When Britain Blew Up the French Fleet - Mers El Kebir 1940

I mean the French had a peace option, and they decided to not take it… that sums it up for me

RIP all those sailors

Great strategy by England also a great chance to really stick it to the French haha, great stuff👍

Stragic correct, but a simple war crime, which is camouflaged by a diffuse argumentation of some danger. Short British eliminated their second big danger in Europe -France.

Every year the families gather and have a mass in Toulon and in Brest.

British people resisting their urge to annihilate French vessels 😡

Still speaking french ...how many allied troops died on the beach cos france surrendered ....Risk was to high

How do you say, "skill issue" in French?

fair take

we will take the carribean option please sails off wherever they like

All Churchill's unnecessary war crime did was encourage people in France to support the Vichy regime.

Recruitment for the Free France movement plummeted.

France should have joined the Axis.

I don't understand, did the british not offer any of the first three options, or did the french reject them? Because given the circumstances, refusing the offer to come back to britain and continue the fight really does bring your allegiance heavily into question as far as im concerned 😊

I think it was the right decision.

My Dad was a Royal marine during Ww2. And was Nauseatd at this Action.
But he knew only to well, if those French ships were taken by Germany or even Italy at that time.

England would have been in 'Do Do' up to their Necks.
And the 'Do Do' was already waist Deep, after Dunkirk.

It was a Sadly Needed Action..!
He was always bothered by the Fact that, on the Ships coming back from Dunkirk were a lot of French fighting men.

To Fire on them in Port felt Wrong.
After the War he Never Voted for Churchill in any Election..!
Such were his feelings over that Action..!

Sad but Required..!
Not every Frenchman was Against Germany.

"Lest we Forget..!"

Great Video. Thanks.
Cheers All. 😎

well the french are very good at giving up without a shot fired, there greatest legion to not give up is all foreigners.

Good work Churchill 🇬🇧🇬🇧

It makes me wonder why Somerville didn't order his battleships to first fire warning shots. I think hearing the British guns and seeing the shells land nearby would've been sufficient to show Gensoul that the British weren't bluffing.

Gensoul was an arrogant idiot

Below is the vebatim British ultimatum delivered to Adm Bruno-Marcel Gentoul at Mers-El-Kebir on the 3rd July 1940

"It is impossible for us, your comrades up to now, to allow your fine ships to fall into the power of the German or Italian enemy. We are determined to fight on until the end, and if we win, as we think we shall, we shall never forget that France was our Ally, that our interests are the same as hers, and that our common enemy is Germany. Should we conquer, we solemnly declare that we shall restore the greatness and territory of France. For this purpose, we must make sure that the best ships of the French Navy are not used against us by the common foe. In these circumstances, His Majesty’s Government have instructed me to demand that the French Fleet now at Mers-el-Kébir and Oran shall act in accordance with one of the following alternatives:

(a) Sail with us and continue the fight until victory against the Germans and Italians.

(b) Sail with reduced crews under our control to a British port. The reduced crews would be repatriated at the earliest moment. If either of these courses is adopted by you, we will restore your ships to France at the conclusion of the war or pay full compensation, if they are damaged meanwhile.

(c) Alternatively, if you feel bound to stipulate that your ships should not be used against the Germans or Italians unless these break the Armistice, then sail them with us with reduced crews, to some French port in the West Indies—Martinique for instance—where they can be demilitarised to our satisfaction, or perhaps be entrusted to the United States and remain safe until the end of the war, the crews being repatriated.

If you refuse these fair offers, I must, with profound regret, require you to sink your ships within 6 hours.

Finally, failing the above I have orders of His Majesty's Government to use whatever force may be necessary to prevent your ships us from falling into German or Italian hands."

what the british did was nothing short of treachery

Don't t F**K with Churchill! When a man simply says "No" to global tyranny your fighting a Lion. Kudos to the US BTW.

When reading the ultimatum, the inexperienced "Limbic brain thinker" is mesmerizingly drawn to "choice (a)"...
I wonder why?

" ... His Majesty’s Government have instructed me to demand that the French Fleet now at Mers el Kebir and Oran shall act in accordance with one of the following alternatives; (a) Sail with us and continue the fight until victory against the Germans, (b) Sail with reduced crews under our control to a British port. The reduced crews would be repatriated at the earliest moment. If either of these courses is adopted by you we will restore your ships to France at the conclusion of the war or pay full compensation if they are damaged meanwhile. (c) Alternatively if you feel bound to stipulate that your ships should not be used against the Germans unless they break the Armistice, then sail them with us with reduced crews to some French port in the West Indies — Martinique for instance — where they can be demilitarised to OUR satisfaction, or perhaps be entrusted to the United States and remain safe until the end of the war, the crews being repatriated. If you refuse these fair offers (edit: LOL, a false premise), I must with profound regret, require you to sink your ships within 6 hours ..."
Note here: All alternatives would have resulted in the removal of these French naval vessels, meaning that there would be no defense against seaborne elements of a potential future attack, to protect French citizens in Tunesia and Algeria.
London: "Looky here. I have a scrap of paper that says WE have the same enemy, but YOU are going to do most of the dying, and our common best fwiends in Washington DC are totally fine with that."
SIR Bolivar: "How honorable of us (ingroup conclusion."

How the mind of a deceiver works:
The deception offered by option (a), sticks out like a sore thumb
If chosen, it would mean that France broke the armistice conditions shortly after signing it, meaning that Italy would no longer be bound by these Armistice conditions. Not only Italy of course, but nothing then stopped Germany from occupying ALL of France as a result, leading to more FRENCH bloodshed and destruction of FRENCH property. If the French stuck to the armistice, on the other hand, it would leave roughly 80% of the French navy as deterence in the Med (40% in Oran/40% in Toulon/status quo). If they chose option (a), it would leave only 40% of the French Navy in Toulon, and possibly none, should Germany decide to occupy all of France because it broke the armistice. NO French ships to deter an attack to French North African territory, because they would have nowhere to operate from should Germany occupy all of France, and Italy if struck at Tunesia/Algeria.
Goading Italy into sending her massive Libyan armies westwards to fight France, rather than eastwards to fight GB, towards the Suez Canal, or if both were tried by Italy, then seriously weakening the forces available for attacking Egypt.
Choosing option (a) would have risked that the entire French Navy had no legal basis to operate under (no French based state), becoming fugives, maybe being forced to hope for breakaway French colony as harbor, and if none of the above then to join Great Britain like the Dutch Navy before, because the Empire HAD naval bases, just what London wanted: the French fleet under British CONTROL, to protect the British Empire "for free."
THE "DIVISION" PER "RULING" OF THE FRENCH EMPIRE
Note here that the Dutch government/navy can NOT serve as an example of "honorable solution" for France a few weeks later, since after May 1940, the Netherlands had nothing more to lose in Europe. All its unoccupied territory was far outside of the reach of the Axis powers (Indo-Pacific),an therefore a typical "apples/oranges"-comparrison.
If France chose the same "honorable government-in-exile" solution as Den Hague, as one can be easily misguided into thinking, France would lose even more: potentially French North Africa, to the "hyena Italy" and the total occupation of all her citizens by Germany. Meanwhile, for all of that, there was no guarantee that London might not simply make a deal with Berlin herself a few weeks later, in order to save its Empire from collapse, because a weak London offered the perfect opportunity for an expanded Axis Berlin-Moscow.

Note here, it was all about the British Empire, while saying "we".
Not a single word is wasted about any contigencies for the protection of French territory or citizens in North Africa, in the event of an attack by (most likely) Italy, being in the most advantageous location to make use of this stage of "French weakness" to invade Tunesia and Algeria (main attack/land warfare), and use the wide-open ports if the French navy bowed down to British demands, as re-supply and landing points for stores and equipment. The entire purpose of a navy is defense against such forms of enemy naval operations in support of land warfare. The ultimatum was a cleverly disguised intention to trade the French Navy in for a "promise" of protecting these with the Royal navy, or a combination of ships under British control.

London: YOU shall be given the choice between deception (a) and dishonor (aka the "false dichtomy").
Paris: Nah, thanks.

London: YOU shall break your armistice agreement, by choosing either deception or dishonor, and continue the Battle of France because it is advantageous to US.
Paris: Nah, thanks.

London: YOU shall continue the Battle of France, with NO visible potential for success, because neither WE or the USA is lifting as much as a finger to help (effective support). YOU shall "extend Germany" for as long as possible, to the LAST FRENCH SOLDIER, and goad Italy into attacking Tunesia/Algeria which is YOUR territory, away from Egypt, which is OUR territory.
Paris: Nah, thanks.

London: Your citizens in France, and your cities and towns, shall goad Germany into continuing their attack, because you broke the armistice with them ...ahem "voluntarily" (he, he,he) so it's ALL YOUR OWN FAULT if the Germans choose to occupy all of France, just like we successfully implemented in Norway in April ("drawing" the bull, off the matador).
Paris: Nah, thanks.

London: YOU shall bow down to a mere captain, who doesn't even have the slightest POWER OF NEGOTIATION, who will decide the future of your citizens and your navy.
Paris: Nah, thanks.

London: YOU shall sacrifice French cities and towns and French blood, to save OURS, because you were stupid enough to make a treaty with us. Guess what? WE are an island, which we shall largely retreat to, and YOU have a border with our enemy (imbalance in power).
Paris: Nah, thanks.

London: YOU shall bleed MORE so that WE shall bleed less, just like Poland before.
Paris: Nah, thanks.

London: And the coolest, COOLEST thing all, YOU are not going to complan about all your BLEEDING, because it was avoluntary decision. We had absolutely nothing to do with YOUR choices.
France: Yeah, right...

London: We have the POWER of the superior mind, because it doesn't matter what WE do, the overwhelming majority of our citizens, in blind trust and incapable of grasping how we tick (strategy), will cheer us along because of our words, and they will do so into their own destruction.
Paris: Yeah, I guess I'm fine with that.

London: Let me rephrase those famous words for you... YOU shall fight on (faraway) beaches, FOR the interests of the British Empire, without even being aware that you are fighting for the British Empire. YOU shall fight in the hills in Tunesia or Algeria, FOR the interests of the British Empire, without even being aware that you are fighting for the British Empire. WE will ensure that the Battle of Britain will start with "a depleted Luftwaffe", and far less firepower, because most of the planes were bombing somewhere else.
(Sounds of cheering crowds in the background)
Paris: I said, nah thanks...

On the 3rd of July 1940, France finally found out what it had signed up for as mere "entente"-best fwiend in 1904, as "buck catcher" (Prof. John Mearsheimer) for the British Empire. It went out the "buck catching"-way, same as Czechoslovakia, Poland, Norway before, and the same way the Ukraine is being "extended today", and will most likely go out the same "buck catching"-way.
Obviously, viewed through the lens of systems/strategy (specifically grand strategy), if the "favored nation" os the "buck catcher", it can also be used to goad a rival of the "buck passer" (the greater power in the relationship). The "buck passer/s" can then steer, manage, or moderate the resulting crisis or war.

Even Churchill was not convinced that every London lord would be fine with such a mockery of the term "friendship", and prepared two speeches. One defiant, one conciliatory. But he was wrong, and after the bloodbath there was no need to roll out the "conciliation".

They were given a choice, and they refused. Enough said.

Can't find part 2
Does it include the work of Captain Roberts and WATU in Ĺiverpool and their wargaming which exposed U-boat tactics and made them more vulnerable?

What did the French think we in the UK should do in 1940 ? ? ? Perhaps surrender like them !

a tragic loss of French sailors, sacrificed for the arrogance of a French Admiral

Britain didn’t sunk the French fleet! Britain SANK the French fleet...

no way. i can't believe I just learned this. this is crazy.

Frenchman says he will not fight against the Germans...what an asshole and a moron for not believing them. This was just the most recent time that the British sank a navay to prevent a continental power from using it against them. It happened to Denmark twice.

The problem with any criticism of the British is that it doesn't really take into account just how desperate this war was. The situation in 1940 was terrible for the future of the UK and the rest of Europe. Utterly terrible.

Even the remote possibility of these powerful warships falling into German hands could change the entire complexion of Naval dominance in the Atlantic and Northern waters. Tragic, yes, but I keep looking at this incident and I always struggle to find an alternative course of action by the British.

War is hell and horrible decisions have to be made. The Royal Navy commanders knew they had to do it, and many of them would have had a tear in their eye.

It's the same french fleet under vice admiral Arial that save the british at dunkirk a month earlier.....

Can’t rely on the French

The French would have scuttled their fleet, as they did in November 1942.

When Gensoul refused to meet with the delegation because his ego was bruised, there really was no option to do anything but open fire. He lied to the Royal Navy, lied to his superiors, lied to his own officers and men... The man cost hundreds of lives and valuable ships

If you look at their actions during the war, the British and French were enemies, not allies.

When Britain SANK the French fleet. The British will SINK the fleet. The British SANK the fleet. The British have SUNK the fleet. It’s not difficult.

churchill showed he wasn't beaten by sinking his allies' ships.

When Britain SANK......!!! Speak English.

One only has to look at past history, I'm afraid that although French soldiers and sailors were willing to do their best their leadership has been pretty poor on many occasions. Trafalgar for one. Mind you, it was rather unfair, we had a God - Nelson. I wonder why he went on deck dressed like something from an Italian opera ? Far too simple to say, it was to boost his men's moral.

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It was the French’s choice

This certainly is a tragedy. But the French Navy Commanders attitude may be the reason France fell so quickly to the Germans.

At that time the French "May" have capitulated to the German's especialy the "vichy" !
Churhill was not having any chance of deceit and that bears out because of the instructions given to the French Commander and action or non action on that terrible day at El Kabir.
WAR shall alway's be failure for both sides.

French pride cost thousands of lives.

Nothing but base treachery and I wouldn't hold it against them if they'd assisted all comers against the British. Churchill should have been held accountable for his actions.

The Brits just needed to relax with an old passion for a while, they were under a lot of stress at the time!!

France: "Hey Britain, we're surrendering because our army is smashed, we're still allies though."
Britain: "You're right, better hand over your ships so the Germans can't use them."
France: ".... No..."

The French sound like a woman. 'We'll scuttle the ships... only if it's our idea.'... f'n losers... totally their fault.