FRENCH WARNED

Wairarapa Times-Age, 20 August 1942, Page 3

FRENCH WARNED

TO. AVOID COMPROMISING ACTION RAID NOT IN NATURE OF INVASION. DAY FOR COLLABORATION WILL COME. LONDON, August 19. The communique from Combined Operations headquarters this morning stated that the French people were being advised by wireless that the raid was not in the nature of an invasion. Watchers on the south coast of England have reported what they described as a constant procession of British aircraft going over, with the distant sound, of guns and bombs. “For hours now a cannonade has been going on with hardly a break,” said one observer. The vibrations shook windows and doors. An observer said he had never seen so many planes going out at one time. The first German version of the action, states that the British, with the aid of strong air and naval forces, carried out a landing on the French Channel coast with infantry and tanks, but met with stiff resistance, and several tanks were destroyed by German artillery. The 8.8. C. today, after asking the people of the Dieppe region to avoid action which might compromise their own security, added: “When the day comes to demand from the people of France their active collaboration we will tell you.”