Evening star., 1945-08-04
(TUeltth in q SerieS.)
BY PAUL REYNAUD,
War Premier Of France.

North American Newspaper Alliance.
On June IL, the Supreme Council
of the Allies met at Gen. Maxine
Weygand's general headquarters in
the Chateausdu Muguet, near Briare
on the Loire.
Weygand explained that at the
moment all his forces were engaged; :;
not a single battalion was available
in reserve. During the past "A
hours the German offensive had
extended to the Aisne front. Our
armies, fighting at odds of one TO
three, had had to make some with
dlawals Our men were fighting by
day and marching by night; they
fell asleep in their new positions
as soon as they got there
Churchill said he hoped the Ger
mans would attack the United
Kingdom, as this would lead to a
stabilization of the French front. He
announced that a Canadian di-
vision was landing that night, bring
ing to four the total of British di-
visions in France Another division
would land about June 20. If the
French Army could hold on for a
year, he said. from 20 to Is British
divisions would be available.
35 Divisions Lost.
Gen. Alphonse Georges, COM
mander IN chief in northeastern
France, then reported that as a re-
suit of the battle of Belgium, the
northeastern armies had lost at least
IS divisions out of l03, plus the
three light motorized divisions and
good portion of the armored di-
visions-the best elements of the
Franco British troops. The entry
of Italy into the war, he went on,
had forced us to send a number OF
fighter squadrons to the southeast
ern front at a moment when our
total fighter force was reduced to
some ITO or 180 planes, with very
tired pilots
Churchill said that lust after
Dunkirk, extreme confusion reigned
in our air units, but this has now
almost ceased The British home
air force has intervened almost
daily with from six to eight fighter
flights that refueled in France
Weygand spoke up: I'VE are now
living the last quarter of an hour.
There is nothing to show whether
we shall be able to win If the
territory of metropolitan France is
occupied, one may we'll ask how
France could go on with the war"
Weygand Interrupted.
I interrupted him to point out
that the problem of continuing the
war is political and comes within
the province of governmental deci-
SionS."
Churchill having inquired whether
some sort of guerrilla warfare might
not be possible in France if organ
lied resistance became impossible,
Marshal Petain remarked that this
would mean "the destruction of the
country"
Churchill then declared: Great
Britain refuses to abandon the con-
test unless utterly crushed. If the
French Army is obliged to stop
fighting, England will carry on in
the hope that Hitler will be ruined
by his very victories. With its air
force and its fleet, the British
Empire can last out for years, and
can impose upon Europe the most
cfripoept of bIock deS
What, in such an eventuality,
would happen to the French feet?
We are driven to ask such night
mare question.
But in any case, England will
not lay down her arms. England
has the mastery of the sea. Her
empire, like the French empire, is
intact ="
On the 18th, I arrived at the
Chateau de Cange, temporary resi-
dence of the President of the re-
public, to which the cabinet had
been summoned. Gen. Weygand
again asserted that the government
must ask for an armistice.
Addressing both Petain and Wey-