THEFT OF CRUISER

Wairarapa Times-Age, 17 May 1943, Page 3

THEFT OF CRUISER

ATTEMPTED BY SEAMEN AT MARTINIQUE PLAN THAT MISCARRIED. MESSAGE INTERCEPTED. (By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright) (Received This Day, 10.5 a.m.) NEW YORK, May 16. The story of how French sailors .almost succeeded in stealing the 6,500 ton cruiser Jeanne D’Arc from Admiral Robert is told by some of the sailors, who escaped from Martinique, says the “New York Times.” The plot began early in 1943. Individual 'conspirators never knew more than one or two other conspirators and messages came mysteriously. Eventually enough men became interested to form a crew and sail the ship to the nearest American port. On Good Friday the conspirators raided the ship’s stores and armed themselves with rifles. They prepared to capture the officers and take them shackled to an Allied port. At the last moment, however, the officers intercepted a conspirator's message and several men were immediately clapped in “the brig” (the ship’s prison). , Others escaped to a lonely part of the island, where they purchased a fishing boat in which, after a thirty hours' trip, they reached the British island of Dominica. From there they later came to New York, in order to join the De Gaullists.