WESTERN THEATRE: Gamelin Speaks

Maurice Gustave Gamelin, the tight-lipped little Allied Generalissimo, last week held his first War II press reception for U. S. news correspondents. At the Ecole Militaire he received a delegation including five U. S. by-liners about to be taken up to the Maginot Line for the first time. For the first time silent Soldier Gamelin, 67, spoke his piece about the fighting.

France, he said, is fighting now for a reason precisely parallel to the U. S.'s reason last time. "France was not attacked. But she has taken up arms in defense of a principle . . . that small nations have the same right to live as large nations, if civilization is to endure."

If the news correspondents wished to see action, the one salient to which they should have been sent was Forbach, the French industrial town (pop. 11,491) which is a small counterpart of Germany's Saarbrücken, five miles northeast. Forbach is outside the Maginot Line and its forts overlook the German city in the Saar Valley below. The French push of September brought other artillery up to assist Forbach's in dominating Saarbrücken, paralyzing its industry. The French retreat in October left Forbach sticking out like a sore thumb. By last week the Germans had brought up hundreds of guns where they could shell Forbach from three sides, boxing it completely. To defend it would be costly in men and munitions. To surrender it would be to give Germany a keen moral victory as well as the practical advantage of getting Saarbrücken's coal mines and steel mills back into commission. With 150 German shells coming over daily to establish critical ranges, with German planes reconnoitering busily to discover France's intentions, Forbach promised this week to furnish the Western Front's first clear-cut action, Generalissimo Gamelin with his first strong stand or first strategic surrender.