Condemned To Death
p. 61 · Read in the full issue
Men Who Rallied New Caledonia To Free France in 1940
Prom Our Own Correspondent
Noumea, Oct. 18.
IT is not generally known that the pro- Vichy Government of Indo-China, through a court-martial in Saigon on February 5, 1942, passed sentence of death on leading Frenchmen who rallied New Caledonia to Free France.
The men condemned included Capt.
Broche (later killed in action at Bir Hacheim), Colonel Dr. Gaffiero, Captain Houssin, Lieut. Ardant, Lieut. Guillaumet, Capt. Dr. Lutz, Col. Mansart and Capt.
Dr. Jacques. The sentence also included military degradation and confiscation of their property “in favour of the nation.”
Capt. Dr. Germain, one of the best-known doctors at Noumea hospital, was sentenced to 20 years’ hard labour. Many of these people were convicted also of having “joined a foreign army without Govern ment authorisation.”
They have had to wait a long time for it, but these ten officers have now been cleared by the Saigon Court of Appeal, which commends them for having acted in a highly patriotic manner for the liberation of the Patrie. Which of them helped most is part of the story told by Henri Sautot in his soon-to-be-published book.