Show P f I R W EA N NR R BE EN wN t Washington D. D C. C AN INSIDE STORY Here is the inside st story ry on what happened in all the fuss and furore over the Free French seizure of oC the two tiny North Atlantic islands of St. St Pierre The story illustrates a very important important important im im- im- im point That U. U S.-British S. foreign foreign foreign for for- closer together together together to to- eign policy has got to pull gether in the future and that state department officials might have thought twice about slapping British British British Brit Brit- ish policy in the f face face especially especially ata at ata a time when Winston Churchill was sitting in the White House working on plans for closer Anglo-American Anglo I co co tion I The crux of the situation was that the radio stations on these two French islands long have been suspected suspect suspected sus sus- d of giving information to Vichy Vichy and and then to Berlin Berlin on on British British British Brit Brit- ish convoys crossing the North Atlantic Atlantic At At- lantic also on Britain-bound Britain bombers bomb bomb- ers hopping off ofT from Newfoundland French fishing vessels from St. St Pierre-Miquelon Pierre cruise all over the Newfoundland banks and are in an excellent position to observe Allied activity in this vital part of the Atlantic At At- lantic More recently Nazi submarines submarines submarines rines have been prowling closer to U. U S. S shores and it was suspected they might be getting information information- or even supplies supplies from from the fishing vessels So the British gave the nod to General to move into the islands In fact they even let his associate associate associate as as- Vice Admiral take three French corvettes to do the job There was no great secret about it for Admiral Mu stopped in Canada to talk to Canadian Canadian Canadian Ca Ca- nadian Naval Minister Angus MacDonald MacDonald MacDonald Mac- Mac Donald and also picked up some American newspaper men to witness witness witness wit wit- ness the taking over of the two is- is lands Janas SO CALLED FREE FRENCH However on the morning Admiral placed the Free French flag on St. St Pierre-Miquelon Pierre Secretary Secretary Secretary Secre Secre- tary Hull getting the news at his breakfast table hurried to the state department and OKd a scathing statement castigating the so called Free French This upset the British considerably bly because they had been encouraging encouraging encouraging aging the French people to think of the Free French not as a so called government but as a government more truly free and representative of the French people than Vichy Also it upset the the Dutch the Greeks and a lot of other other other oth oth- er so called governments which have been maintaining headquarters in London and have been calling themselves the real governments of their countries even countries even though in exile However Secretary Hull HuU seemed to be even more upset than the Brit Brit- ish He had made a deal with Vichy's Admiral Robert in Martinique Martinique Martinique Marti Marti- a few days before by which Admiral Robert was to keep an eye on St. St Pierre And he felt this agreement should be kept So his Tennessee dander up Mr Hull cabled U U. U S. S Ambassador Winant in London to take up the matter with the British government Ambassador Winant in turn went to Malcolm MacDonald minister of colonies who was upset that the United States and Britain should be working at purposes cross-purposes and telephoned his friend Lord Beaverbrook Beaverbrook Beaverbrook Beaver- Beaver brook back in Washington to have Churchill straighten the matter out with Roosevelt By that time Sam Reber in the state department had telephoned R. R E. E Barclay of the British embassy wanting to know what the British were up to and every Anglo Ameri can co seemed to be in every other Anglo-American Anglo coordinators coordinator's coordinators coordinator's coordinators coordinator's co hair What the President said to his secretary of sta state te is their secret but in the end Mr Hull HuH adopted a milder tone toward the Free French I and is working out a compromise I agreement with the Canadians The crux of the controversy of course is that Mr Hull still believes believes be be- in appeasing Vichy and the British gave that up long ago The British say that General De- De did most of the fighting for the Allied cause in Syria while Vichy in resisting killed many Brit Brit- British British ish troops So they are going to stick with But t whichever side is right the right the British or Secretary Hull Hull it it might p pay ay t to o work out some teamwork in ir advance ROUND MERRY-GO-ROUND Lend-lease Lend officials were puzzled by a British request for horn and hoof meal manufactured from dead cattle until cattle until they learned it was excellent excellent excellent ex ex- for extinguishing incendiary bombs Most staggering lend-lease lend request was for one railroad railroad complete complete with locomotives and freight cars Th The e ed order has been filled d and shipped off to Iran Before buying cloth for arm army raincoats raincoats rain rain- coats the quartermaster depot in Philadelphia tests it with a machine that creates an artificial rain storm For military reasons details cant can't be revealed but the U U. U S S. S is producing producing pro pro- an anti air anti aircraft craft gun that is more powerful and deadly than an any now in in use in in the army The new weapon is designed to combat stratosphere stratosphere strat strat- bombers |