GUERILLA WARFARE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 20 December 1943, Page 4

GUERILLA WARFARE

DEVELOPING IN FRANCE ON THE RUSSIAN MODEL The resistance movement in France is day by day taking on the character of guerilla warfare on the Russian model. Most recent reports speak of successful raids. Mules destined for the army of occupation were removed from one town in Haute-Savoie by a band of young Frenchmen. At Annecy, the leader of one of the bands marched boldly into the town to parley with the prefect, who dared not arrest him for fear of his men waiting not far away. Sabotage of railway lines has become, a speciality of the wandering bands. Civilians are made to do guard service along the track, but are little inclined to use their firearms against their compatriots who come suddenly sweeping down from the hills. The guards are bound and made powerless, which incidentally provides them with an excellent defence against the charge of connivance, while the tracks are being torn up, which is a less noisy way than dynamiting them. On one short space of line, seven times in a few days the raiders tore up the track. A military train conveying German soldiers from France to Italy, according to “La Suisse,” was attacked and fired on by a guerilla band on the Maurienne line, and German losses were heavy. Unfortunately, the brave French guerillas do not always have things their own way. At one point, where they courageously attacked a strong post held by some 300 enemy soldiers, the guerillas left two dead on the field, six wounded, and lost 23 prisoners. At another point, 18 prisoners were lost during a four-hour fight. Penalties for helping guerillas are severe, but it is not easy to: prove that food that falls from the back of a peasant’s cart has not tumbled out by accident, or that a field labourer who has left his lunch by a hedge has not done so accidentally.