Vichy - part two

[Brenus]

Euh, I can confirm the propaganda mistake because I got a reproduction of it in a book, in France. So I can’t scan it, I am living in U.K. nowadays.
Now, about Mers El Khebir, my former father-in-law said to me that it was a real moment of tension between the FNFL and the Royal Navy, between the crews. More, it was another humiliation for the French, they were sitting ducks, and it isn’t a pleasant thought for a war Navy.
However, for Dakar, this time the French Navy succeeded to push back the Royal Navy, damaging severely some ships, it prove that the French sailors weren’t so bad, when chances were equal.
And the guy who told me that was with the English…
Human emotions, patriotism and politic demands made things difficult to understand.

“By the way, did you know that the French bombed Gibraltar”. No, I didn’t, but I am not really surprise. Something had to be done. Now, the solely real asset of the Vichy was the fleet and the Empire. To engage the fleet against the Allies could have been a blow for the Allies. However, it could have been the end of the French Colonial Empire. So why to go in war with a nails-clipper (or equivalent), to gain what, when ultimately, you have a lot to loose?
Even when the British invaded Syria, Vichy refused German help. With good reasons: In Tunisia, the French Army fought with the Allies.

Can you imagine that a nation makes an air raid against Gibraltar and Britain does not declare war, esp. with a PM like Churchill? I think he had enough ennemies without the need to add some more. And, politically, Churchill recongnised De Gaulle as legitimate representative of France.