Evening star., 1940-06-27
Gen. De Gau!Ie Find,
French Indo-China
Ready 10 Resist
Colonial Leaders Suid
To Be Determined
To Resist Invasion
By the Associated Press

To Resist Invasion
By the Associated Press
LONDON, June 27.-Gen. Charles
de Gaulle announced today he had
received definite information" from
French Indo- China that Gen.
Catroux, who was reported from
Bordeaux to have been replaced
as Governor there, would resist any
attempted invasion of this French
possession.
De Gaulle's headquarters here an
nounced the French National Com
mittee "had reason to believe" that
Gen. August Nogues, French COM
mander in chief in Northern
Africa, is taking "all necessary steps
for organizing resistance"
Aides Of Gen. De Gaulle have
been communicating with French
colonial and naval leaders to rally
the French to fight on against Ger
many and italy.
Attacks Petain.
Gen. De Gaulle bitterly attacked
Premier Petain last night for failure
to build a French mechanical force
and declared that France "can, and
will, be saved only by us here"
Branding the French German
armistice as "dishonorable," Gen. De
Gaulle, in French language broad
cast over the British Broadcasting
System, declared:
I'm order to obtain and to accept
such an act of enslavement there
was no need for you, Marshal Petain,
there was no need for the victor of
Verdun-any one would have done"
Replying to Marshal Petain's attack
on Gen. du Gaulle and the London
committee, the die-hard general de-
clared that 'in these hours of shame
and anger for the fatherland one
voice must answer you. That voice
will be mine.
France has been struck down,
not by the number of German
electives, not by their superior cour-
age, but by the enemy's mechanical
force, with all its offensive power
and maneuverability."
De Gaulle, who advocated mecha-
nization of the French Army long
before the war broke out last Sep
tember, declared all the combatants
realized the superiority of the Ger
man 'Panzer' forces.
Silent on Governor Changes.
London sources as we'll as the De
Gaulle headquarters were officially
silent on the implications of the
replacement Of the Governors Gen.
eral of French Indo-China and
Madagascar.
Of1-the-record comment of reli-
able sources was that 1t was real
lied here that Premier Marshal
Petain of France must try to remove
those who will not cooperate with
the armistice terms France has
signed with Italy and Germany.
However, 1t was pointed out, the
effectiveness of such moves depends
on how such officers react to orders
from Bordeaux and whether they
decide to recognize some other
French authority.
De Gaulle's attitude toward the
Bordeaux government is that 1T
is doing the best 1t can under the
circumstances" but that there are
hundreds of thousands of French
men who want to carry on the
fight.
The feeling in London was that
the Petain government probably
would seek to deal with the COVER
nors of French possessions as it
was reported to have done in the
case of some navy commanders-
through replacement wherever pos
sible of officers unsympathetic with
the armistice terms by men who
would obey orders from Bordeaux.
Works at Top Speed.
De Gaulle, with growing staff of
fellow offlcers-mainly veterans of
Abbeville and Dunkerque-was
working at top speed in headquar-
tiers opposite the British Parliament.
The effort was on these lines:
Ito organize volunteer French
Legion with the "sizable" forces
still in Britain from the Norway and
Flanders campaigns as a nucleus.
All Frenchmen of land or sea forces
who escaped German capture could
join.
2-To set up French center for
armament and scientific research,
an effort which headquarters said
had brought terrific" response.
3-To establish a non-political,
fully representative French ma
tional committee as a body to CO.
ordinate French policy.
Aides of Gen. de Gaulle said
actual enrolment of volunteers was
awaiting the completion of arrange
ments for equipment and billeting.
This likely will take several days
longer.
llf HL