Page Four
CLOUDBUSTER
Saturday, May 13, 1944
Cruising
Covey
By
David Y. Coverston, Ylc, USNR
The other night I had the privi
lege of visiting the Free French
^Cadets who came aboard last week,
and the stories they told of their
lives thus far make fiction weak
by comparison.
Led by one officer, Lieut, (jg)
Jean Polfrit, the group is thirty-
six strong, eight having been Chief
Petty Officers in the French fleet,
three having been petty officers
first class, and the balance having
served as seamen or cadets in
Ppench academies.
Sitting on a bunk, surrounded
by a dozen or so of the eager lads,
I learned that twelve of them had
lived in France under German oc
cupation, and the hatred they felt
for the Nazis blazed in their dark
eyes. They said that in France to
day every man and woman over
seventeen has to go to work in a
factory in France or Germany if
they hope to keep their ration
books, without which no item can
be purchased. The twelve lads who
escaped from France had been
notified to report for work, and
rather than do so they risked their
lives in the attempt to get to North
Africa to join the Free French.
Telling of rationing over there,
they said that the coupons issued
by the Germans have these values:
Vz lb. of black bread per week, ^
lb. of meat per week, % lb. of but
ter per week, and men over eigh
teen working in factories get
coupons good for six packages of
cigarettes per month. However,
t hey said that often the merchants
did not have even the small
amounts the coupons called for,
and they had to go without.
Going further, they told of how
the population is underfed, over
worked, and that hatred for the
Germans is apparent everywhere.
The jails are filled with men and
women held as hostages, and many
times they have seen as many as
fifty Frenchmen lined up against
a wall and shot down for refusing
to divulge the name of someone
who had killed a Nazi.
After they had escaped from
France, the boys were thrown into
prisons in Spain, and forced to
work like common convicts. They
were poorly fed and slept on the
ground with only one blanket for
protection from the bitter weather.
I
free french
Anxious to get a crack at
Germany again are the 36
French Cadets who arrived
here last week for special
training. All have served with
the French fleet either as Petty
Officers or Seamen, and their
present training marks the be
ginning of their study in the
United States. For more de
tails read “Cruising With Cov
ey” on this page.
After arriving in North Africa,
where they met the rest of the
crew that is now here, they all at
tended a French Officers’ School
for five months. Later they came
to the U. S., landing in Norfolk,
Va.
Twenty of the group spoke Eng
lish well enough to go from Nor
folk directly to Dallas, Texas, and
according to their understanding,
the balance were to attend a civil
ian university in this country to
leam more English. They said
they were surprised to find them
selves here, still under strict dis
cipline and undergoing physical
training. The boys say that the
physical training is difficult for
them because they have not had
a sufficient amount of food for the
past few years, and that they dis
like the military track and ob
stacle course very much, but like
to play the various games.
When questioned about their
liberty, they remarked that it was
far too little, but that everyone
treated them very well. They said
the American girl was different
from their French girls in that
they aren't as romantic, and that
they have several dates in the
same day.
It seems that the boys miss their
wine more than anything else.
They say that the French people
are a wine loving nation, and that
the American coffee does not give
them the lift that they need. They
also miss mail from home, none
of them having heard from their
parents since 1942, and none of
their parents know where they are
at the present time.
When I asked them for a direct
comment for publication, they
asked me to please tell everyone
—and I quote—^“We are glad to be
here. Chapel Hill is a beautiful
place, the people treat us fine, an<l
the American Cadets are like our
big brothers, giving us a great
deal of help. We like America aS
far as we have seen it, and will
be glad when we join our Ameri
can friends in active battle.”
Summing it all up, I found that
the French Cadets like it here, they
are anxious to get ahead into flig^*
training, they miss their wine a
great deal, and they have a grrea*
deal of affection for the other
cadets. They are a clean-cut, vi
vacious group of lads, young>
eager, determined, and gentlemeii
in every sense of the word. They
are learning English rapidly and
will undoubtedly some day mak®
Adolph Schickelgruber rue tb®
day he was born.