SPLENDID ALLIES

Wairarapa Times-Age, 10 April 1943, Page 4

SPLENDID ALLIES

FIGHTING FRENCH TROOPS FROM CHAD SEASONED DESERT VETERANS FIGHTING ALONGSIDE NEW ZEALANDERS. (Official War Correspondent, N.Z.E.F.) NEAR GABES, April 8. Among the forces under LieutenantGeneral Freyberg’s command for the left hook movement he led through the Tebaga gap was a Fighting French column under the distinguished French leader, General Leclerc. These men were part of the force General Leclerc led 2000 miles across the Sahara from Lake Chad to link up with the Eighth Army in southern Tripolitania. They are men so inured to the desert and its hardships that they have long since ceased to find them anything remarkable. Their chief anxiety is to get to grips with the enemy. This they have done with most satisfactory results to themselves and most unsatisfactory results for the Germans and Italians on several recent occasions. The majority of the rank and file of the French force are natives of Chad Province, very similar in appearance to the famous Senagalese coloured troops and possessing much of their militant fibre. The officers are invariably Frenchmen and also the majority of the n.c.o.’s. Officers and men alike wear the übiquitous battle dress, btit with the distinctive French kepi, in the case of officers, and a red headdress like a large fez in the case of the men. Many of the officers are generously bearded. This Fighting French force has a tremendous morale, which has been heightened by the successful operations in which they have engaged under General Freyberg. CLEARING THE ROUTE. When the New Zealanders and the British armour and artillery, comprising the force which was to breach the Tebaga Gap, left Medenine on March 12, and travelled to their assembly point in the desert near El Chemel, the Fighting French were already ahead and carried out two actions, first Kasar Rhilane, and then El Outid, which they cleared of the enemy on the route of our advan.ee. At Ksar Rhilane, the French were considerably assisted by R.A.F. low-flying aircraft which played havoc with the German's armoured forces opposing them, while at El Outid, New Zealand sappers assisted them in dealing with minefield obstructions after the French had successfully dislodged the enemy from gun positions. As General' Freyberg’s force moved up through Dahar, the Fighting French co-operated, providing a protective flank screen, and they continued this role after the break-through at the Tebaga Gap, and the advance on Gabes. During the fighting for the gap which began on March 21 and ended with the victorious thrust of March 26, the French operated in rough hilly country on the flanks, where they engaged in sharp brushes with Italians and Germans, capturing prisoners and equipment. Among the rough, arid gullies and jebels during this stage of the advance, they were operating in difficult country, possessing the advantage of carefully prepared positions. Their co-operating in this role was most valuable and played an important part in the success of the whole difficult operation. Many of the native soldiers forming the bulk of this French column had never seen the sea till they joined the Eighth Army in Tripolitania, and they were among the enthusiastic bathers when the pace of pursuit temporarily slackened and many men of the Eighth Army were able to visit beaches. Another section of the Fighting French in the Middle East is comprised of men drawn from the French colonies of Oceania, and particularly New Caledonia, where New Zealand troops are now stationed.