WESTERN THEATRE: Action in France

To reciprocate the honors bestowed by King George VI when he visited the front before Christmas, France’s Generalissimo Maurice Gamelin rode his special train to the town where Great Britain’s General the Viscount Gort has his chateau-headquarters. With crack detachments of the Welsh Guards and 8th French Zouaves looking on, the bantam Generalissimo stood on tiptoe, lifted his stubby grey mustache and brushed it brusquely against both cheeks of: 1) towering General Sir Edmund Ironside, Britain’s Chief of Imperial General Staff; 2) more reachable Lord Gort. In the name of President Lebrun he pinned on each the Grand Cross, and hung on each the scarlet sash of the Legion of Honor.

Cherubic, go-getting First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill observed the kissing match from a balcony.

Nothing more important happened last week on the Western Front.