Reich Protests to Allies On Use of Mandate Lands

GERMANY, with a special eye on Syria and former East German Africa, has protested to Great Britain and France against use of mandated territories for war purposes. Authorized quarters said the step, which presumably was made through Sweden, was ``logical and of interest to all members of the League of Nations, as these territories were entrusted to Britain and France solely as trustees.''

French action in assembling war materials in Syria and the presence of Gen. Maxime Yeygand, head of the French Near Eastern forces, in Syria are being watched closely by Germany.

Close attention is also being given to the possibility that the Allies may use Syria to aid Turkey in event the European war spreads to the Near East.

The German protest was delivered to the governments of Australia, New Zealand, and the Union of South Africa as well as to Paris and London. It mentioned the mandated territories of Tanganyika, the Camaroons, Togo, Southwest Africa, New Guinea, Samoa, Palestine, and Syria, as having been placed ``in a state of war.'' The protest said:

``[These governments] have taken measures in these territories against Germans, their property, their rights and interests, which prove that [they] consider the mandated territories entrusted to them to be in a state of war with Germany, and treat the Germans present in those territories as enemy aliens.''

The Monitor is looking back at the events of World War II.