The Waterbury Democrat., 1942-11-27
Big Battleship Among French Fleet Destroyed
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the town and harbor now were firmly in the hands of our troops.
 Announced By Radio
 First news of the Nazi action was given to the French public in a broadcast by Radio Vichy at 2:l5 D. m. t8:15 a. m. EWT) in which a letter by Adolph Hitler to Marsha! Henri Philippe Petain explaining the Axis action was read.
 Radio vichy called on the public to remain calm and said further announcements would be made later.
 The Germans ordered the imme- diate demobilization of the French fleet and simultaneously Hitler or dered ePtain to demobilize the re- maining units of the French army.
 Hitler declared in his letter 10 Petain that he had ordered the occupation of Toulon to prevent the ships from leaving and said he had ordered his troops to destroy the craft, is necessary and to break every resistance with the greatest force"
 Complete Capture Doubted
 Spokesmen of the fighting French organization heer doubted that the Germans had actually succeeded in taking over the entire Toulon base so rapidly or that they had won immediate control of seaworthy parts of the fleet.
 They pointed out that the war slips normally are anchored some distance fro mthe shore.
 They said. however, they were not aware of any Allied plans, such as described by the Germans, for the escape of French warships to join up with the Allies.
 In his letter to Petain, Hitler de- nied that Germany had any designs on the French fleet or that he had asked France to hand it over.
 These assertions" said Hitler. "are pure inventions and continu- ouS lies by British or American quarters.
 The French people could live in peace except for sacrifices inflicted by tehir allies in arids by sea and air"
 Prisoners Released
 He asserted the Germans had re- leased 100000 French war prisoners and insisted that if the release of prisoners had been halted it was only because in your country insur- gent elements always managed to sabotage real cooperation.
 He insisted that he had never made any demands impinging on French nation honor and again re- hearsed his familiar theories for the orgi Of the war.
 T know that you, Herr Marshal. had no part in this instigating of the war" Hitler said
 Part Scuttled
 However, the Nazi command ad- mitted that part of the French fleet scuttled itself despite the orders of the French government"
 The communique repeated that resistance at isolated places" was encountered by the German troops when they started their march into the naval base last night.
 The German communique attrib- uted the resistance to Anglo Saxon influence"
 However, it insisted that the ef- forts of the French to resist were nipped in the bud" and that tht occupation was carried out in a few hours.
 The town and harbor of Toulor have been firmly in the hands o1 our troops since early this morning, the Nazi high command said.
 Italian troops as well as Germans marched into the French naval base city, the communique said, asserting that the taking over of the fleet had been agreed upon by both Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini.
 The Germans said they acted tC prevent the French warships from steaming out to sea.
 Fleet Was Going to Sea
 The Germans said that French commanders had completed plans tc take their ships into the Mediter' ranean to join the Allies. The oc' cupation of Toulon was designed tc thwart this plan which was attrib' uted to Allied influence and sym pathizers of Gen. Charles DeGaulle
 The French fleet now is being de mobilized, the Nazi high command said.
 ] "The demobilization of unstable