851R.20/48
The Consul General at Algiers (Cole) to the Secretary of State
[Received December 10.]
Sir: I have the honor to report as follows on the visit of the Minister of National Defense Admiral Darlan to Algeria.
The Admiral had been unofficially at Algiers for some days even before leaving for Dakar. He came in advance of his schedule to be with his son who is inspector here for an insurance company and fell seriously ill with infantile paralysis. He arrived at Dakar on October 21, 1942, and on October 27 returned to Oran where he reviewed the troops in the morning and in the afternoon paid the customary visit to Mers-el-Kebir. On landing at the airport of Oran he was met by the Governor General of Algeria, M. Yves C. Chatel. General Juin, Commander in Chief of the Army in North Africa accompanied him throughout his tour. After the ceremony at Mers-el-Kebir the Admiral gave an address to the Officers of the armed forces, almost certainly in the same terms as the addresses which he gave at Algiers later.
At 10.00 A.M. on October 28, 1942, Admiral Darlan landed at Algiers airport from his private plane, a Glenn Martin, and after the usual official greetings went at once to the residence of General Juin, his headquarters during his official stay. He lunched at the Summer Palace with the Governor General and afterwards went to [Page 427] the Winter Palace where he received first the Commanding Officers of the armed forces in Tunisia and the Department of Constantine and afterwards the officers of the armed forces who happened to be at Algiers. According to the Press Report Admiral Darlan said:
“The Army of Africa has the task of defending this Empire and must be ready to fulfil it at any moment.”
Then the Admiral asked the officers to help him to restore the Army to the place it should have within the Nation and continued:
“You must always bear in mind that your action serves as an example and that it consists in discipline and a devotion of body and soul. Thus you will be the unflinching supporters of the Marshal45 in his desire to reconstruct the nation.”
On October 29 the Admiral held a review of the troops in the morning and in the afternoon inspected the coastal defenses. After the review it was noticed that he left as soon as possible for the military hospital where his son was undergoing treatment. Early on the morning of October 30 he left by airplane for Vichy where he arrived at 8.30 A.M. His early departure was the cause of much speculation but so far as can be learned here had no other motive than to arrange the transfer of his son to Paris for special treatment at the Pasteur Institute.
According to the press his reception was very enthusiastic. The Dépêche Algérienne says: “All along the streets a great crowd gave a warm reception to the Admiral and the inhabitants displayed their enthusiasm by repeated and sustained cheers.”
Such is, apart from the necessary interpolations, the official account of the visits, but for the information of the Department there are certain omissions and corrections to be added.
The first unofficial arrival of the Admiral at Algiers was made on the airplane which brought the German General Van Vogl46 President of the Armistice Commission at Wiesbaden on an inspection trip of his own and was surrounded by the greatest secrecy. The various officials in the secret assembled at the airport at 4 P.M. and only after two false alarms did the high officials finally arrive at 10 P.M. The German General is said to have arrived to compose serious differences between the German and the Italian members of the Armistice Commission.
Lately the Italians have become much more aggressive in their demands because Algiers itself is recognised as a sphere of Italian domination and because they claim overriding privileges with regard to requisitioning based on the fact that their troops in North Africa outnumber the Germans many times. Among the claims [Page 428] put in are those for several large ships now anchored for refuge in Algiers harbor, French coastal vessels which have already been taken over, 30,000 tons of wheat, and last but not least, the whole of the crop of oats estimated at 160,000 tons, excepting the needs for next years’ sowing. At this point the Germans intervened with the result that the whole of the crop of oats has been blocked pending a decision. It may be imagined therefore that the Wiesbaden President and the Admiral had need of a conversation, but the revelation that they had traveled in company had a disastrous effect on that section of the population which learnt of it and which was precisely that which might have been amenable to the Admiral’s oratory.
It was a disastrous beginning and added to the cold reception which was given to the Admiral on his public appearances. Even the Press which on this occasion and in these times habitually prates of the huge crowds delirious with enthusiasm, had to tune down its description. In reality, as the result of actual observation it was far worse. The review ground was well filled by persons who had come to see the troops and applauded them, but for the Admiral himself there was no applause apart from that of school children carefully massed in front and the scattered vivats of a few men clearly stationed there for the purpose but who failed to elicit any response.
The address to the officers based on the theme: “It was the Nation, not the Army which was beaten in 1940” was obviously meant to raise the self-respect of the Army and to give it confidence and the will to resist any aggression. It was particularly remarked that there was no direct mention or even an insinuation against either Great Britain or the United States. Those present got the idea that the Admiral had envolved [evolved?] considerably from his former standpoint. Some even drew the conclusion that the Admiral was now anti-German.
The address to certain Algerian notables and magnates of local industry was different. They were convened by special and individual invitation. Addressing them, the Admiral said that he came as the messenger of Marshal Pétain that he had adjured them to resist to the last any attempt at Anglo-American aggression which would be an attempt at conquest and not liberation, as they might suppose. The notables, not being bound by military discipline, inquired as to the means of resistance and how the defense of Algeria could be made with the help of a single division, admittingly highly trained, but possessing only 30 machine guns. France should provide the equipment. The Admiral stuck to and labored his point, but was forced to admit that the means were deficient, that France could give nothing, and that the Germans although warned to the [Page 429] consequences, had flatly refused to supply anything. Their answer was that it was not their business, it was up to France to solve the difficulty.
A similar response was made by General Juin who was taken to task concerning the inadequacy of the coastal defences. The General declared that he had a long coastline to defend and that apart from a shortage of arms and ammunition he could not expend in advance the few rolls of barbed wire which were all he had in stock.
The visit of the Admiral has stimulated the zeal of the militarist section of the Legion of Combattants or rather of the P.S.F. section (La Rocque)47 which is opposed to the P.P.F. or Doriot48 factions. But 70 percent of the membership is compulsory and the compulsory adherents are its most bitter enemies. Otherwise the visit must be written down a failure for the sufficient reason that the Admiral despite a carefully maintained photogenic smile, utterly fails to influence the masses. Weygand had prestige, the Admiral none at all.
Respectfully yours,