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MAGAZINE PAGE
The Fifth Column
3
Demoralisation Caused French Debacle
By Col. William J. Donovan and Edgar Mowrer..
The masterpiece of the "fifth column" was un- questionably the French debacle. Here everything that Hitler had promised came to pass with almost mathematical precision.
He did not strike until he was in touch with certain im- portant Frenchmen who were He ready to treat with him. needed but one swift blow.
He terrified the soldiers by his noise-making engines, he demoralised the officers by the surprise and power of his at...
the bewildered tacks, he generals by the daring of his conceptions, he strategic troubled the entire population by his radio propaganda that insisted that France was be- ing betrayed by Britain and by the French "war-mon- gers."
He spread horrible rumours through villages, issued fear- some reports by wireless, and then, when the populations had congested the roads in their flight, machine-gunned them to heighten their panic.
Meanwhile, his agents within France, presumably by clandestine wireless senders, kept him informed of what was going on and he could thus choose the precise mo- ment for Italy's entrance into the war when French disarray was at its climax.
As a result France was not only beaten far more thoroughly and far
more
' easily than Poland, but unlike Poland, France cracked mor- ally as well and a new set of leaders sought to purchase the German's, mercy, if not his respect, by submission to France's conquerors.
Admittedly this could not have been accomplished save during a low ebb in French history. The French masses were increasingly remember- ing the experiments of the Popular Front Government of 1936-37, the latter resentful of the attempted Fascist coup d'etat in 1934 and the un- punished "Cagoulard" Fascist conspiracy later.
Moreover, the peculiar French form of parliamentary government was creaking and the bulk of the people had lost nearly all faith in
their leaders. This enabled Hitler (and Mussolini as well) to keep up propaganda pressure,
the Com often through munists, and prevent the out- put in the armament indus- trics from ever reaching a Batisfactory level.
#
✩ * The crucial test justifled all Hitler's offorts: When the French soldiers had a chance of fighting on equal terms, they fought fairly well; when nothing but herolam could have made up for superior equipment, the German Fernch infantry, repeatedly deserted by their officers,
melted away.
What happened French officers? Simply this: For the most part they had
to
the
Third of a series of dispatches on “fifth column" activities in Europe as released by Secretary of Navy Frank Knox.
reased to believe in freedom, democracy
or any of the slogans which alone could galvanize the entire country.
While not exactly pro- Fascist (and certainly not pro-German), they were hos- tile to the Third Republic; many had come to believe that an authoritarian regime like that of Italy and Germany was really preferable. -
It would, they thought, save the position of the privileged classes; und really save France from the disagreenble necessity of defending itself. If there was to be a war, then let it be against the Bolshe- viks.
In other words, at least half and perhaps the majority of influential French citizens had come to believe what Hit- ler wanted them to believe.
ac-
How had Hitler. complished this? By patient activity. For years his agents in France, Friedrich Sieburg the author, Otto Abetz, "pro- French" consuls like Nolde, many others, had "worked" the French leaders.
When necessary they were assisted by beautiful women: The Baroness von Einem, the Princess von Hohenlohe and others of lesser brilliance,
They "got in" with certain of those leading French wo- men who, at the moment of defeat, exercised such a de- vastating influence on certain French statesmen. They went everywhere, saw everybody, to know everything, dipped into French politics through, scandalously venal French newspapers.
Came
To the weak and the cynical they preached defeatism; to the unsuccessful, hatred of the Jew; to all the possibility of living on good terms with France Germany, if only
would break relations with the Bolsheviks and "money- minded" Britain, cease med- dling in Central and Eastern Europe and propitiate the Italians by the gift of some "unimportant" French ter- ritories.
For years this sort of thing went on more or less in broad
the
ap- daylight. During peasement period the Ger- mans were actually aided by certain members of the Bri tish Embassy in Paris.
Not until two months be- fore the outbreak of the war did anyone dare to take action against the numerous German agents-and then-tho- vacil- lating Daladier talked big and
did little.ye Vent
A hesitant officer class brought about sure defeat for the army. The army's defeat frightened the army leaders lest the soldiers seek scape- goats. among the generals,
And a majority of cynical and cowardly politicians rushed their country into one of the most contemptible sur- renders on record. Just as Adolf Hitler had said they would..
What of Hitler's "fifth column" in Great Britain? Short of the supreme test, it is impossible to say for sure. What is evident is that during the appeasement period, the Germans spun a web of friendship for Nazi Germany among the more gullible or dissatisfied members of the ruling class.
It is obviously a triumph in so proud a country as Britain to have created even so weak a satellite as the British Union O! Fascists. Organisations like The Link, the Anglo-German Fellow- ship. the Christian Fellowship, duped any number of highly placed Englishmen.
✩
of
Female members of British society were induced to look kindly upon Hitler's aims by the flattering attention handsome young German aris- tocrats. British visitors to Germany never lacked con-. genial guides.
The fact that the British police found it necessary to arrest a nem- ber of parliament, Captain -Ram- say, on the charge of having tran smitted to the German-legation-al- Dublin
treasonable information
given him by Tyler Kent, cipher clerk at the American Embassy In
show
that London, would seem to Some of the many firely spun threads from Berlin to London still remain. One hears hints of a per- the sistent pro-Germanism" in London city.
But it must be stated emphatic- ally
that the vast majority of the British, unlike the French, under- went radical change of heart after it became apparent that Hitler had duped Chamberlain at Munich, oi- though there were still appeasers ready to try to bribe the Nazis to be good with a Hudson-Wohlthat plan for economie concessions to Germany.
Moreover, with British patriotism at the while heat of to-day under threat of imminent invasion, the fate of confessed "0th columnists" In Britain would be short and un- enviable.
This time the British police were
for the prepared
the war. At opening of hostilities they jailed some 400 of the best German agents. Later raids tended to show that the backbone of the organisa-
was broken then. The in voluntary confinement of over a thousad Britishers, mostly followers. of Mosley, further cleared the alr.
* M
ti
All in all, foreigners in Britain have the impression that the several branches of the competent British police are masters of the situation, and that the British soul was never really tainted by Nazi propaganda.
Everyone listens to Lord How Haw but his words arouse more laughter than belief. A nation that faces mortal peril with the grim joke: "Well, at least Britain has renched the finals!" seems sound.
be Nonetheless, many foreigners lleve that if the worst should hap-
and an
invasion of Britain occur, some positive and hitherto unrevealed fruita of Hitler's pro- paganda would appear in the shape of a not entirely insignificant Dri- tish "Afth column".
рел
This like the French, would and why Britain reasons numerous should rather "come to terms" with Hitler than continue single-handed a desperate struggle, the outcome. of which ta bound to contain some social change.
a. "Afth, column" could as in France come to supreme power is quite another story.
Whether such
FUNNY SIDE UP
By Abner Dean
WWW!
"Wrap up the price tag
City
•
if she likes that I'll come
back for the necklace!"
Is
No
Man's
Land For Invaders
"I BELIEVE that three months ago, 2,000 parachutists dropped in the open spaces round this city could have taken Edinburgh,” said a staff officer to me. “It's a very different story-
11
a
now.
Now It would take tremendous enemy force to capture the capital city of Scotland, if it could be cap- tured at all.
And the reason for this change of elrcumstances is simply the Home Guard.
There are several battalions of What them, nearly all Scots. could be more formidable than that?
Their city is ringed and ringed zagain
with strong posts, and its centre is peppered with pillboxes.
the contract for They Have camouflaging the pillboxes to an artist, a camouflage expert of the last war. He has done the job splendidly.
of
You notice, perhaps, a stretch: aling with some trees growing
1,
Not till you get close do you realise that the railing ond the trees are paint, and a gun- muzzle Jurks unobtrusively in the falinge
I myselt passed at least three large pillboxes without realising they were there until it would have been much too late.
The Attack
The
Its
But these things are only bones of Edinburgh's defence. flesh and blood are the Home Guard. And to see how well they do their job I spent an evening with one battalion on the south- west outskirts,
Parachutists were supposed to have dropped somewhere in the Lothians,
the hills that close majestically round the city. No- body knew how many parachutists, or just where they had dropped.
But the job of this battalion was to man its defences, hold off any attack, and, most important of all send in accurate information.
Digging In
Hero.
In this field, are middle aged men in shirt sleeves, digging themselves methodically In.
Plenty of time here, they tell me, the Bloche is away yonder in the hills yet, with quite a lot of litle surprises in between.
A
We drive rapidly through the outskirt ronds of the city. A man
rifle and a
materialise from hedge, recognise us, and sink into obscurity again.
An officer points out to me a line of rifles lying hidden along the edge of a potato field.
We swing round a corner, and
By DUDLEY BARKER
more rifles follow us from a bend In a ditch. We drew up beside a rough stone wall, and the armed guard is there, too.
"We've sent for reinforcements, sir," says a cheerful Scotsman at n massive road block. "You passed the molor-cyclist on the way down. "We've got a patrol out-the Boche is ahead there somewhere. And we cover all this valley' across to the next post yon."
Enomy Ahead
You can just see the next post, crouching behind a bush on the hillside on that side of the valley and if you push your way into a little ornamental garden on this, you stumble across a sandbagged circle, its rifles pointing away across the hills.
"We've got the little surprises nited sir," says the Scotsman cheerfully,
They showed me one of the little surprises. Obviously I may not describe it in detall
We are up now in the advance posts, and the parachutists cannot be far away. In fact, there are 60 of them ahead of us now-or there
were,
มล
UP
"Pity I can't send these rein- forcements up in cars," grumbles omcer in support. "We told the advance section they were being attacked by 50 parachutists, and naturally expected they would ask for help.
"But those lads wouldn't admit anything could beat them. They've sent back word they've mopped up all 50, and no help required-and God knows what else they're sup- posed to have done."
We found that section eventual- ly, having a lovely Ume.
They'd retired a bit, they ad mitted, because they'd just dealt with 60 Nazis and blown up a bridge to stop their advance, and suffered one casunity for whom they had sent back for stretcher bearera,
When asked how they had do- molished the bridge one volun- teered hopefully that they had done it with Milla bombs; another
they had guncotton. The
he staff officer smiled, made a Hittle note. The section, obviously, had been a bit too enthusiastic but that is what practices are for, to And out where the mistakes would be made.
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