Vichy France Air Force

WWII Vichy France:Were Gestapo & Nazis active in French Colonies eg Caribbean, Senegal, Vietnam, FrGuiana?

Many colonies remained loyal to collaborationist Vichy France, did this allow access of German interests (such as German Navy vessels, Air force, Nazi Party, SS, Gestapo) to these colonies / overseas departments?

As far as I can discover, the Germans made no overt use of Vichy controlled facilities in the French Colonial Empire in the period between the 1940 armistice and the late-1942 occupation of the unoccupied zone of metropolitan France. By “overt” I mean anything other than the placement of covert operatives as intelligence gatherers.

In a way, that seems very strange, because Vichy could have done little to resist a German demand to refuel and supply ships and submarines, or to provide an air base for reconnaissance aircraft. Using Vichy facilities in that way would certainly have offered advantages to the Germans in, for example, the Battle of the Atlantic and in attacks on the Malta convoys.

I suspect that the main reason why it did not happen lies in Hitler’s motives for leaving part of Metropolitan France - and the whole of the overseas French empire - unoccupied in 1940. Having won a surprisingly cheap victory in France by June 1940, Hitler saw no point in going to the expense (money and manpower) of keeping France under subjection. By allowing the collaborationist Vichy regime to exist, Hitler got a good bargain. The French would have to continue to administer France (and the Empire), but under the thumb of Germany; and the French would have to pay Germany (at a vastly inflated exchange rate) for occupying northern and western France. But the downside of this deal from Hitler’s point of view was that Vichy France would have to be Neutral, at least in name. That meant, amongst other things, no overt use of Vichy facilities in the unoccupied zone or overseas by German military units.

Preserving Vichy “neutrality” had some indirect value for Germany too. Merchant ships could continue to trade between unoccupied France and the overseas empire; and those foreign goods and materials could reach Germany. If Vichy had been forced into a German alliance, the British naval blockade would have stopped that.

Of course, the British were never fully convinced about Vichy “neutrality”, as is shown by their pre-emptive strikes against Vichy forces at Mers-el-Kebir, Dakar and Gabon.

The Americans were not convinced either, despite the fact that they maintained diplomatic relations with the Vichy regime. As early as July 1940, the American military developed operational plans for the invasion and occupation of France’s Caribbean islands (principally Martinique, haven to a number of Vichy warships including the aircraft carrier “Bearn”). See link [1] below.

Apart from the Japanese takeover of French IndoChina (which had little or nothing to do with any German influence over Vichy), probably the closest that the Germans came to really making military use of a Vichy territory was in Madagascar. By early 1942, Japanese naval forces were moving with relative impunity into the Indian Ocean. Long-range Japanese submarines could have used bases in Madagascar to interdict Allied supply lines to both India/Burma and to the 8th Army in Egypt. It appears that this prospect looked attractive to both the Germans and the Japanese.

In any event, the Allies were so worried by it that in May 1942 the British launched Operation Ironclad, an amphibious assault on Madagascar. Vichy forces resisted, with some minor help from Japanese submarines. Madagascar was fully secured for the Allies in November 1942. See link [2] below.

As a footnote, we should remember that, following the Allied Torch landings in Morocco and Algeria, the Germans did occupy the French territory of Tunisia. But this came after the occupation of the whole of Metropolitan France.

Story of the 12th Air Force

French Aces of World War 2 (Osprey Aircraft of the Aces No 28) $17.94 French pilots endured fighting both with and against the Allies during World War 2. Possessing obsolescent aircraft at the outbreak of the war, the Armée de l'Air was decimated in the wake of the Blitzkrieg; however, a number of fighter units still achieved creditable scores flying Curtiss Hawks, Morane MS.406s and Dewoitine D.520s. Following the capitulation of France at the end of June 1940, ...

Vichy Air Force at War: The French Air Force That Fought the Allies in World War II. by Jon Sutherland, Diane Canwell $23.37 At the beginning of World War II the French faced the German invasion with 4,360 modern combat aircraft and 790 new machines currently arriving from French and American factories each month. When the phony war finally ended, some 119 of 210 squadrons were ready for action on the north-eastern front. The others were reequipping or stationed in the French colonies. Of the 119 squadrons France could ...

Technorati Tags: vichy france air force