More Free French Colonies
The decision of French Equatorial Africa and Gaboon, as well as the mandated territory of the French Cameroons (which adjoins the British Cameroons), to follow the example of Chad and recognise the authority of General de Gaulle rather than of the puppet Government of Vichy is an event of far-reaching importance. Strategically the choice of freedom means that a vast area of African territory, stretching from the Sudan to the Atlantic, and including Nigeria and the wealthy and extensive Belgian Congo, is now firmly welded together under the Allied flags. In some ways the adhesion of the Cameroons is of chief importance, for' that territory contains the admirable deep- water port of Duala, the transference of which to Nazi-Petain control might have seriously endangered Allied shipping routes. For a similar reason the decision of Senegal, further north, with its equally important port of Dakar, to identify itself with French Equatorial Africa would be particularly welcome. That may well happen, for there is little doubt that the trend towards de Gaulle will spread. The decision taken by Tahiti plants the Free French flag on the most important French island in the South Pacific, and there are clear signs that Martinique and Guadeloupe in the West Indies may soon be Free French toe
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