JOAN OF ARC

Hokitika Guardian, 27 December 1933, Page 8

JOAN OF ARC

modern version IN morocco

ENGLISH EADS NATIVES

With the surrender of Sheik Oils Skoumi, the fierce lkrber diehard, the french forces in Morocco completed their conquest of the Atlas Mountains region a few weeks ago. In the last desperate stand the tribesmen were led by an Englishwoman—the wife of Ous Skounti, who took over command when her husband was sorely wounded. Ringed with steel and lire on a few acres of rocky, barren tableland, and faced with the prospect of dying of thirst, the Amazon and her faithful warriors laid down their arms. Not even in the wildest flights of hction.is there a story comparable with the amazing career of this intrepid woman who was born in Staffordshire 38 years ago. The astonishing circumstances under which dhe became the bride of a desert chieftain are related by a correspondent of the “News of the World.” hr the course of the most desperate stage of' the fighting tfue Foreign Legion observers were amazed to see moving freely among the rebel tribesmen, and obviousy urging them on to fresh effort, a remarkably goodlooking woman of striking presence, with dark flashing eyes and jet-black hair. It transpired that the woman was the .former Miss Eileen Parsons, a native of West Bromwich, and the daughter of a merchant who has been in business in Morocco for some years. Her amazing translation from the quietude of a« Engisli home to the fierce battlefields of the desert provides a story more fantastic and romantic than any in fiction. Tnirtecn years ago Miss Parsons—then a girl of 23—was a member of a tourist party in the Sahara which fell into the bands of a raiding party of Bedouins. In turn, the Bedouins were attacked by a band of Berbers under Ous iSkounti end routed. The Berbers took the whole party of tourists to one of their strongholds in the Atlas Mountains with the idea of holding them for ransom. In the fight with till® Bedouins, Sheik i

Ous Skounti received a flesh wound,

and by the time the stronghold was reached life was in danger. Miss Parsons, who had received’ medical training, volunteered to nurse him, and when he recovered he showed bis gratitude by releasing all the captives. The English girl was invited to', spend some months as the guest-of fjhe tribe in the mountains, and she accepted.

Later Miss Parsons astounded her family and friends by anriouncing that she was completely captivated by the .life of. the desert people, arid that she had decided to accept anoffer of marriage from the sheik, who already had one wife. At the request of her family, "a missionary in the region interviewed her and pleaded that she should abandon her' idea. She refused, and in due course became the sheik’s second wife.

In a few years the English girl -rapidly gained ascendancy over ner nu-iodnd and his followers. shared tneifi life as nomads and raiders, and became expert in the use of the carbine. It is claimed that she took part in most of the fighting rifle Berbers had had with the French, Moroccan arid Spanish forces. In the recent operations sin*. is credited with the success scored by the tribesmen against the French airmen—that of bringing do.ru a machine in flames after piercing the petrol tank with a bullet.

Miss Parsons played a notable part I in the final drama. France was determined to extinguish once and for all ('lie turbulent elements in her vast North African possessions, and slowly but surely the armies of the Republic encircled the Berber tribes in their fastness. Overwhelming forces compelled the surrender of the main body of 3020 under their veteran chief, Ou Arlji. Hemmed in on every side and deprived of water by the systematic bombing of wells, they realised that resistance was hopeless. Sheik Ous Skounti was severely wounded, and his hand debated the* question of surrender. A council was held to settle the matter, and a native witch doctor, an aged widow claiming descent from the Prophet, advised the tribesmen to lay lown tbeir arms. The former Miss Parsons, however, was made or sterner stuff.. She spoke boldly in favour of resistance to the last, and when the majority sided with the witch doctor, the fearless Engli j'iwoman, with her wounded husband, their three children, and a handful of faithful warriors, retired to a barren, rocky tableland on Mount Badou, only a, few acres wide, to renew tbeir conflict with the invaders. The heroic band numbered only 110 fighting men, ' and soon, the Foreign Legion machine-guns and the famous 7o’s cut them off from their last water supply. Death by thirst was only a matter of hours, and as there were hundreds m women and children with them, Ous Skounti and his gallant wife bowed to the inevitable. They led tbeir followers through tfie French lines, and personally surrendered to General Giraud.