their frontier with that province along with the Ntem river. On 3 September, Roger Gardet entered Bitam by a ruse. On the pretext of medical necessity, he received permission from Captain Gourvès at Bitam to cross the frontier. Gourvès agreed to rally his troops to Free France only if his superior, the chief administrator of Woleu-Ntem based at Oyem, a certain Besson, did the same. Besson at first refused, but on 5 September Gardet informed him that he was relieving him of his command. Besson left for Cameroon and the following day, 6 September, Free French forces arrived in Bitam and Oyem with Pierre Roger Martocq as the new administrator of Woleu-Ntem. On 11 September, Masson held a meeting with his army and navy commanders at which it was decided to reinforce Mayumba. On 9 and 15 September, Colonel André Parant brought a dozen Free French fighters into Mayumba on a Potez 540. On 15 September, the Vichy reinforcements arrived on the Cap des Palmes, escorted by the submarine : a troop of marines from the aviso and the defence of Port-Gentil. While the commander of the submarine, Captain Bertrand de Saussine du Pont de Gault was breakfasting with the district administrator, the Free French invaded the administrator's residence. After several hours of discussions, and with Parant's men occupying the city, Saussine was permitted to leave, taking with him whoever did not wish to join the Free French. Most of the marines opted to stay in Mayumba. On 8 October, De Gaulle arrived in Douala, Cameroon. Four days later he authorised plans for the invasion of French Equatorial Africa. He wanted to use French Equatorial Africa as a base to launch attacks into Axis-controlled Libya. For this reason, he personally headed northward to survey the situation in Chad, located on the southern border of Libya. Battle On 27 October, Free French forces crossed into French Equatorial Africa and took the town of Mitzic. On 5 November, the Vichy garrison at Lambaréné capitulated. Meanwhile, the main Free French forces under General Philippe Leclerc and Battalion Chief (major) Marie Pierre Koenig departed from Douala, French Cameroon. Their goal was to take Libreville, French Equatorial Africa. The British expressed doubt in De Gaulle's ability to establish control over the Vichy territory, but they eventually agreed to lend naval support to the Free French. French Foreign Legion officer John Hasey reported that after the