U.S. TROOPS IN LIBERIA

Marlborough Express, Volume LXXVI, Issue 246, 19 October 1942, Page 5

U.S. TROOPS IN LIBERIA

MOVE TO COUNTER DAKAR. P.A. Gable. LONDON, Oct. 17. United States troops have arrived in Liberia. A United States representative left Liberia yesterday after extensive discussions with President Rarclay. The subject of the discussions was not disclosed, but probably the German ConsulGeneral and his staff will be requested to leave Liberia. Other Germans were evacuated in a Vichy plane via the Ivory Coast some weeks ago. It is understood that Liberia will shortly announce her cooperation with the United Nations. A message from Monrovia states that the American force in Liberia is large. The R.A.F. have established a base at Monrovia for anti-U-boar patrols. A Berlin radio, quoting a French report, said the number of American troops landed in Liberia was estimated to be about one division. A Vichy admiralty communique says that an air battle oceurred over French West Afriea, in which the French naval ipilot, Captain Dailliere, of the Dakar air base, was killed. Unccnfirnied reports say he was shot down on a reconnaissance flight over the West African coast, south of Dakar in the direction of Freetown. Faris radio declared that all tlie information available pointed to the United Nations being on the eve of opening a second front in Afriea. The immense riches of the Belgian Ccngo were at stake, also the French North African colonial empire. General Smuts's visit to London, it said,

had some -bearing on the opening of the second front in Afriea. With a eoastline of about 350 miles, Liberia, the negro republic of Afriea, extends from Sierra Leone on the west to tlie Ivory Coast on the east. i Running inward, with a width in some places of 200 miles, the republic covers an area of about 43,000 sq. miles. Monrovia is the capital and chief port. The soil is fertile, the forests producing ebony, mahogany, teak, and other valuable woods. Gold, tin, copper, zinc, diamonds, and other minerals exist. The republic was eonstituted in 1847 as the result of efforts to settie freed slaves in Afriea, and its constitution is modelled on that of the United States of America. It was ari original memfoer of the League of Nations. The population is estimated at 1,000,000 to 1,500,000 including about 12, €00 American-Liberians v