“A HATEFUL DECISION”
“CHURCHILL COULD NOT FULLY TRUST THE NEW VICHY GOVERNMENT AND WITH THE BRITISH EMPIRE NOW ALONE, DRASTIC MEASURES WERE REQUIRED”
The British naval attack on the French fleet at Mers-el-Kébir, Algeria, was one of the most controversial military decisions of Churchill’s premiership. A strike against a former ally, Mers-el-Kébir resulted in the deaths of almost 1,300 French sailors and hardened the resolve of the newly established pro-German Vichy regime against Britain.
After the fall of France, the French signed an armistice with Nazi Germany on 22 June 1940. Article 8 stated: “The French
