740.0011 European War 1939/7074: Telegram
The Consul at Dakar (Wasson) to the Secretary of State
[Received December 11—3 a.m.]
95. Reference is made to the Department’s telegram No. 34, December 7, 6 p.m. No Germans have been in this city. The report may refer to a group of 19 German nationals from Liberia who left Abidjan by airplane November 28 and November 29 for Germany via Algiers. The Governor General stated that he had every reason to believe that no Germans would come to Dakar, but that he would [Page 631] inform me immediately should there be any change in policy. He expressed himself as optimistic regarding the situation in French Africa. There had not been any interference with French shipping for some time and it appeared that frozen credits in the United States would be unblocked for the payment of gasoline, coal and paper imports. The Governor General read me excerpts from a letter written by Marshal Pétain to General Weygand in which he stated that there was no question of giving Germany air bases or naval bases in Africa.
The Governor General said that he wished to repeat that the French forces in French West Africa would remain on the defensive as long as they were not attacked. I gathered the impression that the British colonies may be invaded should De Gaulle make any further moves in these parts.