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70 years ago, Mers el Kebir. Or Franco-British misunderstanding

(BRUSSELS2) These last few months have been the occasion for numerous public commemorations of several events of the Second World War. Thus, September 1, the day the war broke out, was celebrated in Poland; June 4, the last day of the evacuation from Dunkirk, UK; while on June 18, General de Gaulle's call from London was celebrated. But it is not certain that this July 3 is celebrated with such pomp, except by the families of the victims (1).

BretagneEnFeuD54.jpg

That day, however, off Oran (Algeria), the French navy lost nearly 1300 sailors killed in action and several ships (including the battleship Bretagne) at the end of a fratricidal battle with the British. A dark day for the French Navy. And a little more misunderstanding between yesterday's allies. For France, as for England, this act was also a lost opportunity, political as well as military.

If this act were celebrated, it would be interesting above all to see how and why the British got there. Once is not custom , so I will take the British point of view, drawn from the best sources. I am referring here to Churchill's war speeches, an excellent work, published in the Texto collection, already cited (2). And this remark is interesting because it shows that the French had other alternatives, which they did not want or knew how to choose...

The British Ultimatum: 4 Ways to Escape the Destructive Strike

The British send to the vice-admiral who commands the French squadron, Marcel Gensoul, a message through Captain Holland, former naval attaché in Paris, carrying 4 possibilities:

a) go to sea with us and continue to fight until victory against the Germans;

b) to go to an English port with reduced crews placed under our orders. The crews will be repatriated as soon as possible;

In both cases, the British undertake to "return the ships to France as soon as the war is over or fully compensate them if, in the meantime, they are damaged".

c) win together with reduced crews, a French port in the West Indies (Martinique for example) where they can be demilitarized satisfactorily for us, or be entrusted to the United States (then a neutral country), and preserved until the end of the war;

d) scuttle your ships within six hours.

Unthinkable that the French fleet would serve the Germans

These proposals arouse reservations, a little hesitation, but ultimately no positive response on the French side. And it is the fifth proposition that prevails: destruction. "J've been ordered by His Majesty's Government to use all necessary force to prevent your vessels from falling into the hands of the Germans and Italians" explains the end of the message.

Because, for Churchill, it is unthinkable that the French fleet should fall into the hands of the Germans, by virtue of the agreement dating from March 1940 which binds France and Great Britain not to conclude a separate peace. "The least that can be expected of the French government is that by abandoning the battle and letting all its weight fall on Great Britain and the British Empire, it carefully avoids inflicting a gratuitous wound on its faithful comrade whose final victory is the only chance for France to recover its freedom, now and in the future" explains the Prime Minister, on July 4, 1940, in a speech delivered to the House of Commons... It is difficult not to approve of it.

(Nicolas Gros-Verheyde)

(1) the site of the families of the victims (on which there are many diagrams and photos): http://www.ledrame-merselkebir.fr

(2) Read: Winston's "War Speech" Churchill

(photo credit: Le Bretagne en feu - source: blog of the families of the victims)

Nicolas Gros Verheyde

Chief editor of the B2 site. Graduated in European law from the University of Paris I Pantheon Sorbonne and listener to the 65th session of the IHEDN (Institut des Hautes Etudes de la Défense Nationale. Journalist since 1989, founded B2 - Bruxelles2 in 2008. EU/NATO correspondent in Brussels for Sud-Ouest (previously West-France and France-Soir).

One thought on “70 years ago, Mers el Kebir. Or Franco-British misunderstanding"

  • I find you unfair to the French. Faced with the debacle, national selfishness imposed itself – which was altogether natural – and this on both sides of the Channel. Hadn't the British launched the repatriation of their troops without warning their allies, and kept their planes to protect their island? In addition, it should be remembered that the word given in 1940 by the French sailors was respected: after the invasion of the southern zone, the fleet was scuttled rather than falling into German hands. The tragedies experienced by the Royal illustrate the heartbreak of the time...

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