Description:

ADMIRAL DARLAN'S MURDER - "A GIFT"?
FREDERIC P. CULBERT O.S.S. officer hidden in the staff of the American Consul in Morocco, also served as Gen. George Patton's deputy advisor on civil affairs. Fine content A.L.S. with news that French Admiral Francois Darlan's murder had been plotted in advance, 3pp. 4to., [n.p.], Jan. 4, 1942 to Gen. Geoffrey Keyes, Deputy Commander. Culbert advises that transportation had been arranged for him and that he was arranging airplane transportation for a "Mr Chevreux". He also notes that he had learned from contacts in Casablanca that Darlan "...had been disposed of by members of a group friendly to us 'as a Christmas present and that we would receive another for New Year's Day'..." Culbert further states that he suggested no action be taken to follow-up on the rumor which emanated from a man in the French Deuxieme Bureau named "Ritz". File holes else very good. Francois Darlan (1881 - 1942) was Admiral of the Fleet and commander in chief of the French Navy in 1939. After France surrendered, he served in the pro-German Vichy regime, becoming its deputy leader. When the Allies invaded North Africa in 1942, Darlan was recognized as head of French North Africa, and he ordered French forces to cease resisting and cooperate with the Allies. On the afternoon of 24 December 1942, Fernand Bonnier de La Chapelle shot Darlan in his headquarters.

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February 18, 2014 11:00 AM EST
Elkton, MD, US

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