WAR ON JAPAN

Wairarapa Times-Age, 28 April 1942, Page 4

WAR ON JAPAN

FREE FRENCH MOVEMENT JOINS IN. Without hesitation, the French National Committee immediately associated itself with the governments of Great Britain and the United States in declaring war on Japan, following the Japanese aggression.

Instructions were sent to Admiral Thierry d'Argenlieu, National Committee delegate in the Pacific, representative of Free France, to work in close collaboration with theVauthorities of Great Britain and its Dominions, the United States, and the Netherlands East Indies'. The National Committee furthermore made an appeal to the . whole civil and military population of IndoChina to resist Japanese aggression by every means at its disposal. In making known these decisions, the French National Committee in a communication from its headquarters in London stated: “In taking these decisions, the National Committee is certain that it is acting in the name of all France.

“In the past year a government of treason, in the power of the enemy, has allowed Japan to enter Indo-China, to occupy its ports and aerodromes, to confiscate all resources ' for its war needs, and to transform the whole country into a base of departure for its aggressions. In thus delivering up French territory the Vichy government has not only betrayed France but also the Allies of our country.”

In a broadcast on December 8 a Free French Forces announcer commented: “By the voice of Free France the voice of manackled France has made itself heard. Yesterday, December 7, the war became a world conflict. The two camps since yesterday face each other in their entirety on a field of battle vast as the planet.”

After enumerating the forces fighting for freedom and those fighting for aggression and the enslavement of peoples, the announcer added: “Between the two camps Vichy has not hesitated: Vichy has chosen the enemy camp. Between the two camps, Free France has not hesitated: Free France has chosen the camp of France.”