851D.01/3: Telegram
The Ambassador in the United Kingdom (Kennedy) to the Secretary of State
[Received 5:40 p.m.]
3001. General de Gaulle left London secretly a day or two ago for a destination outside the British Isles. Admiral Muselier, who has been in charge of the French naval and air forces here, is at the head of the “Free French” organization in De Gaulle’s absence.
The Admiral today requested a member of my staff to call upon him urgently and stated that he wished to advise our Government “officially” as to what was happening or contemplated in French Guiana. He read a telegram stated to have been received from his agent at Cayenne through British Guiana dated August 22. The gist of it was that the Governor and the very small military force in French Guiana were wavering, that most of the civil servants favored the Vichy government but that the population, presumably the white population, was adverse to the Vichy government and prepared to announce adhesion to “Free France”. The telegram stated that the dispatch to Cayenne of one Free French vessel would clinch the matter.
Admiral Muselier emphasized repeatedly that he and General de Gaulle wished to do nothing which might displease us and that they wished to avoid the possibility of naval action between Frenchmen anywhere, particularly in our neutrality zone. They had, therefore, decided not to send a vessel. He was most anxious to ascertain, however, whether the terms of the agreement reached with Admiral Robert at Martinique62 precluded the possibility of any “Vichy” ships there going to French Guiana. I would appreciate any information on this point which I might properly give him.
He stated that he had just received information that two emissaries of the Vichy government, Revoil, former Governor of Algeria, and Carde, apparently a former Governor of French West Africa, had left Lisbon a week or 10 days ago by clipper en route to French Guiana. He said that he was therefore forced to act before they arrived.
He read a telegram which he said that he was sending immediately to his agent in Cayenne instructing him to act at once if possible in agreement with the Governor but in any event to seize control of the colony to arrest Revoil and Carde upon their arrival and to intern immediately all German and Italian men of military age.
He stated that he believed internal action in a French colony as distinct from naval action in the neutrality zone would not be objectionable to us. He stated that the instructions he was about to send merely [Page 503] put the finishing touch on a long prepared plan and that it would be necessary for him to send them in any event. He nevertheless wished us to be fully informed in advance and hoped that we would have no objection. He was advised that I naturally could not express either approval or disapproval of such action but that you would be immediately advised.
He also wished us to know that Indochina was prepared to join “Free France” but that he and De Gaulle were withholding action until they were reasonably confident that the colony could be held against the Japanese. He believed that the Japanese could not spare more than 50,000 men for an attack and that the forces now in the colony were sufficient to hold it if they could be adequately supplied. He said that the Chinese Government had offered 500,000 men should the Japanese attack Indochina but that De Gaulle had declined the offer as he did not wish a Chinese army to enter the colony. The main difficulty was aviation gasoline and he was endeavoring to persuade the British to permit its transport from Burma.