![]() ![]() The Free French Forces (FFL) are remembered through the feats of army soldiers who resisted German General Erwin Rommel’s tanks at Bir Hakeim in 1942 and followed Free French Général Philippe Leclerc as he raced to Paris in 1944. This modus describes Free French navy relations with the Allied powers. They had to balance implied reliance on a hesitant ally, yet proclaim autonomy for the FFL. The awkward stance of the British in the critical months that followed Operation Catapult drove both de Gaulle and Muselier to maintain a guarded attitude in their dealings with British authorities. Those who wished to fight the Axis, senior would be provided the option of joining the king’s armed forces than the Forces Françaises Libres (Free French Forces) (FFL). The British offered to facilitate the return to France of those who wished to follow the famed Maréchal Philippe Pétain into proclaimed neutrality rather than rallying the unknown de Gaulle. Most French sailors outside of France’s metropolitan and colonial ports were corralled in British detention camps while their vessels were impounded by the Royal Navy. ![]() The challenge of that task would be considerable in manpower and funding to build a new navy. The Royal Navy turned on France without warning, at its moment of great distress, inflicting a devastating assault that severely damaged most of her ships at port, including battleships Bretagne and Dunkerque, wounding and killing about 2,000 French sailors and officers.įrench President and Acting Brigadier General Charles De Gaulle instructed Vice Admiral Émile Muselier to continue building up the movement’s devastated navy. ![]() The fate of Marine Nationale was sealed from that day forward, and years post World War II. And to prevent the Axis powers from taking control of the French Marine Nationale’s ships, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill ordered the seizure, neutralization, and destruction of all French Navy assets within reach. The French army was poorly led and equipped with inferior arms and equipment. The reasons for the sudden defeat of France are due to leadership failure at both military and political levels. France had fallen under the incessant firepower of the German blitzkrieg in 1940. ![]()
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