who so determinedly contested us until the receipt from Algiers of Admiral Darlan’s declaration of an armistice. When I met him at Fedhala on November 11 (the anniversary of the World War I armistice), I offered him my hand and expressed my regret at having had to fire on the tricolor, the flag of a nation we always had considered as a friend. He took the proffered hand and said, “Admiral, you had your orders, and you carried them out. I had mine, and I carried them out. Now, I am ready to cooperate with you in every possible way.” And cooperate he did, heartily and effectively, until months later, when he was removed from his command by the French Provisional Government—despite, it may be said, U.S. naval protest to the Supreme Allied Command. He remains, I am glad to say, a friend to this day—he and many other French naval leaders with whom it was my pleasure to be associated.
The French Navy is one of centuries-old traditions. It has prided itself, as a “corps d’élite”, on its morale, its aloofness from politics, and its allegiance to what it considered to be the legally constituted government of France. From personal association with it in Morocco, in the Mediterranean, and, later, in France, I can testify to its esprit, its élan, and its efficiency, even under the most adverse of circumstances.
Let us hope that the proud French Navy will ever remain our friend and ally, and that it will never again be called upon to undergo a travail such as that of 1940-1944.
H. Kent Hewitt
ADMIRAL, U. S. NAVY (RET.)
Orwell, Vermont
May, 1958
Table of Contents
FOREWORD
PREFACE
INTRODUCTION
PART I: The Navy at War
CHAPTER 1 The Naval Tradition of France
CHAPTER 2 The Navy on the Eve of the Second World War
CHAPTER 3 The Opening of Hostilities
CHAPTER 4 Protecting the Sea Lanes
CHAPTER 5 In Search of a Strategy
CHAPTER 6 The Diversionary Operation in Norway
CHAPTER 7 France Invaded
CHAPTER 8 The Miracle at Dunkirk
CHAPTER 9 Fall of the French Atlantic Ports
CHAPTER 10 Fifteen Days of War in the Mediterranean
CHAPTER 11 The Armistice Between France and the Axis
CHAPTER 12 The Misunderstanding Over Article 8
CHAPTER 13 The Drama of Mers-el-Kebir
PART II: Maintaining the National Heritage
CHAPTER 14 Naval Politics Under the Armistice
CHAPTER 15 The Free French Naval Forces
CHAPTER 16 Feeding France Under the Armistice
CHAPTER 17 Defending the Empire
CHAPTER 18 Threat and Crisis in the Far East
PART III: Back to the Fight
CHAPTER 19 The Anglo-American Landings in North Africa—The Prelude
CHAPTER 20 The Anglo-American Landings in North Africa—Tragedy and Turning Point
CHAPTER 21 France Totally Occupied
CHAPTER 22 Tragedy at Toulon and Bizerte
CHAPTER 23 Rejoining the Allies
CHAPTER 24 French Naval Operations, 1943-1944
CHAPTER 25 The Navy in Occupied France
PART IV: The Return Home
CHAPTER 26 Normandy and the Beginning of the Liberation
CHAPTER 27 The Provence Landings and Toulon
CHAPTER 28 Paris—And the Last Winter
CHAPTER 29 The Navy in Indochina
CHAPTER 30 Bitter Reunion
CHAPTER 31 Conclusion
APPENDICES
INDEX
List of Illustrations
Admiral Darlan decorates the defenders of Dunkirk—French cruisers on maneuvers in 1937
Bourrasque sinks off Nieuport—Old coastal battery in Dunkirk sector
Dakar harbor before the Anglo-Free French attack on September 23, 1940—General Barrau, Admiral Landriau, and Captain Marzin conferring on Richelieu at Dakar—Freighter Tacoma being towed out of Dakar harbor—A near-miss on a destroyer at Dakar
Marshal Pétain and Admiral Darlan—Admiral de Laborde—Armistice Commission at Wiesbaden
Admiral Auphan inspects a naval detachment at Toulon (©Marcel de Renzis)—Entrance to the navy yard at Brest
Admiral Muselier inspects the submarine Rubis at Dundee—On the bridge of the corvette Lobelia
General de Gaulle presiding at a meeting of the Free French Committee in 1941—Corvette Mimosa at Saint Pierre Island
At Toulon, Colbert’s forward turrets (©Marcel de Renzis)—Scuttled sloops in Toulon harbor (©Marcel de Renzis)
Scuttled destroyers at Toulon (©Marcel de Renzis)—Algérie and Strasbourg scuttled at Toulon
Jean Bart at Casablanca on November 11, 1942—Undamaged gun battery at Casablanca—General Eisenhower, Admiral Darlan, and Admiral A. B. Cunningham at Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Algiers—Damaged Dunkerque at Toulon
French troops disembarking in Corsica—Gloire with French troops aboard entering Naples harbor—The French Navy returns to Toulon
List of Charts and Diagrams
