"Over by Christmas." The Liberation of Saint Pierre and Miquelon

[SIZE=+2]"Over by Christmas."[/SIZE]
[SIZE=+1]The Liberation of Saint Pierre and Miquelon[/SIZE]
by Richard Doody

St. PierreWorld War Two
Saint Pierre and Miquelon mobilized with the rest of the French Empire in September, 1939. The colony contributed 550 soldiers and sailors to the doomed cause. Twenty seven of them never returned. Enthusiasm for the conflict was not entirely universal. The Popular Front’s policies had not been very popular with the islanders, especially among those in the colony’s business and clerical elite.
Though no fighting took place on the islands, the June, 1940 armistice left St. Pierre and Miquelon in a most precarious situation. Its nearest neighbor, Newfoundland, was under the rule of a British controlled commission and Britain supported de Gaulle. Canada and the neutral United States recognized Vichy as the legitimate government of France but froze French assets. The entire Atlantic coast of metropolitan France was occupied by Germany. The population of the colony soared as the French Admiralty ordered fishing trawlers and their crews to remain in St. Pierre. The islands were incapable of sustaining agriculture and with no foreign exchange to pay for imported goods, famine became an imminent possibility. Finally, Canada and the United States agreed to release $80,000 a month in frozen assets to provide relief for St. Pierre and Miquelon.
There was strong sympathy for General de Gaulle, especially among the veterans of the Great War but the Vichy administrator’s control of relief funds provided him with great leverage over expressions of public opinion.
June 22, 1940 - December, 1941
A cache of secret telegrams from the islands Administrator, Baron Gilbert de Bournat to the Minister of Colonies in Vichy provides a glimpse of life in St. Pierre and Miquelon under the collaborationist Petain regime. The messages are so sensitive that the drafts, recovered by Free French investigators after the liberation, found in the Baron’s own handwriting rather than his secretary’s. A few samples...
"Your telegram 37 of March 7. First, all persons named in your telegram are effectively considered as having been active or passive partisans of the de Gaullist movement; plus a large part of the local population, with almost complete unanimity of the crews of the metropolitan fishing vessels that have sojourned in St. Pierre during the second semester."
"In view of the special situation of the colony, surrounded by British territories, with its sole maritime connections assured by British vessels, with all its supplies originating in British or Anglo-Saxon territories, deprived since the armistice of all information and saturated with British or de Gaullist propaganda, the misleading of many appeared to me excusable. Therefore, besides several severe reprimands, I decided it more politic to apply myself to the transferring of Guillot, several dismissals of local auxiliary functionaries old enough (to be retired) and the cancellation of the veterinary le Bolloch." The Guillot referred to is apparently Emile Guillot the chief magistrate of the islands.
The Administrator often writes of , "British pressure to rally to the British or de Gaullist causes." The British, he notes, had sent a representative of the Government of Newfoundland to offer supplies, means of communication and financial assistance in exchange for the fishing trawlers anchored at St. Pierre. "For three days, I opposed courtesy and firmness to the interested party." Vichy responds by dispatching the sloop Ville d’Ys to St. Pierre with orders to fire on any British ship coming within 20 miles of the islands.
Attempts to supply the colony from the continent come to a halt de Bournat reports on the subsequent crisis. "July 12, 1940 - Food situation is critical and worsening steadily because of depletion of stocks and continuous arrival, on the order of the Admiralty, of metropolitan fishing vessels, which will end by increasing by 50% the local population of the principal city and by increasing by 200% the male population between the ages of 16 and 50. In order to prevent panic I must intervene to restrict withdrawals from the banks and from government savings bank accounts. ... I must keep the local shops open for propaganda purposes in order to smooth out all difficulties and (prevent) immediate rally to Great Britain and de Gaulle. Population getting nervous. A strict observation of regulations would inevitably result in rebellion. In my opinion everything must be attempted to prevent it."
"September 8, 1940 - Several hundred French seamen and a few local persons discontented over a gendarmarie arrest caused trouble to the cries of ‘Vive de Gaulle." It seems a policeman enter a local café a few minutes after the 8 p.m. curfew, picked up a patron’s glass to smell for alcohol, got the drink thrown in his face. Another patron tossed his drink at the cop and shouted, "smell this too". The gendarme was then bodily throw out into the street where he landed on his face. A crowd gathered to protest the arrests that followed and was broken up with fire hoses.
"September 14, 1940 - Meeting of the Societe des Anciens Combattants drafts address expressing admiration for de Gaulle. Measure is approved almost unanimously."
"September 18, 1940 - President of the Anciens Combattants solicits authorization to post up the address of admiration voted four days previously. I refuse and attempt to show him the error of the society’s ways."
"September 28, 1940 - Conforming to an order received, I leave St. Pierre for Washington to receive secret instructions..."
"October 14, 1940 - I arrived at St. Pierre after twenty seven particularly bad hours spent on the open sea in foul weather...I soon realized that, during my absence, propaganda had made considerable progress, using all means, notably pamphlets, posters and inscriptions, all anonymous. At this time, no mail has arrived from France for four months, during which British and de Gaullist propaganda weighs heavily on the colony and infiltrates from mouth to mouth through foreign newspapers that arrive illegally, through letters from British suppliers who threaten to seize shipments to the colony if it does not become dissident, through British radio, through American radio - French radio being virtually inaudible during this period."
"A word of mouth campaign is started with a view to demanding from the administrator a plebiscite. If he refuses, it will be done in spite of him."
"October 24, 1940 - I learn that the war veterans will hold a meeting this evening and decide on a plebiscite by an imposing majority. With a view to counteracting their maneuver , I inform them late that Comrade de Bournat, anxious to speak to his comrades, will be present at the meeting. ...Hall is half full and surrounded outside by young local people and metropolitans who cry, ‘Vive de Gaulle’. Beginning of meeting difficult because I spoke my mind immediately and crudely concerning certain methods. Finally, calm is re-established and the veterans listen to me for nearly two hours, during which I renew my affirmation that I would personally oppose a plebiscite of any kind."
"During succeeding days all the partisans of dissidence criticize my intervention, but I realize that it has had an influence beyond all my hopes."
"Today it can be affirmed that it was decisive in the history of the local movement. Hereafter, the administrator will be doubly respected."
"November 1, 1940 - In conformity with instructions received, gunboat Ville d’Ys leaves St. Pierre."
"This departure, immediately interpreted as an abandoning of the colony by France, gives new hope to the dissidents, who secretly decide to take advantage of November 11 to make imposing manifestation, get rid of me and proclaim, a rallying to de Gaulle. I am informed of this during evening of November 8."
"Atmosphere becomes charged. Rare are those who dare still support me openly. However, on the one hand, I shall find precious backing from a few of them, including my chief of cabinet, and on the other hand my personal prestige remains intact because although cries of ‘Vive de Gaulle’ are heard almost everywhere, my passage is respected."
"I disseminate undercover by all means possible that I shall not be got rid of without resistance, that if the colony proclaims its dissidence French naval warships will come to re-establish order and finally and principally, that I am preparing a poster..."
"November 11, 1940 - No official ceremony is contemplated, this having been held November 2. However, several hundred persons are assembled on the main square, but enthusiasm is lacking. Many are suspicious and want to wait to see what my poster will contain. The more militant feel less supported, lose courage. The day passes in this atmosphere."
"November 12, 1940 - My poster, of which 100 copies have been put up and which denounces false rumors and demonstrates the error of a change of attitude, is commented upon the whole day enthusiastically. People are beginning to realize.."
"Each point bears fruit and this evening one feels the fight is won. Those who are hesitant, those who are lukewarm and a few converts react n an evident manner, and I may from this moment guarantee the loyalty of the colony. I will receive during the next days numerous expressions of sympathy and loyalty. Without doubt the partisans of dissidence have not vanished abruptly, but their setback has dimmed their influence and there remains for me only to enlarge the success and this I have endeavored to do daily, using all means."
"I respectfully request mark of your solicitude for population of archipelago, which is subject to rigorous climate, deprived almost totally of amusements and possibility of working normally, and completely isolated from mother country."
December 12, 1941
U.S. Admiral Frederick Horne and Vichy High Commissioner for the West Indies, Admiral Georges Robert conclude an agreement for the "neutralization" of the French Caribbean fleet and French colonies in the West Indies.
Vice Admiral Emil Henri Muselier, Commander in Chief of the Free French Naval Force arrives in Halifax, Canada to inspect the submarine Surcouf and the corvettes Mimosa, Aconit and Alysse which are stationed here on escort duty. General de Gaulle, fearing an extension of the Horne - Robert Agreement to include Saint Pierre and Miquelon, orders Muselier to assemble his forces and prepare to liberate islands as so as practicable.
December 16, 1941
General de Gaulle contacts the Foreign Office to apprise them of his intentions in regard to Saint Pierre. The British raise no objections of their own but urge a postponement until American opposition subsides. Shortly thereafter, London informs de Gaulle that the Canadian Government in agreement with the United States has decided to land its own troops on Saint Pierre with the intention of silencing the island’s radio transmitter. The General delivers a sharp protest against foreign intervention in French territory to both London and Washington.
Admiral Muselier, acting on his own and without the knowledge of Free French headquarters, contacts the Canadian Government and the American embassy in Ottawa requesting their assent to his mission. The U.S. State Department delivers a resounding NO! to Muselier via its ambassador in Ottawa. The Admiral delivers his assurances to both governments that operation will be canceled. De Gaulle countermands the Admiral and once again orders him to proceed as soon as possible.
December 22, 1941
Admiral Muselier notifies the Royal Navy that he is taking the Surcouf and the three corvettes to sea for maneuvers before joining its convoy for the return to England.
Christmas Eve, 1941
The predawn blackness over the frigid waters of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence is broken by the flash of signal lamps, "Execute the mission ordered.". A Free French task force slips past the undefended entrance to the harbor of Saint Pierre. A lookout reports no signs of life on shore. His Captain replies, "They sleep and dream of us for Christmas.". The mail boat to Miquelon approaches and is ordered to turned about and follow along side. It complies. A fishing dory emerges from the mist and passes the flotilla unmolested. The corvettes near the snow covered coal wharf. A solitary figure, an ancient Breton fisherman, spies the Cross of Lorraine and races down the Quai de Ronciere. The click clack of the old man’s sabots on the icy pavement and his bilingual curses, "Petain, le sacre bleu cochon, le old goat!" can be heard across the whole of the island. Sailors on the first of the ships to brush the dock toss him the bowline. As he secures it to the bollard the man exclaims again, "Vive de Gaulle, at last I can say it. Vive de Gaulle!".
Free French sailors and marines in full battle dress race from their ships. By now a crowd of bleary eyed Saint Pierrais has gathered to cheer them on with shouts of Vive de Gaulle!, Vive Muselier! Homemade banners, Tricolors emblazoned with Croix de Lorraine, flutter in the chill North Atlantic breeze. The assault force, intent on seizing the town’s key administrative centers; the town hall, post office, telegraph station and radio transmitter, seems oblivious to their welcome. They meet no resistance. The island’s 11 gendarmes surrender their Vichy supplied machine guns and offer to assist in rounding up the usual suspects. Not a shot is fired nor a drop of blood spilled.
The operation is over in half an hour. The Vichy Administrator, an aristocratic Parisian, Gilbert Baron de Bournat, is taken into custody and led off to the Aconit, Muselier’s flagship. The assembled crowd taunts him with shouts of Vive de Gaulle! The Administrator stops short of the gangplank, turns about, silences the mob with an intimidating glare, and snaps off a crisp, "Vive Petain!".
Admiral Muselier makes his way to the town hall where he reads a proclamation:
"Inhabitants of the French islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon;
Conforming to General de Gaulle’s orders, I have come to let you take part freely and in due order in a plebiscite, for which you have begged so long.
You may now choose between the course of the Free French and the course of collaboration with the Axis powers, who starve, humiliate and martyr our country.
There is no doubt in my mind that the oldest French territory overseas will side with Great Britain, the United States, Canada and our other allies and will show en masse its loyalty to the traditions of honor and liberty which have always been the pride of France. Vive la France! Vive les Allies!"
Afterwards, the Admiral meets with the local functionaries and asks them to remain at their posts until the plebiscite has been held. "As a Christmas present, Free France will give you what she has to bestow - liberty." One man, Henri Moraze, who presents himself as a simple shopkeeper but who in fact is the island’s richest man, is held in custody. Muselier asks if it is true that Moraze has acted a an agent of Vichy. The shopkeeper replies, "Yes, but I had to." The Admiral cuts him short. " I regret, exceedingly but I have no time for your explanations now. The time for explanations will come later." The manager of the radio transmitter, an ardent supporter of Vichy named de Lort, is placed under house arrest after explaining that his daughter is suffering from bronchial pneumonia. Muselier having just recovered from a bout of the same illness, gives de Lort the remains of the medicine he has brought from England.
Still later in the evening the commander of the corvette dispatched to the larger but less populated island of Miquelon returns to Saint Pierre to report his mission accomplished and an enthusiastic reception from the inhabitants.
President Roosevelt is conferring with Winston Churchill at the White House when Secretary of State, Cordell Hull interrupts to announce the seizure. The grand strategists of the Allied war effort chuckle and brush the matter off but Hull is livid. The Secretary protests the action as a threat to his carefully crafted policy designed to prop up Vichy in hopes it will stand firm against German demands for the remains of the French fleet and bases in North Africa. Hull further denounces the actions of those he terms, "the so-called Free French" as a violation of the Monroe Doctrine and the Havana Convention’s proclamation that the American republics will tolerate no transfer of European possessions in the western hemisphere as a consequence of the war. Hull threatens to resign unless Roosevelt backs his demands for a restoration of the status quo in St. Pierre and Miquelon. Roosevelt agrees to persue the matter.
The so called Free French have been found in contempt by Judge Hull. Fortunately for them, the case will be tried in the court of American public opinion. By chance, a competent defense attorney in the person of New York Times reporter Ira Wolfert has accompanied Muselier’s fleet from Canada. The standoff between Free France and the State Department becomes a cause celebre. The fate of a few small fishing villages shares the spotlight with that of Hong Kong and Manila.
Christmas Day

America, barely two weeks at war and still reeling from the Japanese onslaught in the Pacific, awakes a small glimmer of brightness. Bold black headlines atop the nation’s newspapers shout,

"FREE FRENCH SEIZE ST. PIERRE AND MIQUELON ISLANDS". ​

Muselier’s plebiscite is trumpeted to the world as, "the first free expression of opinion permitted Frenchmen who have been governed since the Summer of 1940 by ‘we Henri Philippe Petain". As in France, only males are enfranchised but the age of eligibility is reduced from 21 to 18. The action does little to enlarge the electorate. Since the beginning of the war 150 young islanders have left for Canada and Newfoundland to join the Free French.
Voting proceeds on St. Pierre. The only alternative printed on the ballots is, "Ralliement a la France Libre" or, "Collaboration avec les Puissances de l’Axe". Voters are handed pencils and told to cross out the statement they oppose. The finally tally; 650 for Free France, 10 for collaboration. 100 ballots are voided. Most of the invalidated ballots have been left unmarked, an action presumed by most observers to indicate illiteracy rather than a desire to abstain or hidden pro-Axis sentiments. A few voters have expressed their dissatisfaction with the range of alternatives. On his ballot one scrawls, "Petain is not a German", another, "Vive Petain" and still another, "I want the France of Jeanne d’Arc.".
While St. Pierrais are busy exercising their franchise the State Department has busied itself with a diplomatic counter attack. Foggy Bottom releases its first public statement,
"The preliminary reports show that the action taken by three so-called Free French ships at St. Pierre - Miquelon was an arbitrary action contrary to the agreement of all parties concerned and certainly without the prior knowledge or consent in any sense of the United States Government.
This government has inquired of the Canadian Government as to the steps that government is prepared to take to restore the status quo of these islands."
Spokesmen for the Department proceed to justify the position as upholding the Monroe Doctrine and a recently concluded agreement between Admiral Horne and Vichy High Commissioner, Admiral Georges Robert for the neutralization of French possessions in the West Indies and the Caribbean fleet.
Vichy now gives vent to its suspicions. A spokesman for the French Embassy in Ottawa absolves Canada and speculates that the seizure of the islands has its origins in Newfoundland (at the time the island is being governed by a British appointed commission and is not part of Canada). The Vichy press attaché goes further, declaring that the action coming at a time when the Marshal is under increasing attack from the German press is a "worse blunder than Dakar".
Friday - December 26, 1941
Plebiscite held on the Ile aux Marins under supervision of the parish priest, Father Lebris. The result, 63 votes for Free France and 3 ballots voided.
Axis shortwave stations broadcast reports of a blood bath on St. Pierre and relay a bulletin, alleged to have come from Boston Navy Yard, "1,000 refugees have left from St. Pierre and are en route over roaring seas in ramshackle craft to safety in the United States and Canada."
A New York Times editorial praises Muselier’s expedition for the way in which its task, "was accomplished with a display of style and manners in the best tradition of Alexandre Dumas. As an episode in a conflict sadly lacking in chivalrous gestures and romantic flourishes of old fashioned wars, fought between soldiers according to set rules, it made a colorful story..." but the editors go on to adopt the official line. "As an exploit the incident was picturesque but as an act of policy it seems to have been a blunder." they end with a rehash of the argument that support for Vichy can balance the scales against Hitler.
The Times news columns also take on a more "balanced" tone. Wolfert’s analysis of dictatorship as practiced under Baron de Bournat portrays the local version of Petainism as Vichy-light. True the Baron had faithfully implemented all of Vichy’s decrees but while, "Vichy’s anti-Semitic laws were solemnly made effective here, too,...the population was more puzzled by them than anything else, since no Jews live here." An attempt was made to form a chapter of the Chantiers de Jeunesse, a French imitation of the Hitler Youth, but no one joined or was forced to join. The French Legion, the only legal party, enrolled 125 members but most joined under pressure from their employers and the organization never held a meeting. Vichy had withdrawn the fishing fleet from the Grand Banks and a third of the islands’ work force was unemployed but the Baron had doled out $80,000 a month in relief payments. The money came out of frozen Vichy assets released by Canada and the United States. On the other hand, the Baron had shown himself capable of maintaining discipline by withholding these relief payments from would be troublemakers. Henri Humbert, an instructor of English at the local school, was dismissed for equivocating when asked to take an oath of allegiance to Marshal Petain. Another man was sued for criminal libel when he dared to call a Petainist a "Boche". The man was fined 35 francs and given a 30 day suspended jail sentence. Mme. Henriette Bonin, principal of the girls school was forced to take a three month leave of absence for refusing to lecture from a Vichy propaganda pamphlet. The local chapter of the Societe des Anciens Combattants (war veterans) was ordered dissolved after passing a pro-Gaullist resolution in September, 1940.
The Times competitors are less sympathetic towards the administration’s stance. The Post opines, "The State Department has tried cajolery, bribery, blindness, and stupidity in bidding against Hitler for Vichy’s support. Now it is trying treachery." The Herald Tribune issues a sharp rejoinder to the Secretary’s "so called Free French ships" remark. "Perhaps they were pink elephants."
Saturday - December 27, 1941
Vichy announces its satisfaction with Washington’s condemnation of the "so called Free French" and assurances in regards to restoration of the pre-Christmas Eve status quo. "The French Government has appreciated the promptness with which the Federal Government has made known its desire to maintain its position, and to see the status quo restored in the French islands. In any case the action of the de Gaullists forces remain in the final analysis subordinated to the decision of the Anglo-Saxon countries. France hopes, therefore, that early re-establishment of the state of affairs obtaining before the events of December 24th will give her satisfaction." The Colonial Ministry’s communiqué further notes that "Admiral Muselier has been disavowed by the United States" and that he had left the French Navy, "where his reputation for probity and honor was not intact."
Sunday - December 28, 1941
Gaston Henry-Haye, Vichy’s ambassador to Washington, emerges from a one hour session with Secretary Hull and expresses his confidence that an agreement can be reached on Allied supervision of Saint Pierre’s radio station to prevent transmission of secret messages to Axis submarine and restoration of sovereignty over the islands to Vichy. "As far as the wireless station is concerned, that has been used only for fishermen, but I think that there will not be any shadow of doubt that nothing dangerous is transmitted over the station."
Free French headquarters in London counter with a communiqué charging deposed Administrator de Bournat with conducting a, "reign of terror" against Gaullists on St. Pierre and Miquelon.
On the islands, as fears of an agreement between Washington and Vichy mount, Admiral Muselier puts his forces on alert. St. Pierre’s territorial waters are closed to foreign warships and overflights by aircraft prohibited. Baron de Bournat and his German wife are moved from captivity in their home to a cabin aboard one of the Free French corvettes. The Admiral announces formation of a Home Guard and begins distribution of arms to the local civilians. The alert is canceled after two hours.
Wolfert reports a few signs of dissension are beginning to appear as a result of Axis propaganda, "Two arrests were made early in the day - ... The two men confined were known Petain supporters. They were said to have become excited by radio reports and to have been assuring patrons of a café that the Petain regime would be re-established soon and reprisals would be taken. One will be released tomorrow and the other, the town’s butcher, will be charged with ‘inciting to riot’ and tried in civil court.
Admiral Muselier happened to be listening to the radio in a home here when Vichy broadcast a false report that he had ordered Baron de Bournat, former Governor of the islands, and Bishop Poisson, leader of the church here, shot."
Monday - December 29, 1941

Results of the plebiscite on Miquelon, last of the archipelago’s three inhabited islands to vote, Free French 69, Collaboration with the Axis 4, voided ballots 72. Eighteen of the voided ballots are cast with some reference to Petain scrawled on them, a few call for the Free French and Petain and a handful bear slogans - "A bas les Boches" or "Vive de Gaulle". One voter pens, "Vive le Paix" , i.e. long live peace. Admiral Muselier broadcasts his thanks to the voters and reiterates his commitment to their cause, "In my long career as a soldier and sailor I have never abandoned any position.".
A communiqué from Free French headquarters in London announces a forthcoming "exchange of views" between General de Gaulle and interested Allied governments regarding the fate of the islands.
Vichy announces that it has received official word, "that the United States has taken the initiative in an effort to effect the voluntary withdrawal of Free French occupation forces at St. Pierre and Miquelon". The collaborationist press in Paris hails the news. Le Temps declares, "Washington’s prompt reaction is a severe lesson to dissidents.".
Wolfert reports the Free French are prepared to resist any effort to dislodge them from the islands.
"Vice Admiral Emile Muselier...said tonight the organization of the defense of the islands was now complete. Strong points have been constructed to command the beaches and coast lines ...and a lethal boom was stretched outside the harbor to give an explosive greeting to whatever shipping comes here without permission.
The defenses are manned by a combination of veteran Free French Marines and a volunteer Home Guard. The Home Guard goes roaring around the islands in troop lorries displaying new red, white and blue armbands with cross of Lorraine."
Vichy maybe cheered by Washington’s assurances but the administration is foundering with the American public if the letters published in the New York Times are any indication....
"The Free French must be shocked and disillusioned by the United States movement to return the converted islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon to Vichy.
Ethically the State Department is humiliating a full friend to appease a half-enemy.
...the administration is throwing two dots on the map into the balance against a million French war prisoners, against no heat in French homes, against starving French children. Those two dots won’t keep Vichy from collaborating with Hitler. Their return merely shows that we are still afraid to be an enemy, still trying to buy with diplomacy what can only be bought with blood."

- A writer from Philadelphia​

"So the State Department would sacrifice St. Pierre and Miquelon and the grail of Free France to the Fuehrer, god of Vichy, Herr Hitler. So decency, morality and humanity are mere pawns to our statesmen! Shall Gethsemane be transferred to Miquelon?
We Americans are engaged in a decisive war against Hitler and all his allies. Shall we let a stupid bureaucracy nullify our endeavors for freedom? Let us all speak up as true Americans and cheer liberty lovers wherever they may strive, even in St Pierre and Miquelon."

- A writer from New Jersey​

Tuesday - December 30. 1941
Monsignor A. Poisson, Apostolic Prefect of the islands of St. Pierre, Miquelon and Ile aux Marins posts a message on the bulletin board of his church,
"My brothers: You have the right to know what your Apostolic Prefect, chief of your souls, did yesterday. Enlightened by three days of observation, reflection and prayers, I went to the Admiral, who was attended by two officers, in order to tell him:
‘I can’t in good conscience recognize you as the true government of St. Pierre, nor does your military seizure of the country or your plebiscite, false in method, as in principle, give you the right to it. You are occupiers. You are not a true government, neither in right nor in fact.’
The Admiral asked me to write this declaration. I wrote: ‘I confirm to you that I don’t recognize you as the Government of France.’ Ten times perhaps, the Admiral sought to force me to say I would keep neutral. My conscience did not allow me. I answered: ‘You will judge me by my acts.’
Before God, I owe to you dear St. Pierrais, this declaration.
Your Apostolic Prefect, who blesses you, who prays to God for you and who offers himself to Him for the peace of your little country." - A. Poisson
The monsignor’s announcement comes as a surprise in view of his record of scrupulously distancing the Church from politics during the Vichy era. Admiral Muselier responds by calling a meeting at the town hall to deny charges of pressuring the Monsignor (whom reporters have elevated to the status of "Bishop" without the knowledge of the Vatican). "I regret very much to have to declare, that Bishop Poisson is in error when he states I sought to force him to be neutral; I only asked him to be neutral." The Admiral went on to say that one of the reasons Monsignor Poisson gave for his objection to the plebiscite was that the people of St. Pierre, being colonials, had no right to change their government. Muselier finds an appreciative audience amongst the gathered locals who respond to his declarations with, "Vive France Libre!" Afterwards officials announce that the salary, housing and heating allowances previously paid to the clergy by the government will continue to be paid as usual.
British envoy, Lord Halifax arrived in Washington to discuss a proposed agreement on St. Pierre and Miquelon with Secretary Hull. No progress is reported in the talks but the Secretary receives some favorable coverage in the press. New York Times columnist, Arthur Krock, delivers an eloquent rehash of the arguments in favor the administration’s pro-Vichy policy in relations with the French.
Vichy announces the promotion of Baron de Bournat within the Legion of Honor.
Friday - January 2, 1942
The Roosevelt administration’s St. Pierre and Miquelon policy comes under attack once again. This time in the form of a telegram. The wire asks the President to reverse the State Department’s course and is signed by fifty prominent American writers including Carl Sandburg, William Agar, Grenville Clark, Maxwell Anderson, Stephen Vincent Benet, Rex Stout and Franklin P. Adams.
Times Columnist, Arthur Krock, also comes in for criticism for his belated apologia for administration policy. A letter to the editor attacks Krock’s reasoning which the author declares, "...ignores the fundamental and sole purpose of the Havana Convention, namely, to prevent the European possessions in the New World from falling directly or indirectly under control of the Axis powers. Hence, it is a curious perversion of logic and of law to say that the transfer from the Axis-controlled Vichy Government to a government (the Free French) more truly representative of French sovereignty and nationality is a violation of the Havana Convention.
The real fact is that there is a civil war in the French Empire between Nazi and anti-Nazi elements, the latter are our helpful allies.
...To show the absurdity of the idea that the Havana Convention is involved, suppose there were a change of regime in France itself, and that, the Free French by force ousted the Vichy collaborationists regime, would the State Department still insist that there was an unlawful transfer of sovereignty or control of territory in the Americas?"
Saturday - January 3, 1942
All prisoners taken into custody by the Free French with the exception of Baron de Bournat are released. Henri Moraze, the colony’s wealthiest man and most prominent of the detainees, immediately sets to work fulfilling a contract to supply the Home Guard with uniforms.
Free French officials express confidence that the British will intercede on their behalf to resolve the islands’ budget deficit. The $80,000 per month shortfall had previously been made up by release of frozen French assets in Canada and the United States, neither of which recognize Free France.
Sunday - January 4, 1942
Vichy formally extends its wartime emergency laws, providing penalties for activities jeopardizing the position of the state, to St. Pierre and Miquelon, Guiana, Guadeloupe and Reunion.
Ira Wolfert reports from St. Pierre - " Proof has been discovered in the files of the radio station here that movements of Allied warships were signaled to Vichy in code by the preceding administration. Other proof was produced in the Middle East, according to Admiral Muselier, that Vichy has the habit of communicating secret military information about the Allies to the Nazis." In response to Wolfert’s questions regarding rumors of a settlement between the U.S., Canada and Vichy, Muselier declares, "There is no power in the world that can remove me or my men alive from these islands."
Monday - January 5, 1942
Free French officials announce the discovery of a cache of secret telegrams from Administrator
de Bournat to the Minister of Colonies in Vichy detailing the Baron’s efforts to deal with problems arising from the war in general and resistance to the Petainist regime in particular.
German radio reports that the United States has forced the Free French to leave St. Pierre and Miquelon. Vichy’s man in Washington, Ambassador Henry-Haye denies the report. A representative in Montreal confirms that Free French forces are still in possession of the islands and will remain their despite any outside pressures.
Thursday - January 10, 1942

Secretary Hull tells a press conference that a solution to the St. Pierre Question is near but provides no particulars. A United Press report declares that the Free French have agreed to evacuate the islands and the only remaining question is how to do it with the least embarrassment to all parties concerned.
Admiral Muselier issues a sharp rebuff when queried about reports of an impending evacuation declaring:
"I do not believe it...But in case any one still remains in doubt as to my position, I am glad to repeat what I have said before. Here we are, and here we shall remain.
I am not looking for any opportunity to withdraw from this position under circumstances that will save us from embarrassment. We did not come here frivolously or without due regard for the seriousness of the step.
The plebiscite taken the day after our arrival confirmed the step by a popular democratic vote approving our action by a majority of 98 per cent. How can any one who believes in the force of popular will even think of our turning the islands back to the Vichy minority?
If, for the sake of making the point clear, we should withdraw, who would remain? The vote in favor of the Vichy policy of collaboration with the Axis was exactly 14 persons. They of course would remain. The others could not expect to live in peace and security after the offense against Vichy which they have committed. For their own preservation they should get out too.
If the Free French naval forces should be driven out, then I suggest that the Normandie be sent here to take off the civilian anti-vichyites. No smaller vessel would be very well received indeed.
But the embarrassment in that case, I would remind the world, would not be that of the routed Free French forces. It would belong properly to those who say they are fighting for democracy elsewhere, but who had place themselves indelibly on record here a against it."
Canadian Press reports, "St. Pierre Radio Used Code Known to Axis - Free French officials (on St. Pierre) today release the text of a telegram they said was sent from Vichy last July 22 (1940) shortly after the fall of France and received here via Martinique. It read:
"Governor, St. Pierre-Miquelon: In conformity with the armistice clauses referring to radio broadcasts, as soon as present cable received, pleas use plain language for your transmissions, metropolitan, inter-colonial, or local by Morse code. Exceptionally only and only for very secret transmissions, use V.N. marine code as known to the German and Italian authorities. - Lemery
Monday - January 12, 1942
The New York Times reports:
" A group of 125 prominent American liberals, meeting yesterday in the Hotel Commodore under the auspices of the ‘Union for Democratic Action’, accused the State Department of following a policy of ‘appeasing undemocratic and pro-Axis governments’ and called on President Roosevelt to reorganize the department’s personnel to bring it ‘into line with the anti-Axis war effort to which the rest of the government and the country itself are dedicated.’
The group’s attitude was set forth in a resolution condemning the State Department for its position on the seizure by the Free French forces of the French islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon."
Tuesday - January 13, 1942
Secretary of State Hull tells a news conference, "... no insult to the Free French had been intended when the term, ‘so called Free French ships’ was employed in the State Department’s statement in connection with the Christmas Eve occupation of St. Pierre and Miquelon. The ‘so called’ referred to the ships and not to the Free French." The Secretary insisted that he would not explain the State Department’s position on the issue because it was too complicated.
Wednesday - January 14, 1942
General de Gaulle meets with Foreign Minister Anthony Eden. Eden is under orders from Churchill to tell the Free French leader that the islands must be "neutralized" under Allied control and without the participation of the French National Committee. De Gaulle stands firm and the conversation turns to not so subtitle threats. Eden hints that the Americans may send a destroyer or two to St. Pierre.
Eden: "What will you do then?"
De Gaulle: "The Allied ships will stop at the limit of territorial waters, and the American admiral will come to lunch with Muselier, who will be delighted."
Eden: "But if the cruiser crosses the limit?
De Gaulle: "Our people will summon her to stop in the usual way."
Eden: "If she holds on her course?"
De Gaulle: "That would be most unfortunate, for then our people would have to open fire."
Friday - January 16, 1942
New York Times report from James Reston in Washington: "General Charles de Gaulle, leader of the Free French movement, has been asked to settle the issue over the occupation of St.Pierre and Miquelon by withdrawing his ships to the St. Lawrence River while the people there vote on whether they wish Free French or Vichy leadership." The report goes on to state that the State Department is hoping to resolve the matter before the inter-American conference at Rio adjourns.
Monday - January 19, 1942
Washington - Secretary Hull meets with French National Committee envoy Adrien Trixier to deliver an explanation of the reasoning for American policy to date.
Thursday - January 22, 1942
London - Churchill and Eden meet with de Gaulle. The Prime Minister proposes an agreement under which the Free French would keep the islands and allow a face saving communiqué to be issued by Washington, London and Ottawa. The General agrees and the matter of St. Pierre and Miquelon drops off the diplomatic radar screen of the Allied governments. The communiqué is never issued. The month long controversy ends in victory for the stripe shirted sailors and fishermen over the striped pantsed diplomats.
Aftermath
The situation in St. Pierre and Miquelon was most precarious in the first few weeks following the liberation. Requests to the Free French committee in London for funds to replace the $80,000 a month relief paid to islanders during Vichy’s administration went unanswered. Starvation was once more a possibility. The short term fiscal crisis was solved by a Marcel Benda the Muselier expedition’s propaganda officer who was also a philatelist. Benda was directing the publication of the Admiral’s proclamation when he discovered the plates and paper for producing the colony’s postage stamps in the local government printing shop. He immediately set about printing limited edition stamps for sale to collectors in the United States and Canada. Muselier was initially opposed to the venture, especially after the islands were threatened with an invasion of stamp dealers seeking to make a killing in the market for the rare Free French overprints, but later relented. The situation then took a scandalous turn. After the Admiral’s departure, it was discovered that Benda had sold $60,000 worth of stamps for $7000. He was replaced as head of the venture in March, 1942 and later served a prison sentence in Canada.
Admiral Muselier left St. Pierre for London on February 28, 1942. Upon arrival he launched an unsuccessful challenge to General de Gaulle’s leadership. He was then replaced as commander in chief of the Free French Naval Force and ended his involvement with the movement.
Baron de Bournat and his wife were repatriated to Vichy by way of the United States and neutral Iberian countries. Before his departure, Muselier, appointed 25 year old Naval Reserve Lieutenant Alain Savary, Governor. Savary went on to serve as the first Deputy (and later Senator) elected to represent Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the National Assembly when the islands were made an overseas territory in 1946.
Following the liberation 398 St. Pierre et Miquelonais joined the Free French Army, 38 served in the Free French Naval Force and 53 in the Women’s Corps of the Free French Naval Force. Some twenty of these made the ultimate sacrifice for liberte, egalite et fraternite.
The most extraordinary of the Free French islanders was, Constant Colmay, a battalion commander in the Fusiliers Marin. Colmay joined the Free French on July 1, 1940 with the 1st Regiment of Fusiliers Marin, fought in the Middle East: Libyan, Tunisian and Italian campaigns; the landings in Provence and liberation of France, and later in Indochina. Colmay was twice wounded and later made a Companion of the Liberation, Commander of the Legion of Honor, Officer of the Royal Order of Cambodia and awarded the Military Medal; Croix de Guerre with 10 citations, 6 palms and 3 stars; Medal of the Resistance with Rosette; the Air Medal; a United States Bronze Star; and the Colonial Medal for service in Libya, Bir Hakeim, Tripolitania and Tunisia.
Saint Pierre and Miquelon was neither the first nor the last of the French colonies to rally to cause of liberation from fascism nor was the controversy surrounding its liberation the most intense of the many diplomatic struggles between Free France and its allies but General de Gaulle retained a lifelong affection for this small bit of France in America. His 1967 visit to St. Pierre was the first by a French head of state.
Under the constitution of the Fourth Republic, inaugurated in 1946, the status of St. Pierre and Miquelon was raised from colony to overseas territory and the islanders were represented in the National Assembly for the first time by an elected deputy and senator. The status of the islands was raised to that of overseas department on a par with those of metropolitan France in 1956.

Miquelon The World at War

 

I hadn't either. Ya learn something new every day .

 

On the 20th the little fleet, with Surcouf as flagship, left port on “maneuvers.” The maneuvers were more political and aggressive than a mere training exercise, however. On Christmas Eve, they landed sailors on the Vichy-controlled islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon, off the southeastern coast of Newfoundland. These small islands were the last of France's North American holdings. This set off a diplomatic storm with the United States, and got President Roosevelt and General De Gaulle off on a very bad foot, indeed! In the end, despite the affront to the Monroe Doctrine (which implicitly indicates only the United States is allowed to invade countries in the Western Hemisphere), the conquest stood and Free France added the islands to its growing clientele. Surcouf returned to Halifax on January 11th, 1942.


Avalanche Press

 

These are the confetti of the French and Idian war and the Paris treaty of 1763. France preserved this territory in order to keep fishing rights in this area. The territory is tightly linked to Canadian and American history.
For instance if you go to to St Pierre, many houses are entirely built with wood from whisky cases that came to the US via Canada during the prohibition years and enterer north America via St Pierre. 99% percent of the customers were American. I could get a job there, but Mrs Skipper is reluctant to move to an island even if it's not far from canada.

 

You always learn something new everyday . Interesting too the connection with the Sufcouf.

 

My Father told me that on a southern part of Newfoundland (He is from there) you can see the Lights from the City. I would like to Visit it sometime.

 

So do I, too bad it's so far away from Europe, but if you have a chance to go there from Newfounland, you should really visit.

 

Too far for you and me LOL

 

I would love to go there too, and seeing as I'm a geography whiz, I know they exist

 

Off thread I know, but thought that Martininque has a bit of relevance:


In Martinique was the French aircraft carrier Berne with one hundred aircraft along with a host of cruisers, destroyers and support ships. They were supposed to be interned and not able to move without the specific permission of the British, but this was ignored and support ships regularly moved between Martinique and French Guiana, at will. America’s entry into the war did not change the situation and indeed the German U Boat U 156 put ashore an injured officer who was strongly pro Nazi and who influenced the Vichy French naval commander Admiral Robert and the French governor, to the point where German was being taught in the islands schools.

Despite requests and then orders to the Vichy French not to sail their ships without prior notification the French Admiral Robert continued to do so. By March 1943 the situation had reached critical proportions and the Americans decided to launch an invasion of the French West Indian colonies. French Guiana surrendered almost immediately to join the Free French but Admiral Robert continued his defiance. The invasion date was set for July 1943 and the island of Trinidad was designated the invasion staging base. The decision to invade Martinique was also a demand made by General De Gaulle of the Free French, to free up the naval assets and the French gold reserves which were held in the island.

Within a short space of time the Gulf of Paria began to fill up with the invasion shipping for the projected venture. Aircraft based in St. Lucia began continuously overflying Martinique, both on reconnaissance flights and as an intimidating gesture. The plan called for four complete regiments, two infantry, one parachute and a combat engineer regiment to be the landing force, assaulting two beaches one on the west coast near the capital and one on the east coast. They were intended to link up cutting the island into halves and then mop up. The bombardment force was made up of two carriers the USS Bunker Hill and the Cowpens escorted by a group of heavy gun cruisers, along with the land based bombers from St. Lucia. The assault regiments began a rigourous series of training exercises with landing craft in the Gulf of Paria.

Meanwhile, in Martinique, to which all the plans were deliberately fed, many of the defending French troops were unwilling to fight the Americans and some French colonial troops mutinied.
This was followed by anti Nazi street riots. Despite this however, Admiral Robert, supported by the French navy were defiant. But then the defections started. Even the son of French governor made his way to St. Lucia to join the Allied cause. What finally broke Admiral Robert was when his second in command, Rear Admiral Batet defected to the allies.

One week before the invasion fleet was due to sail from Trinidad, Admiral Robert finally gave up and he and the remaining loyal officer agreed to leave the island via a ship provided by the Americans, while an allied occupying force including Free French troops, took control of the island and the ships of the French fleet.