Evening star., 1940-11-12
Cleanup in Central Africa

Sleunup IN central Africa
The reported capture of Libreville,
capital and port of the French colony
of Gabon. by the Free French"
forces of General de Gaulle is in the
nature of cleanup" operation
from the military and political point
OF view. Gabon was the only section
OF French Equatorial Africa which
remained loyal to the Vichy govern
ment. The other portions of this
vast region, aggregating over a mil
lion square miles, had repudiated the
German-dominated Vichy regime
and had thrown in its lot with Brit
ain, Frances former ally.
This Solidifcation of De Gaulle's
authority completes the formation
of huge Central-African block en-
tirely under Free French" and Brit
iSh rule. South and east of French
Equatorial Africa is the vast colony
of Belgian Congo, which remained
loyal to Britain when Belgium
itself passed under German domina-
ton. To the west and north of
French Equatorial Africa lies the ex-
tensive block of British Nigeria,
while still further westward along
the Gulf of Guinea is the British
colony of Gold Coast, with only
thin strip of French territory inter-
vening. Indeed, there are still other
bits of British territory in West At
rica which might serve as nearby
bases for full-fledged campaign
against Dakar, the center of French
| power in that part of the continent.
The fall of Dakar would presumably
! spell the end of Vichy rule over all
/ French Africa south of the Sahara
| Desert.
That such a campaign is in pros
pect seems more than likely. Al
though London carefully explains
that British land forces took no part
in the fighting in Gabon, this new
stroke by De Gaulle means virtual
warfare in Central Africa between
Britain and the Vichy regime. In
deed, General Tenu, Governor Of
Gabon, in a message to Vichy, an
nounced that De Gaulle's Free
French" forces were being aided by
the British in a "full-fedged" war
against the French colony, and
added: do the British people know
that their ships, planes, bombs and
gold are being used by General de
Gaulle?"
These official bubbles, while per-
haps useful for the diplomatic rec
ord, cannot disguise the fact that
Britain is perfecting its hold over
West-Central Africa. This huge re-
gion links up directly with British
East Africa and the Anglo-Egyptian
Sudan, thereby forming solid
transcontinental block. Land COM
munication is hindered by wide
stretches of jungle and desert, but
air communication is important. In
deed, back door is hereby opened
for air raids on the hinterland Lydia,
| Italy's base for the current attack
on Egypt along the Mediterranean
coast
While the strategic stakes of these
operations are important, their eco
nomic significance is slight French
Equatorial Africa is mostly an unde-
veloped wilderness of tropical forest
and swamp. Even the native popu-
lation is relatively sparse, while the
number of white residents is very
small. In Gabon, for instance, they
do not exceed 1900, exclusive of white
officials and soldiers. Most of the
colonial forces in all these African
colonies are native troops. The fight
ing can be pictured as taking place
chiefly between blacks on both sides,
officered by whites. Those black SOL
diers are long-term professionals,
essentially rlercenaries who can have
little idea of what they are fighting
for. This is colonial warfare in the
traditional sense of the term. Local.
ly, it is struggle of minor impor-
tance. But its repercussions upon
Anglo French relations and the des-
tiny of the derelict French Empire
throughout the globe may be very
great.