FREE FRANCE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24421, 5 October 1940, Page 11

FREE FRANCE

MOVEMENT SPREADING POSITION AT DAKAR PEOPLE FAVOURABLE MANY ARRESTS MADE (United Press Association) (By Electric Tilegrapn—Copyright) LONDON, Oct. 3. (Received Oct. 4, at 10 p.m.) General de Gaulle's headquarters states: " News received from French West Africa shows that, in spite of the attitude of. the local authorities in Dakar, the Free French movement increases in power every day. To counteract any movement by the Dakar population, who are determined that the Germans shall not take the port, and are alarmed by the attitude of the local authorities, machine guns have been stationed in buildings, and the Governor-Gen-eral has dismissed the Dakar Municipality. " Owing to fear of hostile demonstrations, the funeral services for the victims of last week's incidents were held, not in the cathedral, but on board the cruiser Georges Leygues. A court-martial has been set up and is sitting permanently. Many arrests have been made. " These facts clearly indicate that the population is favourable to General de Gaulle, who is regarded more and more as the only possible saviour of the French Empire" Story of Attempted Landing Captain G. Thierry d'Argenlieu, who is a priest in peace time, led the'party of General de Gaulle's supporters who attempted to land at Dakar last week. When the Vichy supporters fired on the. party Captain d'Argenlieu, who was seriously wounded in the thigh, stood in a boat with blood streaming across his white uniform, under a hail of machine gun bullets, and directed the withdrawal until the last of his party was withdrawn. An eye-witness of the Dakar action said two boats shoved off from the French destroyer Savorgnan de Brazza six miles off the port of Dakar. The first contained unarmed former French deputies in full dress colonial uniform, and the second was manned by non-commissioned officers and sailors, similarly unarmed. A young. ensign and a lieutenant, after first refusing, permitted the party to land. Other Dakar officials telephoned the Governor-General for instructions. He flatly refused to receive the delegation, and ordered the party to sea. Captain d'Argenlieu then asked: " What if we refuse? " The reply was: "You will be arrested " Then an orderly rushed up with a written order commanding the arrest of the entire party. Captain d'Argenlieu shouted a quick warning to his officers and leaped into the boat. As they pulled away from the quay an ensign'boarded a small trawler and ordered machine guns to be trained on the party. A-mo-mentary hesitation on the part of the gun crews enabled the boats to reach the outer limits of the harbour. There they met a murderous fire from the harbour moles. Captain d'Argenlieu was wounded immediately, but halted his boat and awaited the second, which was slower. FRENCH MOROCCO BRITISH SUBJECTS ARRESTED LONDON, Oct. 4. (Received Oct. 4, at 11.30 p.m.) The Tangier correspondent of The Times says 20 British subjects were arrested in French Morocco, including the manager and senior members of the staff of the British West Africa Bank. Leading business men were also arrested. The only, explanation of this selection is the Italian and German desire to remove British trade influence. A German economic mission has arrived at Casablanca to exploit Morocco's resources for. the Axis.