The Admiral Explains Himself

Nearly everybody else had already had his say on Admiral Jean Franc,ois Darlan, when last week the Admiral decided to have a say for himself. He took great pains to repair his reputation. At the exotic Palais d'Ete in Algiers he received correspondents individually and en masse. The Admiral was wearing sharkskin civvies with a white shirt, a brown polka-dot tie and black shoes. His grey-green eyes peered brightly through his horn-rimmed spectacles. Tiny veins threaded his florid cheeks. His grey hair was trimmed close. He sat behind a glass-topped work table in a dusky room hung with maps of Europe and Africa. Said he:

"In 1940 I believed an Axis victory was possible. In 1941 I believed no victory could be achieved by either side. But for several months now I have been convinced that Germany would lose."

"Petain and I." In his new state of conviction, Admiral Darlan, granting that he had once publicly espoused collaboration with Hitler, said: "When I made that statement I was using the word 'collaboration' in the sense that Marshal Petain used it--namely, 'economic collaboration.' Owing to the German occupation of France, no other policy was open to us. For, if we had refused such collaboration, all the workers of France would have been put out of their jobs and left to starve. Petain and I never favored anything but economic collaboration, and then only under conditions then prevailing. But in military matters both Petain and I absolutely refused to collaborate at all times."

Admiral Darlan claimed no direct credit for scuttling the French Fleet at Toulon; he did not pretend in this interview that he had ever thought of handing it to the Allies before they entered North Africa. Said he: "After the Armistice the Fleet had orders to scuttle their ships before allowing them to fall into alien hands. So long as I was in command, the order stood and was renewed from time to time. The current Laval government opposed that order. Therefore it was probably the Admiral [Jean de Laborde] commanding the Fleet at Toulon who issued the order to sink the ships." Admiral Darlan agreed with British authorities (TIME, Dec. 14) that the scuttling had immobilized most of the Toulon fleet.

Could the Germans ever persuade French sailors to take any salvaged ships into combat against the Allies? Snapped Darlan: "Definitely not!"

"Give the Weapons." Last fortnight the official Radio Morocco proclaimed Admiral Darlan "Chief of State in French Africa." Last week, using the more modest title of High Commissioner, he said: "The people of North Africa feel that America will liberate them from the Germans. They believe the coming of the Americans will mean a happier life for them. Our armed forces are anxious to fight against the Germans again. But they do not want to fight under conditions that prevailed in 1940. They need tanks, planes and modern equipment. It would be in the best interests of the United Nations to give the weapons President Roosevelt said he would deliver.

"There is no question that the French Army and Navy are anxious to wage war again on the side of the United Nations--on one condition."

The Admiral paused. He evidently had in mind General Charles de Gaulle and the Fighting French--who had not imposed conditions. The Admiral's condition apparently was that the French must fight under "recognized leadership"--meaning himself. Said he: "French soldiers never like to be considered dissidents. They will follow me because I am a man whom Marshal Petain appointed to take his place. That is the only reason French West Africa came into the new entente under my authority."

Admiral Darlan confirmed the hunch that U.S. Admiral William Daniel Leahy had a good deal to do with the African campaign. As long as a year ago, said Darlan, he and Admiral Leahy--then Ambassador to Vichy, now President Roosevelt's personal Chief of Staff--discussed U.S. intervention in Europe and its effect on the French. Admiral Darlan said that if the U.S. had then had 500,000 equipped troops available in Europe, "we could have acted differently."

Darlan was asked how he and the Americans were getting along, now that the situation had changed. The Admiral beamed and said: "Every day I want to congratulate myself on all my relations with all United States authorities here."

"For My Personal Ambition." Admiral Darlan said that he was lightening Vichy restrictions on Jews in French Africa and freeing men imprisoned "because of sympathy to the Allies" (a phrase which did not necessarily cover the thousands who were imprisoned in North Africa because they fought for Loyalist Spain). But the statement that most interested the world concerned Admiral Darlan himself. Said he:

"I have stated emphatically and repeatedly to Commander in Chief General Eisenhower that in leading North and West Africa . . . into the ranks of the United Nations I seek no assistance or support for my personal ambition. My sole purpose is to save French Africa, help to free France and then retire into private life with the hope that future leaders of France may be selected by the French people themselves and by no one else."

With the approval of President Roosevelt, the White House issued this statement to the U.S. press.

"I Eagerly Wish." To A.P.'s Correspondent Wes Gallagher, Darlan issued a supplementary statement. Gallagher had put his questions in writing:

Would the French warships at Dakar and Alexandria (the battleships Richelieu and Lorraine, seven cruisers, six destroyers, ten submarines) be used against the Axis?

Darlan: "Definitely, yes."

What about General de Gaulle and the Fighting French?

Darlan: "I, for the present time, have no statement to make on the subject, but I eagerly wish that all Frenchmen who wish to fight the Axis will do it in close union."

Pledge and Promise. Up to this week, President Roosevelt had not amended what he said Nov. 17: "I thoroughly understand and approve the feeling in the U.S. and Great Britain and among all the other United Nations that . . . no permanent arrangement should be made with Admiral Darlan . . . The present temporary arrangement in North Africa is only a temporary expedient, justified solely by the stress of battle."

When the stress of battle was over (as it showed no sign of being last week) it would be seen whether the temporary expedient could be canceled out.* Then, perhaps, it would also be seen whether, in the Admiral's words, the French people could choose their future leaders.

* With all the signs of permanency, High Commissioner Darlan last week set up a Government including three Secretariats (Economic, Political and Foreign Affairs).

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