a German general. CALL FOR GIRAUD.

"Which of you is General Giraud?" asked the latter. General Giraud, who was among a group of generals, presented himself.

"It is I." "General, I have been ordered to place you before a firing squad." With no emotion visible on his face, General Giraud replied: "I am a prisoner. All I can do is to protest against this flagrant violation of international law regarding prisoners of war. . . " "Not at ail," interrupted the German. "You are accused of having given orders to kill two German civilians in Northern France. This is assassination, for which you are criminally liable." "It is perfectly true that I gave such an order," replied Giraud. "While military operations were in full course, two Germans wearing civilian clothes landed behind our lines with the evident intent of committing sabotage. If I had to do it again I should not hesitate. . . ." "Very well," said the German general. "Please follow me." .

General Giraud shook hands (with the other French generals and! followed the German into his headquarters. We were stunned, but hardly had the two men disappeared when we received the order to continue our journey. We set out again. The two admirals I accompanied maintained a deathly silence. T could observe them sitting there, their lips tightly closed, and with the same question written on the faces of the two men: "Are the Germans going to assassinate captured French generals on anv flimsy sort of pretext. Will we all suffer Giraud's fate?" AGREEABLE SURPRISE.

Between steep rocks a single narrow and precipitous path leads up to the summit of Koemgstein. There is no other road in these mountains. As we climbed, at each turning we met a sentinel who, with a rifle ou his shoulder, stood as immobile as the rocks watching us pass by. With our arrival the number of superior officers imprisoned in Koenigstein rose to 120. But we had a very agreeable surprise. General Giraud suddenly reappeared. When questioned as to how lie had escaped execution, he replied good humoured!}':— "Like a soldier. Faced by a courtmartial, instead of uttering a lengthy plea, I put the following question to the chief justice, a general: 'lf you captured two Frenchmen in civilian clothes and you were certain that they had arrived by parachute behind the German lines with the purpose of spying and committing sabotage, would you, as a responsible officer, give orders for the execution of theso two men?'

"The general pronounced the courtmartial adjourned and withdrew. I heard him telephoning in the adjoining room, obviously asking for instructions. When lie came back, accompanied by all his assistants, he brought with him my acquittal—a cancellation by the general staff of the vder he had given for my execution."

After a pause. General Girnud added: "It is truly a miracle that I escaped the firing squad. I have often faced death, but never had I felt with such certainty that I had only a few minutes to live."