Rommel's army cut in two and Darlan answers questions

Rommel's army cut in two and Darlan answers questions

Article 1. Headlines: Rommel's army cut in two, armoured forces trapped, heavy casualties in efforts to break out, constant allied air attacks. Article 2. Headlines: Darlan answers questions, French navy to join allies, desire for unity. Mentions French fleet at Dakar, Alexandria and North African ports would join American and British fleets to fight the Axis. Darlan offered no comment on whether he would recognise de Gaulle represented any part of France.

1942-12-18

Two newspaper cuttings mounted on a scrapbook page

This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.

SValentineJRM1251404v10044

THE TIMES FRIDAY DECEMBER 18 1942

ROMMEL’S ARMY CUT IN TWO

ARMOURED FORCES TRAPPED

HEAVY AXIS CASUALTIES IN EFFORTS TO BREAK OUT

CONSTANT ALLIED AIR ATACKS

Advanced forces of the Eighth Army have cut Rommel’s retreating columns in two at Wadi Matratin, some 50 to 60 miles beyond El Agheila.

Enemy troops east of this area include armoured formations, which have already been severely mauled in their efforts to break out.

In a raid lasting over eight hours the canal linking Tunis and La Goulette has been partly blocked.

DARLAN ANSWERS QUESTIONS

“FRENCH NAVY TO JOIN ALLIES”

DESIRE FOR UNITY

NEW YORK, Dec. 17. – Admiral Darlan, in a statement to a correspondent of the Associated Press of America, said that units of the French fleet at Dakar, Alexandria, and North African ports would join the British and American fleets and fight the Axis.

Asked if he would recognize General de Gaulle’s French National Committee as representing any part of France, Darlan replied: “For the present I have no statement to make on the subject, but I eagerly wish that all Frenchmen who are able to fight the Axis will do it in close union.”

Darlan made these answers in written replies to questions by the correspondent. In answer to the query “Do you plan to use the French fleet against the Axis?” he wrote “Yes, definitely.” Other replies given by Darlan were:-

Do you plan any coalition with other French movements so as to present a united French front to the enemy? – My only scheme is to work in complete agreement with Britain and the United States and their allies to contribute to the greatest extent to the war effort.

Is it your intention to hold North Africa in trust for Marshal Pétain? In other words, is the Imperial Council headed by you a permanent Government, or do you intend to step aside for Marshal Pétain when France is free again? – I consider the part of the High Commissioner [Darlan] is to represent French interests as long as France is unable freely to express her opinion – that is to say, to give herself the Government she chooses.

Darlan added: “So long as the allies were not ready to help France to resume the struggle I tried, sad and resigned, to prevent France from dying under the German heel. When the hour so much desired had struck I acted, as the man who was to take Pétain’s place, and tried to muster to the side of the allies all Frenchmen still able to fight.” – [italics] Reuter [/italics].