Toledo union journal. [volume] (Toledo, Ohio) 1942-current, 1943-06-18
By ]. c. Fernando Laurent

StQplQlly tltat ANoS
French fleet last November, and
the arms and munitions at the
great naval base of Toulon,
know the story, because was in
Toulon.
Admiral De Laborde, the French
French commander, had received
no recent instructions from Vichy.
The only orders in his possession
were those dating from the arm
istice, commanding him to resist
all aggression from whatever
source, and to sabotage the fleet
rather than surrender 1t.
These orders never had been
countermanded. Preparations for
sabotage had been made. On the
morning of November 27, Vichy,
in the name of Marshall Petain
and as ordered from Berlin, tried
to rescind this order by telephone
from Vichy to Toulon.
The new instructions authorized
surrender Of the fleet to the Ger
mans. But the telephone was not
functioning.
Why not? The truth is simple.
Germans Cut Wires to Isolate.
The German commanders at Tou-
Ion, having completed encircle-
ment Of the place and not wishing
to be disturbed in carrying out
their intentions, cut every tele-
phone wire on the night Of the
26th, and jammed all radio trans
mission in order to isolate the
naval base from the rest of
France-including Vichy. 1t is for
this reason alone that Vichy's |
orders to surrender the fleet never
arrived-until too late to save the
ships for Germany.
Here was Justice: self-adminis-
tered!
Many accounts have been pub
lished concerning what happened
at Toulon and why it happened: |
Most of the accounts, have con-
tanned mistakes. This article, I
believe, is the first true story of |
the heroic end Of the major part |
Of the French navy.
On November 27 ] was near
Toulon at the home Of a member
IF our underground movement. |
We were awakened little before
seven in the morning by the crash !
of explosions.
Germans Filter In At Night.
During the night, the German
troops had filtered through the
sleeping city. They encountered
no one. The French sailors were
aboard their ships, the infantry
and the SenegaJese were in the ar
senal, the forts and the easements.
The Germans hesitated, losing
precious time.
After a while, two columns
formed, one heading toward the
arsenal, the other toward the
docks. Soon the Nazis were throw
ing themselves into every boat
they could find, crowding upon
pontoons they had brought with
them. Suddenly a gun doomed
from the flagship.
Gun Signal Booms. .
II was the signal-the order to
sabotage all ships, to destroy port
installations, to spike the guns of
the coastal batteries. Aboard the
70 vessels moored or anchored in
the harbor, commanders were at
their posts. They gave the pre-
arranged orders. Soon the old
dock, the water front, the harbor
and the roadstead-the anchorage
where Frances proud ships had
lived-were no more than GEM
eteries.
Fresh explosions came from the
arsenal. Machines and workshops
in the factories were being de-
stroyed. To the south, flames and
clouds Of smoke from burning am
munition dumps rose high. All
around the base, from the Saron
TO Cape Brun, there were new ex-
plosions. Mortars, huge rifles,
shells in vast quantity--all were
destroyed. Frances most power
full naval base, the work Of 20
years, was mass of smoking
wreckage.
Blind with rage, the Germans
stormed the arsenal, killed the
sentinels and forced open the
heavy gates. They were too late.
There was hand-to-hand fighting
in the workshops between Nazi
soldiers and French workers,
many of whom were killed or
wounded.
Tn their rage the invaders then
turned against the cadet school,
surrounded the youngsters and by
weight of numbers manaeled them,
thrust them into trucks and
rushed them to a concentration
camp. Several times along the
route, crowds tried to free the
lads.
First reports after the tragedy
said that crews had gone down
with their ships. This was not SO.
The truth was simpler but no less
fine: Officers and sailors, to a
man, having done their work of
destruction, remained at their
posts TO the last moment, and
then in perfect order abandoned
their ships and reached shore.
A number Of both officers and
/