FLAG OF FREE FRANCE

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 29241, 11 October 1940, Page 5

FLAG OF FREE FRANCE

RAISED IN THE CAMEROONS WILD CHEERS FOR GENERAL DE GAULLE MAGNIFICENT EXAMPLE—UNITED FOR FREEDOM (United Press Assn.—Elec. Tel. Copyright) (Received October 11, 11.20 a.m.) LONDON, Oct. 10 General de Gaulle, visiting the French Cameroon?, landed at Duala from a gunboat which participated in the Dakar incident, and raised the Free French Standard for the first time in French territory. He embraced the Governor-General, M. Le Clerce, and reviewed the native and French troops of the Cameroons garrison. Crowds surged on the pier, wildly cheering General de Gaulle, who later received officials and native chieftains. Many had come from Senegal and the Ivory Coast to join General de Gaulle sympathisers. M. Le Clerce, in a speech, said: “There are no faint hearts here. The Cameroons are ready for all eventualities.” General de Gaulle replied: “ The Cameroons have set a magnificent example, which a number of colonies already have followed and others w ill follow soon.

FRENCH SOMALILAND NOT FACING STARVATION VICHY REPORTS DENIED (Offlclal Wireless) (Received Oct. 11, 11 a.m.) RUGBY, Qct. 10 There is no truth in a report emanating from Vichy that the French garrison at Jibouti is facing starvation in consequence of the holding up of a food ship by the British. Confirmation of the falsity of this report has been received from French Somaliland, where the French authorities flatly deny that the food situation is causing grave and imminent anxiety. PARIS STOCK EXCHANGE TO RE-OPEN NEXT WEEK (United Press Assn.—Elec. Tel. Copyright) (Received Oct. 11, 11 a.m.) LONDON, Oct. 10 The Lyons radio reported that the Paris Stock Exchange will reopen next week. FAILURE OF TALKS RUSSIA AND GERMANY NO TRADE IN BALKANS SUSPENSION OF SERVICES (United Prew Assn.—Elec. Tel. Copyright) LONDON, Oct. 1 »A despatch from Berlin reports the complete failure of RussianGerman talks concerning the pos- j sibility of Germany's continued j trade with the Baltic States—Latvia, i Lithuania and Estonia, now incor- | porated in the Soviet—says the Hel- j sinki correspondent of the Daily i Telegraph. Railway freight traffic between | Konigsberg, Riga and Kaunas has | consequently been suspended. Simi- i larly, maritime connections between the Baltic States and Germany’s Baltic ports have been suspended. COMMAND IN LIBYA COLONEL-GENERAL KEITEL CONTROL OF ITALIAN ARMY (United Press Asn.—Elec. Tel. Copyright) LONDON, Oct. 10 The Chief of Staff of the German High Command, Colonel-General Wilhelm Keitel, is reported to have gone to Libya to command the Italian armies, superseding Marshal Graziani, says the Cdiro correspondent of the Times. ROME, Oct. 10 It is officially stated that reports that Colonel-General Keitel is replacing Marshal Graziani are without foundation. SUBMARINE SUNK LOSS TO FRENCH NAVY RESCUE OF THE CREW (United press Assn. —Elec. Tel. Copyright) (Received Oct. 11, 11.30 a.m.) VICHY, Oct. 10 It is officially stated that the French submarine Ajax was sunk. The crew were landed at Sierra Leone. The Ajax recently was based at Dakar. The Treasury returns reveal that Britain’s war expenditure is £14,000,000 a day. Supply services, the Army, Air Force and the Navy absorb £11,000,000.

ONE A MINUTE FIRES STARTED BY BRITISH DEVASTATION ON CONTINENT GREAT SUCCESS OF RAIDS (Official Wireless) (Received Oct. 11, 11 a.m.) RUGBY, Oct. 10 A communique issued by the Air Ministry states: Royal Air Force bombers made daylight attacks on an oil plant at Hamburg, on barges and bridges at the canal junction at Anna Paulowna, on railway sidings near Warendorf and Hamburg, and the Texel aerodrome. A daylight attack was also made on shipping at Le Havre. One of our aircraft has not reported to the base. During Wednesday night our bombers, although hampered by severe weather, carried out attacks on widespread industrial military objectives in Germany and enemyoccupied territory. The industrial targets included an oil plant and munitions factory at Cologne, aluminium works a* Grevenbroich, Krupp works at Essen, and an electric power station at Reisholz. Railway communications and goods yards at Gremberg, Cologne, Konigshofen, Dusseldorf, Wesel and Brussels and several enemy aerodromes were also bombed, while the Channel ports from Amsterdam to Le Havre were again attacked." Aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm, operating with the Coastal Command, bombed shipping, naval quays and workshops at Brest. Hits were registered on enemy destroyers. One of our aircraft has not returned. Blenheims of the Coastal Command started fires at the rate of one per minute when they dropped three tons of heavy bombs in a brisk raid on Boulogne last night. Railway sidings and storehouses on the quay near Port de Maree were in flames. One pilot saw two black masses in the water, which looked like barges bow to stem near the quay, i They received the full weight of his j salvo and another blaze was started.

German Warships Bombed German destroyers in Brest harbour were bombed last night by an Albacore aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm. The Albacore had to face intense anti-aircraft fire, but the warships were methodically attacked with patterns of bombs laid across the harbour. Other salvoes damaged the jetties and buildings of the former French seaplane base.

CONSTANT HAMMERING GERMAN INVASION PORTS DEVASTATION BY FLIERS FIRES AND EXPLOSIONS (United Press Asn. —nec. Tel. CopyrigTit) LONDON, Oct. 9 A vivid impression of the conditions created m the German invasion ports by the constant hammering of the Royal Air Force is given in an account of the strange experience of a British aircraft on a recent occasion over Le Havre. After 40 minutes of concentrated attack on the harbour by Blenheims of the Coastal Command, fires which had been started during the previous night over most of the area were rekindled to double their strength. The dock became a cauldron—at least 13 separate and spreading fires following scores of explosions. One of these explosions was most remarkable. When a salvo of bombs burst on the target, the ground became sheeted with white flame. “Then something volcanic seemed to happen,” said one of the pilots. “The concussion could be felt like a giant’s kick, a mile and a-half high. At 8000 ft I thought my aircraft would upset. “We were in cloud at the time, but the sky around us suddenly became clear. The cloud, even at that height, had actually been blown away by the force of the explosion. The night became like day. I never saw such a fire before. Its brilliant reflection glowed in the clouds far above us.”