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New England Sinclairs/Sinklers



Hello David - In some mistaken idea that the genealogy of the New
England branch had something on my Virginia branch of Sinclair, I bought
a copy of the genealogy in book form. If you would care to have it, I
will give it to you. If you care to part with your snail mail address.
Lots of photos of various family.
Best Regards, from a Virginia Sinclair (Surry County)  Sally Spangler

RE:  Vichy government

 The pro-German puppet government set up in Vichy after the fall of
France (1940) during World  War II. Its autonomy extended over
unoccupied (i.e. central and southern) France and the French colonies.
Established by the Franco-German armistice, with Marshal Pétain as head
of government, it was run on authoritarian lines from 1942 by Pierre
Laval. After the Allied liberation of France in 1945 the Vichy
government fled to Germany and France was reunited. The Vichy regime
deported over 70 000 Jews to their deaths in Germany and some 650 000
workers to Germany to help their war effort. The French prefer to regard
the Free French government set up in exile under de Gaulle as the true
representative of the defeated France, rather than the Vichy government
under Pétain.

Laval, Pierre (1883 - 1945)French statesman, whose collaboration with
Germany during the German occupation of France in World War II  resulted
in his execution as a traitor.
A socialist, Laval was prime minister in 1930, 1931, 1932, 1935, and
1936 and foreign minister in 1934, 1935, and 1936. In 1935, with Sir
Samuel Hoare (1880-1959), the British foreign minister,  he proposed an
unsuccessful plan (the Hoare-Laval Pact) for the settlement of
Mussolini's claims in Ethiopia. After the collapse of France (1940) he
joined Marshal Pétain's Vichy  government. Increasingly powerful, he was
dismissed and briefly imprisoned by Pétain (December, 1940) but the
support of Germany secured Laval the virtual leadership of the Vichy
government in 1942. After the liberation of France (1944) he fled to
Germany and then to Spain but  later gave himself up for trial in France
(July, 1945).
Pétain Henri, Philippe (1856 - 1951) French general and statesman.
 In World War I he distinguished himself at the defence of Verdun
(1916), becoming marshal of France (1918). In World War II, when France
was on the verge of defeat (1940), Pétain became prime minister. In
June, 1940, he signed an armistice with Hitler that allowed for a third
of France to remain unoccupied by Germany. His government of unoccupied
France at Vichy was authoritarian and from 1942 was dominated by Laval
and the Germans. Pétain was sentenced to death in August, 1945, for
collaboration but was then reprieved and imprisoned for life.
On 14th June 1940, the German Army occupied Paris. Paul Reynaud, the
French prime minister, now realized that the German Western Offensive
could not be halted and suggested that the government should move to
territories it owned in North Africa. This was opposed by his
vice-premier, Henri-Philippe Petain, and the supreme commander of the
armed forces, General Maxime Weygand. Theyinsisted that the government
should remain in France and seek an armistice.

Outvoted, Reynaud resigned and President Albert Lebrun, appointed Petain
as France's new premier. He immediately began negotiations with Adolf
Hitler and on 22nd June signed an armistice with Germany. The terms of
the agreement divided France into occupied and unoccupied zones, with a
rigid demarcation line between the two. The Germans would directly
control three-fifths of the country, an area that included northern and
western France and the entire Atlantic coast. The remaining section of
the country would be administered by the French government at Vichy
under Marshal Henri-Philippe Petain.

Other provisions of the armistice included the surrender of all Jews
living in France to the Germans. The French Army was disbanded except
for a force of 100,000 men to maintain domestic order. The 1.5 million
French soldiers captured by the Germans were to remain prisoners of war.
The French government also agreed to stop members of its armed forces
from leaving the country and instructed its citizens not to fight
against the Germans. Finally,  France had to pay the occupation costs of
the German troops.

Over the next four years Henri-Philippe Petain led the right-wing
government of Vichy France. The famous revolutionary principles of
"Liberty, Equality,Fraternity" were replaced by "Work, Family,
Fatherland".

After the D-day landings took place the Maquis and other resistance
groups emerged to help in the liberation of their country.
Henri-Philippe Petain and his ministers fled to Germany where they
established an exiled government at Sigmaringen. In 1945 the leaders of
the Vichy government were arrested and some, including Pierre Laval and
Joseph Darnand, were executed for war crimes.
Quoted from Macmillan Encyclopedia for the most part and Sparticus
School.net.
And by the way Jean - Sinclair is a Scotsman - you have only to hear him
speak to know that. Being way out there in OZ-land, you have no way of
knowing!











      (1) The Manchester Guardian (10th April, 1941)

      It was a solemn House of Commons that heard Mr. Churchill today,
which was
      natural. Mr. Churchill's was a solemn speech. It said in effect
that the Allies are
      facing another crisis. Though it is not comparable with the
gravity of the crisis that
      followed the collapse of France, no reader of Mr. Churchill's
speech will doubt
      that it is grave enough. The House had sensed the occasion. It was
full in all its
      parts.

      Mr. Churchill is clearly not comfortable about France, in spite of
his welcome of
      Marshall Petain's declaration that she will never fight her old
ally. He sees how
      dependent Vichy is on Hitler. But his warning that we shall
maintain our blockade
      aroused the greatest cheer of the speech. The next biggest cheer
greeted his
      declaration that we should not tolerate any movements of French
warships from
      African ports to the ports of Metropolitan France, for that would
alter the balance
      of naval power in the Atlantic affecting the United States as much
as ourselves.



      (2) Dwight D. Eisenhower, Crusade in Europe (1948)

      General Clark reported that apparently Darlan was the only
Frenchman who could
      achieve cooperation for us in North Africa. I realized that the
matter was one that
      had to be handled expeditiously and locally. To have referred it
back to
      Washington and London would have meant inevitable delays in
prolonged
      discussions. So much time would have been consumed as to have cost
much
      blood and bitterness and left no chance of an amicable arrangement
for
      absorbing the French forces into our own expedition.

      Already we had our written orders from our governments to
cooperate with any
      French government we should find existing at the moment of our
entry into Africa.
      Moreover, the matter at the moment was completely military. If
resulting political
      repercussions became so serious as to call for a sacrifice, logic
and tradition
      demanded that the man in the field should take complete
responsibility for the
      matter, with his later relief from command becoming the symbol of
correction. I
      might be fired, but only by making a quick decision could the
essential unity of
      effort throughout both nations be preserved and the immediate
military
      requirements met.

      We discussed these possibilities very soberly and earnestly,
always
      remembering that our basic orders required us to go into Africa in
the attempt to
      win an ally - not to kill Frenchmen.

      I well knew that any dealing with a Vichyite would create great
revulsion among
      those in England and America who did not know the harsh realities
of war;
      therefore I determined to confine my judgment in the matter to the
local military
      aspects. Taking Admiral Cunningham with me, I flew to Algiers on
November 13,
      and upon reaching there went into conference with General Clark
and Mr.
      Murphy, the American consul general in the area. This was the
first time I had
      seen Murphy since his visit to London some weeks before.

      They first gave me a full account of events to date. On November
10, Darlan had
      sent orders to all French commanders to cease fighting. Petain, in
Vichy,
      immediately disavowed the act and declared Darlan dismissed.
Darlan then tried
      to rescind the order, but this dark would not allow. Next the news
was received in
      Algiers that the Germans were invading southern France, and now
Darlan said
      that because the Germans had violated the 1940 armistice he was
ready to
      cooperate freely with the Americans. In the meantime General
Giraud, at first
      shocked to discover that the local French would not follow him,
had become
      convinced that Darlan was the only French official in the region
who could lead
      North Africa to the side of the Allies. When the Germans entered
southern France
      Giraud went to Darlan to offer cooperation. The fighting at
Casablanca had
      ceased because of Darlan's order; at other places the fighting was
over before
      the order was received.



      (3) Jean-Francois Darlan, broadcast (21st November, 1942)

      Under German pressure the Marshal has just abandoned exercise of
power to
      the Head of Government only reserving for himself the signing of
constitutional
      laws. This means that the Marshal does not wish decisions that the
French
      Government may be impelled to make in the sole interest of Germany
to bear his
      signature. The Marshal declared yesterday (November 19) that he
was the living
      embodiment of France. This is so and that is why we have pledged
ourselves to
      him.

      We have not pledged ourselves to the Head of Government. Our
patriotic duty
      remains unchanged. Liberate the homeland and the Empire and, I
should add,
      liberate the Marshal, the living embodiment of imperial France. In
1940 by
      signing the armistice at a time when France was invaded and
practically
      disarmed the Marshal prevented France from disappearing as a
nation and
      saved Africa from destruction and occupation. Ever since and until
lately France
      remained alone.

      If this policy had not been followed the Germans and Italians
would have been in
      Africa a long time ago not as friends respectful of French
sovereignty but as
      oppressors. Their actions in occupied France serve to prove it.
And if this had
      happened it is probable that allied forces would not be on our
side today to help
      us recover our freedom.

      Ever since June 16, 1940, I have been a loyal collaborator of the
Marshal who
      often confided his feelings to me. I know his feelings of
affection for the great
      nation of the U.S. I know that, at the bottom of his heart, what
matters most to him
      is the friendship of the American people. By feeling thus the
Marshal is loyal to
      true French tradition.

      Is it after all possible for us to imagine that the victor of
Verdun walks hand in
      hand with the dictators who would deprive France of Alsace
Lorraine, Flanders,
      Savoy, Nice, Corsica, and part of North Africa-with the dictators
who keep
      1,000,000 of our prisoners in Germany and who starve the country?
When he
      was free to act the Marshal always expressed his confidence to me.
He did it
      again on November 9 before the invasion of the free zone.

      It is, therefore, with certainty of being a loyal interpreter of
his real feeling that I
      confirm to you my previous orders to fight at the side of American
and allied
      forces for defense and liberation of our territories and integral
restoration of
      French Sovereignty. I add-in agreement with American
authorities-that the
      African Army will never be placed in the position of fighting
against Frenchmen.



      (4) The Manchester Guardian (16th December, 1941)

      The German pressure upon unoccupied France is growing stronger is
indicated
      by messages from France and by the tone of German propaganda
towards the
      Vichy Government. The Germans, it seems, are now bluntly demanding
that Vichy
      should clear up her attitude are making it quite clear that they
expect her to
      comply completely with their requests.

      The official Vichy protest against the German terror does not
necessarily imply
      any genuine resistance. It is pointed out in Free French quarters
that the protest
      may well have been made with ulterior motives:

      To allay the widespread unrest and uneasiness in the country and
to conceal, if
      possible, the extent of Vichy's subservience to Germany.

      There are grounds for the belief - though this belief can be
proved true only by
      events - that the worst fears may be confirmed and the Vichy has
already entered
      into far-reaching commitments to the Axis.



      (5) Guenther Blumentritt was interviewed by Basil Liddell Hart for
his
      book The Other Side of the Hill (1948)

      After the Allied landings in French North Africa - in November,
1942 the Führer's
      order for us to advance into the unoccupied part of France was
prompted by his
      conviction that the Allies would go on from Africa to invade
southern France. It
      was reckoned that they would land on the Mediterranean coast, and
that the
      Vichy Government would not oppose them. The occupation took place
without
      any great friction, and the only casualties were caused by
partisans - whose
      activities were already becoming uncomfortable. Field-Marshal von
Rundstedt
      himself went on alone ahead of his troops in order to arrange at
Vichy that the
      occupation should be carried out peacefully, so as to avoid
useless losses to
      both sides: He succeeded in that purpose.

      After the fall of Tunis in May, Hitler became increasingly anxious
about the
      possibility of a landing in the south of France. In fact, that
year Hitler was
      constantly on the jump - at one moment he expected an invasion in
Norway, at
      another moment in Holland, then near the Somme, or Normandy and
Brittany, in
      Portugal, in Spain, in the Adriatic. His eyes were hopping all
around the map. He
      was particularly concerned about the possibility of a pincer-type
invasion, with
      simultaneous landings in the south of France and the Bay of
Biscay.