The British attack at Mers el Kebir

Churchill was determined to make sure that none of Vichy France's four fine battleships were seized by the Germans. If the Germans captured these ships they could control the Mediterranean Sea. The French fleet was anchored at Mers el Kebir, on the coast of French Algeria. Its admiral, Darlan, was given two choices by the British. He could either sail his ships to a British port where they could join the Free French forces and help the fight against Germany, or he could order his men to sink their own ships to stop the Germans capturing them. If the French did not make one of these choices, the British fleet would sink their ships for them.

The French admiral promised the British admiral, Somerville, that the ships would never fall into German hands. However, he would not accept either of the choices offered to him. At 17.55 on 3 July 1940 Somerville ordered his ships to open fire on their former allies. In the next nine minutes, 1300 French sailors were killed and three of their battleships were put out of action. Churchill had proved to the world that Britain would stop at nothing to carry on with the war - even sinking the ships of a country which two weeks earlier had been Britain's only ally.

In November 1942 the Germans did try to seize control of the rest of the Vichy French fleet. Admiral Darlan gave orders for his men to sink their own ships to prevent the Germans capturing them. Over 50 ships were sunk. Darlan had kept his promise.

Neil Demarco: The era of the Second World War; Oxford University Press, 1993/2000, page 31