"Big Three" of France

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23381, 24 June 1939, Page 3 (Supplement)

"Big Three" of France

It is the confidence General Gamelin has in his own powers—a confidence born of deep learning and tested elficioncy as a man of action—and in France's military machine, which leads the French to trust him so implicitly. During Munich Crisis Gamelin's favourite phrase is: "1 am a philosopher." He never loses his head. "There is a silver lining to the dark cloud" is the translation of a colloquial French expression with which he replied to the pessimistic remark of a French politician on a recent occasion. Another remark he frequently makes is: ''Never worry about a situation. The situation is unaffected by your worries." No man wa.s more calm than Gamelin during the Munich crisis. In those critical days there were many visitors to his office 011 the first floor of the Boulevard des Jnvalides. headquarters of the Supreme War Council. The equipment of this office, a large room in Empire style, reflects Gamelin's precise and logical mind. There is no superfluous furniture. 011 a stand is a bust of Napoleon. Two paintings on the walls show scenes at the capture of Gertruydenhurg (179 M) and the IJattle of Mouscron (1794). Photographs of great French military chiefs—Joffre, Koch, Petain and We.vgand—complete the mural decorations. Frontier Maps The chairs are upholstered in grey velvet. In the right-hand corner of the room is General Gamelin's desk. He always keeps, it clear of papers. Two telephones, and a few works of reference in a small cabinet, are the only things on the desk. 111 the centre of the room we see a long, green baize-covered table. Generally the baize is hidden beneath a huge folder of maps. On a stand, opening in their oak frames like the leaves of a book, are more huge maps, showing France in sections, with separate maps for the Channel to Mediterranean

FRANCE'S war machine is in the hands of three key men. They are General Marie Gustave Gamelin, Chief of the General Staff and Vice-President of the Supreme War Council, Admiral Darlan, Commander in Chief of the Forces, and General Vuilletoin, Chief of the Air Force.

The French arc a notably critical race. What gi.ves them such confidence in this sturdy, reddish-haired, steel.veyed commander? Let us first of all detail the qualities demanded of a Supreme War Chief. To some extent they are those demanded of any man holding an important post in national life. Such leaders must be good organisers, energetic, have a

''Of these three, the outstanding figure in France to-day is General. Gamelin. His prestige in France ec iuals that enjoyed by Lord Kitchener in Britain at the outbreak the Great War. To quote Gener3l Gamelin in any military argument among our controversy-loving j-rench cousins is to clinch the debate. "Gamelin a dit ca!"—there is appeal.

capacity for detail without losing sight of tho picture as a whole, be .judges oi: men, combine firmness with human understanding and be equal to any foreseeable emergency. General Gamelin has all these finalities and is. in addition, a brilliant strategist. What makes Gamelin truly great, however, is that he combines the intellectual insight of a philosopher with the silent efficiency of the man of action.

They Command Fighting Services That Grow Stronger Every Day INTIMATE STUDIES OF ARMY, NAVY AND AIR CHIEFS By HARRY GREGSON —(Copyright Reserved)

frontier and, a recent addition, the Pyrenean frontier. Those in close contact with General Gamelin in September know that if war had broken out, it would have found him ready. In the meantime he paced calmly up and down in his office, occasionally seating himself to issue commands for immediate despatch to the various divisional headquarters, or summoning a few intimate collaborators to give them instructions. But for the additional activity there was nothing in the behaviour of this imperturbable, soldier to show that momentous decisions were being taken. Knowledge Plus Character General Gamelin had, indeed, known greater' emergencies. In 1914 his suggestion for the creation of a new French Army, ready to fall on the right flank of the menacing grey hordes of General von Kluck, played a decisive role in the victory of the Ma rue. Again, in J 925, he was responsible for hastilycominandecred taxicabs and private cars of Beyrouth transporting a French army into the desert and relieving, at the last minute, the sorel.v-tried garrison at Baehaya during the Druse rebellion. General Gamelin has learned in the hard school of experience. A divisional commander during the later stages of the Great War, the sight of this calm, sturdy soldier in the trenches restored, many a time, the confidence of his troops. And mentions in despatches bear testimony to hjs tenacity and skill. General Gamelin believes in knowing his subordinates. "Knowledge without character makes a bad officer" is one of his maxims. His ability to judge a man at first glance is uncanny. Yet behind the keen glance of his grey eyes is a very human man. A soldier, whose few leisure hours are. taken up with the study of philosophy and the history of mankind, could not be otherwise. If Gamplin had not been a soldier, he would have been a great scientist. It is due to this Combination of logic and erudition —a combination which is found more frequently among groat men* of France than in those of anv other country—that General Gamelin has carried so successfully for the past eight years the burdens of his high office.

: I?ovale in Paris, or the bridge of a battleship at sea. This nervous energy is the outward ' expression of an active and logical brain. Admiral Darlan switches from the subject occupying his mind to n matter of the moment with startling rapidity. His clear, grey eyes in the weather-beaten face light up, he snaps out two or three precise orders; then begins again his pacing up and down. He returns at once to thinking out the weightier and I ess urgent problem demanding solution. Admiral Darlan has the temperament, of the Gascon Province in south-west France where he was born. He is lighthearted and optimistic, never happier than when he is in action. Although he is so fond of the sea that he never stays in Paris longer than his duties necessitate and has his country bouse built 011 the cliffs at Saint-Malo. Darlan volunteered as a lieutenant in 1914 for service with the army, bemuse, to use his own words, "tilings are going to move more quickly on land." He was given command of a naval battery 011 the Meuse; 1915 found him in Alsace, 1916 at Salonika and Verdun. and on July 11, 1918. h e was cited in Army Orders as a "First-class*officer, possessing in the highest degree the qualities of a leader." In the Far East After the Armistice, Darlan took over the Rhine flotilla. In 19120 he was Commander in Chief of the Far Eastern Squadron—his third period of service in those waters since 1904—and he returned to Paris in 1926 to serve as Chef de Cabinet to M. Georges Levgues, then Minister of Marine. "Here we ha\;e a future Supreme Commander," one of his (superiors wrote of him at that time. The prophecy was justified. After more service in the Mediterranean, he was, at the age of 48, made a rear-admiral in that important command, and earned high praise for the manoeuvres he carried out with the Light Cruiser Squadron. Admiral Darlan, who assumed his present post in 19.'i6, is a man of extraordinary vitality. "A man of audacious initiative who gets the best out of his men and material," is one mention made of his war services. Of such a man it is to he expected that he finds continued spells at his desk in the vast study in the Hue T? ovale irksome. AN around him are reminders of the sea—a photograph of the Atlantic Fleet entering Brest, the Tricolour given hini by the crew of the Colbert, models of ships new and old. Lightning Tour He enjoys most of the periodical tours which are one of his main duties in times of peace. 111 1928, while Chef do Cabinet, he had one of his recurring attacks of yearning for the sea and left Paris to roam the oceans in the •Jeanne-d'Arc, He deserted the polished mahogany furniture of his study during the September crisis to make a lightning tour of France's main naval ports and to inspect the Mediterranean Fleet—a tour which took him to Tunisia and Morocco as well.

Athletic Admiral No Frencliman disputes the estimate of General Gamelin's character made in an official mention after his Levant campaign: "General Gamelin is a soldier whoso military talents are equal to any emergency." A very different type of man is Admiral Francois Darlan, Commander in Chief of the French Navy. Of medium height, quick in decision and energetic, Admiral Darlan enjoys a crisis and does with zest what General Gamelin does as a matter of duty. He is the typical, roving sailor, with a heavy-bowled pipe almost permanently clenched between his teeth. He is nearly always walking, with quick, restless steps. One sees his athletic figure, his grey hair showing beneath his dark blue cap, pacing the boulein the neighbourhood of-the T?ue

French naval ratings know him as a man who docs not consider it beneath the dignity of an admiral's rank to inquire personally into their welfare. The Supreme War Council knows him as: "The perfect type of commander, an excellent seaman with a thorough mastery of his profession, equally proficient at the council table and in action." First Airman Every morning at 9 o'clock there enters the magnificent modern building of the French Air Ministry on the Boulevard Victor, Paris, a sturdy, square-jawed man, dressed in mufti, but wearing 011 his breast the.insignia of the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour. In a special lift he is whirled rapidly to a spacious, light office on the fifth floor. From its windows can be seen the airport of Issy-les-Moulineaux. The 56-year-old veteran, whose brow is invariably furrowed, is General Vuillemin, First Airman of France and, for the last 16 months, Chief of the Air Force and Vice-President of the Conseil superieur de I'Air. With the French Air Force still in course of reorganisation, 110 man has had a heavier burden to bear than General Vuillemin. But the satisfied smile, illuminating the grim face, with i which he remarks to his assistant, Captain Potitjean-ltoget, at the end of the morning's work: "Now we are getting

things going," is an indication of his character. Vuillemin is as tenacious as a bulldog. Labour troubles, lack of equipment, lack of finance —be has experienced and surmounted all these difficulties in bringing France's Air Force up to date. His courage is that of the AngloSaxon type rather than the Latin. Mentioned in despatches scores of times, we find dogged persistence, not impetuous dash, in his exploits. Here are some of them: "From March 27 to May 27, dropped 132 tons of projectiles; from May 29 to July 1, 191 tons of projectiles; since JulV; 15, 147 tons." This was in 1918. Again: "Has been in action continuously since August 1 in every phase of the battle. Unlimited courage. Until the last moments of the war he never ceased pursuing the enemy and spreading disorder in their ranks." Single-handed Battle But Vuillemin is also the hero of a hundred daring exploits. By June 9, 1916, he had fought 40 air battles. On June 18 in the same year he battled single-handed with five German Alba-tross'-machines —a spectacle which so aroused the enthusiasm of the watching Zouaves that they sem; to headquarters a request that he be decorated. And when the war was over there was 110 rest for him. He blazed many

| of the trails marked in red on the maps ill "his office —1919, first flight to Asia Minor; 1920, first crossing of the Sahara, Algiers-Dakar; 1922, ParisBucharest in a day. His outstanding teat was "to lead-30 warplanes, without the slightest casualty, through 15,000 miles of desert in 1933. It set the seal on his previous exploits and marked him out for • the highest posts in the French Air Force. Throughout his labours at the Air Ministry and liis tours of inspection, Vuillemin is dominated bv one thought —to make the French Air Force so strong that it will maintain peace by taking away any desire France's enemies may nave to attack her. An ex-war pilot, he detests war. His greatest enjoyment he finds with Mme. Vuillemin and his two children in their villa near Ro.van. His family has recently been increased by a third child —an adopted refugee. Sometimes the whole family get into their tourist aeroplane anii General Vuillemin flies them off to their little maisonette in Southern Algeria for a vacation. Gainelin the scientist, Darlan the audacious, and Vuillemin the tenacious —these three men will hold the fate of France in their hands in time of war. And not the least of them is modest Vuillemin who is raising a mighty air fleet, without publicity, to reinforce the striking power of France's Army and Navy.