A MISLEADING PICTURE

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 223, 17 June 1944, Page 6

A MISLEADING PICTURE

Some descriptions of conditions of life in Normandv, based on evidence discovered by the Allied troops who occupied Bayeux and coastal villages, seem to cast doubt on pre-invasion reports of the miserv endured by the French population, ft is much too early, however to form a reliable or balanced picture by this means.. Ihe invasion forces are holding only a fragment of France and it so happens that this fragment is in the heart of a rich rural producing district where, even under the most straitened national conditions certain types of foodstuffs may be in comparative local abundance, burtheimore the coastal districts have long been garrison areas for German troops, and no doubt local production has been encouraged, if not assisted, in order that the enemy occupiers might enjoy the benefit ot French peasant industry. . , ' ~,iiv The display of some hostility toward the Alhes.is apt to be equally misleading if taken as exemplifying the French spirit. . Ihe 1^P ortc incidents of this kind are insignificant by comparison with the tremendous upheaval of militant patriotism, which is occurring throughout France today. Inevitably the pro-German collaborationist will be found in every European community, .when it is reached and liberate bv the Allies. The existence and activities of such people have beei all too well known ever since Germany’s career of conquest began. To them the coming of our troops spells the end of n a * raitor , ous of life, and their chagrin and bitterness may well be understood, though it will evoke scant sympathy. The lot, m liberated French communities, of such women as elected, to accept, the fnendship enemy troops, will be particularly unenviable. It is therefoie hardly to be wondered at if some of them have been persuaded to throw away their lives as pathetic guerrilla allies of the Germans rdther than face the families and neighbours they have bettax cd.