851.5018/45: Telegram
The Chargé in France ( Matthews ) to the Secretary of State
[Received 5 p.m.]
650. My telegram No. 596, September 20, 5 p.m., and previous concerning foodstuffs. As of possible interest, I report the following information contained in recent letters from Consulates in unoccupied France.
Lyon: It would seem that German civilians on September 15, 1940, called upon the Mayor of Gannat (Allier) and presented a demand for 10,000 horses. Furthermore some 118,000 quintals of wheat have also been requisitioned at Moulins by the Germans.
Nice: 17,000 sheep from Algeria are reported as having been landed in Nice in early September of which 11,000 were routed to Italy. Final destination unknown. During the first week of September the Italian representatives functioning in the Maritime Alps are reported to have taken 125 cows out of a lot of (Vallée de la Tinée).
Marseille (Fullerton): I have been told by at least a dozen sources in Marseille that there is no question of the fact that large quantities of foodstuffs are being requisitioned and exported across the demarcation line. Potatoes have been bought up wholesale and even in the ground around Aix-en-Provence and elsewhere by German forces in [Page 551] uniform as well as by members of an Italian commission. Quantities of materials in the port of Marseille have been taken over in a similar manner and now it is reported that large numbers of cattle are being taken. Everything is of course being paid for.