Evening star., 1942-09-11
British Take ; Madagascar Ports;
Seized Papers Bare Hitler Order
To Occupy Sta|ingrad at Any Cost
Little Resistance
Is Encountered,
Churchill Says
By the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press.
LONDON, Sept. 11.-Britisf
forces, encountering but littl,
resistance and suffering small
losses, have captured the three
west coast ports on the French
island of Madagascar agains
which operations were started
yesterday, Prime Ministe el
Churchill informed the House o.
Commons today.
It was an all-empire undertaking
without participation of the Fight
ing French, British military COM
mentator said. This informant
placed the strength of the Vichy
garrison on the island at no more
than 10000 troops, mostly natives
with white officers and "a company
or two of white troops"
tReports to Vichy said defense
strength totaled about 1900 men
against an invasion force of two
divisions, some 10000 men, and
that little more than token re-
sistance was made)
Jap Planes Over Island.
Japanese reconnaissance planes
recently had been sighted over the
island, separated from the east
coast OF Africa by the bottleneck
Mozambique Channel, according to
the British commentator, who can
not otherwise be identified.
He surmised that they came from
an aircraft carrier since, he said, the
japanese have no air base within
reach of Madagascar.
Although negotiations had been
going on between British Foreign
Office representatives and the island
government for some time, a For
eign Office source said, 'it was ap-
parent that there could be no real
basis for negotiation so long as Axis
pressure on Vichy continued"
All Three Services in Action.
The captured ports were Ambanja,
l20 miles southwest of the British
held Diego Suarez naval base:
Majunga, 200 miles farther down
the coast, and Morondava, another
S70 miles south.
Besides the three ports, a British
communique announced, the Island
of Nosy-Be, lying on the sea ap-
proach to Ambanja, has been. cap
tured,
Moreover, British troops which
have. been in possession of Diego
Suarez, in the northern extremity
OF the island. were moving south
ward from that area.
The operation, in which all three
services co-operated, was carried out
precisely according to plan," Mr..
Churchill announced.
tFrench reports broadcast by
the Vichy radio acknowledged the
fall of Majunga and Morondava
and said British motorized
columns were advancing on
Tananarive, the inland capital
of Madagascar, and on Ant
sirane.)
Land, Sea, Air Units Used.
The British made the attacks with
the full approval of the United
States Government in an effort to
wrest complete control of the big
island from the Vichy government
and eliminate it as possible base
for Axis submarines and Axis
espionage agents athwart Allied
supply lines.
Mr.. Churchill opened his address
with a statement that the govern
ment recently decided to resume
operations in Madagascar and seize
the key points from which enemy
submarines might operate"
The town of Majunga sur
rendered during the course of the
day and operations against Moron
dava and Nosy-Be were also COM
pietely successful" he said.
"Majunga, Morondava and Nosy-
Be were assaulted in the early
hours of yeserday morning and cap
tufed with little opposition and
light casualties"
1S Warships OFF Maiunga.
Mr.. Churchill said British, South
African and East African troops
and South African air forces took
part in the assault operations.
Reports from Vichy said all three
ports had been heavily shelled and
that flotilla of 18 warships was
standing off Majunga in apparent
preparation for landing attempt.
Majunga is the largest port in
Madagascar and is the gateway tc
Tananarive, the inland capital. II
has a harbor capable of shelterine
q considerable naval force.
Ambanja is important strategi.
cally because it is situated on the
main highway running south from
Diego Suarez, while Morondava
virtually controls the southern enc
OF the straits of Mozambique. be.
tween Madagascar and the Eas
African coast.
There are no harbors of any con.
oN4oeASc o4i tiie east SlQe OF the
island
Almost as soon as Vichy an.
nounced yesterday that the British
navy and the Royal Air Force were
shel,ing and bombing the three Ike,
ports of Madagascar, it was disclosed
here that japanese submarines hac
put into remote coves to be supplied
tSee MADAGASCAR, Page Alb,