Evening star., 1944-08-25
|Moquis' Control of Roads
Bio F actor in Allied Drive

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actions from the hills, but are Or
ganized in battalions in an efficient
military setup and holding their
own territory as an army.
The extent to which they are able
to operate openly and in a routine
manner is astonishing From head
quarters we visited a Maquis COM
mand which was in contact with
their men, not only in the territory
occupied by us but also in the
places strongly held by the Ger
mans-as at Valence.
Proud of Work.
This is good indication OF the
extent to which the Maquis have
been able to restrict the German
sphere of effective operation in this
area.
We visited an area where sew
eral Maquis groups occupied farm
houses two miles from the nearest
German billets. They entertained
us at an excellent lunch on a
board table beneath the trees and
talked with modest pride of what
they had been doing.
Except for Qpe excursion on
which they blew up bridge at Liv-
ron, their recent activity had been
pretty well confined to doing all
possible damage to German trafnc
along the Rhone east bank high
way, lifeblood artery to the Mar
Seille area
This had been a very routine sort
Of morning. They had blown up
a truck carrying about 80 German
soldiers and a staff car carrying
six German officers.
Hide in Ditch.
They did this by lying in a ditch
by the roadside, standing up sud-
denly as the vehicles approached,
and hurting Cannon grenades at
them. They were very amused by
the UNDERSTANDABLE wary attitude
OF Germans along the road. They
said the truck they blew up had two
guards on the tenders and three on
top Of the cab, each armed with a
submachine gun and each keeping
his eyes glued suspiciously on the
roadside.
The end came so suddenly that
the guards just kept on looking up
until the moment the grenade
struck.
Today, of course, is a festive day
for these men, as the first American
elements from the south are mov-
ing into their territory-long before
they were expected. Fiercely de-
lighted by the arrival of their new
Allies, they are eager to attack i'm
mediately all German strong points
in the area.
They are tough bunch. Some
are Is years old and some so, but
they all have a look in their eyes
which tells you they know how to
use the outlandish assortment of
weapons they carry.
Get U. S. Materiels.
These weapons have been sup
piled the Maquis over q long period
of time. I was told that roughly
equal portions have been received
from the United States, Britain and
the Algiers government. In addi-
ton, they have received ammunition
and explosives, shoes and some food.
They haven't received clothing and
most of them are in rags.
Their attitude toward the Ger
mans can be summed up in one
Word-hatred. This is not surpris-
ing. Despite an attempt to estab-
lish the military status of these men
by labelling them French Forces Of
the Interior, the Germans regard
them as Franc Tireurs.
There's no such thing as a Maqui
becoming a prisoner of war. If cap
tured they are tortured for informa-
ton and then shot. There is incon-
testable evidence that in many cases
captused Maquis have been disgust
ingly mutilated.
Men of the Maquis say frankly
they took little humanitarian in
terest in the Germans who fell into
their hands. They laughingly guess
they'll have to play according to the
rules now that the Americans are
here. ...-..
Believe in Themselves.
These men cannot be said to have
a persecution or inferiority complex
with regard to the enemy. One boy
who probably didn't have to shave
more than once a week patted his
gun and said to me, ''The Germans
call us terrorists. Down in the VII
lagos they always tell the people
that the terrorists are no good
that they do not like the terrorists.
They are afraid of us. We are the
terrorists.' And he blushed with
boyish pride.
The way he said it I got the i'm
preston the beardless boy was talk
ing to the Germans and not to me.
He and his friends seemed to me
nice bunch Of fellows particularly
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