FRENCH COLUMN

New Zealand Herald, Volume 80, Issue 24555, 10 April 1943, Page 6

FRENCH COLUMN

MEN FROM LAKE CHAD VALUABLE ROLE PLAYED <NZEF Official War Correspondent) NEAR GABES, April 8 Among the forces under the command of Lieutenant-General Sir Bernard Freyberg, V.C., for the "left hook" movement he led through the Tabaga Gap was a Fighting French column under the distinguished French leader General Leclerc. These men are part of the force General Leclerc led for 2000 miles across the Sahara from Lake Chad to link up with the Eighth Army in southern Tripolitania. They are so inured to the desert and its hardships that they have long since ceased to find them remarkable. Their chief anxiety was to get to grips with the enemy, aud this they have done, on several occasions, with most satisfactory results for themselves I and most unsatisfactory for the Germans and Italians. Similar to Senegalese The majority of the rank and file of the French force are native's of Chad Province. They are very similar in appearance to the famous Senegalese coloured troops and possess much or their militant fibre. The officers are Frenchmen and so are the majority of the non-commissioned officers. Officers and men alike wear tne übiquitous battledress, but with a distinctive French kepi in the case of the officers and a red head-dress, like a large fez, in the caie of the men. Many of the officers are generously bearded.

This Fighting French force has tremendous morale, which has been heightened by the successful operations in which they have been engaged under General F rev berg. When the New Ze_alanders and British armour and artillery, comprising the force which was to breach the Tabaga Gap, left Medenine on March 12 and proceeded to their assembly point in the desert the Fighting French were already ahead and carried out two actions, first at Ksar Rhilane and then at El Outid, which were cleared of the enemy 011 the route of the New Zealanders' advance. As General Freyberg's force moved up the Fighting French co-operated, providing a protective flank screen, and continued this role after the breakthrough of the Tabaga Gap and the advance on Gabes. Sharp Brushes With Enemy During the fighting for the gap, which ended with the victorious thrust on March 26, the French operated in rough, hilly country on the flanks, where they were engaged in sharp brushes with Italians and Germans, capturing prisoners and equipment. They were operating in difficult country, the enemy possessing the advantage of carefully prepared positions. , The co-operation of the French was most valuable and played an important part in the success of the whole difficult operation. Another section of the Fighting French in the Middle East consists of men drawn from French colonies in Oceania and particularly New Caledonia. LOCAL AND GENERAL Plants Used for Dyeing Exhibits of wool coloured by the tis« of dyes from native and introduced plants are at present on display at the Auckland War Memorial Museum. The results of experiments made by Mrs. Pulleine Spencer, of Hamilton, they have been exhibited in several parts of the North Island. The plants used cover a wide range, but the principal ones are lichens and coprosma. Light Drizzle in City A light drizzle, with intermittent showers of rain, began to fall in the city 'ate yesterday afternoon and continued throughout the evening. Heavy rain on two days last week was followed by a predominantly dry weekend, and fine weather with bright sunshine has prevailed during this week. For the 24 hours ended at midnight, the Hkrald gauge registered .07in. of rain. Appeal Board Sitting The No. 1 (Auckland) Armed Forces Appeal Board yesterday heard about 25 appeals for the release from camp of soldiers who, it was considered, would be of more national use in their civil occupations. Indefinite release was recommended in all but a very few cases, in spite of strong Army opposition to some of them. An appeal by the Vita Shoe Company, Limited, against the release from their employ of Yvonne Caltaux, a cleaner and boxer, although supported by the secretary of the footwear utilisation committee. Mr. J. R. Elsbury, was dismissed. Parnell State Flats Workmen are busy demolishing a large two-storey house in Bedford Street, Parnell, to make room for the block of flats which the Government is erecting on land formerly vested in the Auckland Grammar School Board. The building, which was used as an apartment house, is the only one on the east side of the street, and has a small, but well-kept, garden. When the demolition began, it appeared to have many years of usefulness ahead of it. However, its disappearance will enable the linking of vacant sections on either side to form a continuous site for the new housing project. Boot Lace Production _ Figures showing the rate of production of boot and shoe laces tor the armed forces were given by an executive officer of Lynn Laces, Limited, at a sitting of the No. 1 (Auckland) Armed Forces Appeal Board yesterday, during the hearing of an appeal against the release from the company's employ of Mimi Eileen Wootten, a forewoman in the sorting department. His company made all the laces for the forces, the officer said, and the rate of production was now 5,000,000 pairs of laces a year. The appeal was adjourned sine die, in view of the fact that the woman was in charge of a staff of between 25 and 30. The Tripoli Times The Tripoli Times, a most enterprising and well-produced army newssheet, devoted its eleventh number, dated February 6, chiefly to a vivid account of Mr. Churchill's visit to the city and the victory march at which he took the salute. The paper, which is printed in English on one side and Italian 011 the other, shows hardly any traces of the grave difficulties under which it must have been produced. It is illustrated by several good blocks of Mr. Churchill and military leaders, and. carrying no advertisements. finds space for news from Russia and several paragraphs of other world * news. The publication is certainly a credit to its director. Captain W. M. J. Charlton.