On the Plateau

"In the hills and forests the Maquis* of France band together in common need and against the common enemy--Vichy and the Germans. Usually they are absorbed in just existing--getting food and avoiding capture. But a month ago one band gave fight with two unusual advantages--sufficient arms and trained Army leaders. The story of their fight was told in Algiers last week by Commissioner Emmanual d'Astier de la Vigerie.

The Maquis, about 600 strong, were entrenched on the Plateau des Glieres, a tableland in southeastern France near the Swiss border. To wipe them out, the Germans massed an estimated 12,000 men, much artillery, squadrons of planes, planned to open with an artillery barrage. The French fooled them.

Instead of awaiting attack in their trenches, they sent a third of their men out under an army lieutenant, caught the Nazis off balance. Making good use of cover, the little French force confused a portion of the Germans into believing they were surrounded by a much larger force. Soon the Germans asked to surrender. In the negotiations the French lieutenant was suddenly shot and his hidden men angrily reopened fire, then returned with 60 Nazi prisoners.

For eleven more days the French held their plateau against German siege and attack. Food and munitions were smuggled to them by other Maquis bands. Frustrated, the Germans withdrew to reorganize their attack. Then, at night, most of the French slipped quietly away.

German losses in men were estimated at 250, five times the French casualties. German loss of face was incalculable.

* Literally: Corsican scrub, traditional refuge for lawbreakers; now the term for Frenchmen hiding from Occupation demands. Most Maquis haunt the Haute-Savoie, near Switzerland.

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