TAKING SIDON

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23996, 20 June 1941, Page 7

TAKING SIDON

"VANGUARD" ACTION

SUCCESSFUL BLUFFING

THREE GRINNING AUSTRALIANS (Rood. 7.15 p.m.) JERUSALEM, June 19

A lighter story is told from Syria of how an Australian sergeantmajor, a sergeant and a corporal "captured" Sidon. These non-com-missioned officers formed an army of occupation four and a-half hours before Sidon officially capitulated, and accepted the surrender of the town while a tank battle was raging to the south. When the first British armoured columns broke through, they raced to tho headquarters of the Vichy forces and found three grinning Australians there with the French Staff under arrest, and the Vichy soldiers and officials lined up to welcome them. The sergeant-major said that he and his companions had been separated from the main body attacking the town from the east. When the noise of battle died down, he thought the attackers from the south must lie in the town, so lie decided to go in and meet them. However, some Lebanese told him that tho town had not yet surrendered. "As the battle flared up again," he said, "it was useless to try to get back, so wo decided to bluff it out. We made the Lebanese take us to their army headquarters, and 1 strode up to tho Senegalese sentries guarding the door and declared: 'The city has surrendered! Give up your arms!' Tho Senegalese meekly gave up their rifles, and I left the corporal to guard them and strode in with the sergeant.

"My revolver overawed the Vichy staff; they put up their hands, and I left the sergeant to watch over them while 1 went to the Town Hall and commanded the Mayor to summon his council. Ho did this, and led them to the headquarters, where we lined them up with the members of the military staff, and simply awaited the arrival of our troops."

DARLAN'S OFFER APPEAL TO FREE FRENCH (Rord. 0.40 p.m.) LONDON, June 10 The French Vice-Premier, Darlan, in a broadcast from Vichy, offered Free French soldiers in Syria an amnesty if they joined General Dent/., but declared officers would bo punished if they were caught. "I speak in the name of Marshal Petain," said Darlan. "You are engage*] in a battle against your brothers. 1 know you are courageous, but if you understood the history ol 1' ranee you would know our main task is to safeguard a united France under Marshal Petain." HEAVY AIR MAILS EXTRA SERVICE STARTED (Rord. (5.10 p.m.) BAT AVI A, June "> To cope with the huge quantities of air mail from New Zealand and Australia for troops fighting in Palestine Fgypt and Syria, the Royal Dutch Airlines to-dav started an extra weekly return service between Malaya an'' Palestine.