The victorious German Blitzkrieg assault on Holland, Belgium and
Northern France placed Anglo-French relations under huge strain. The
Vichy surrender raised real British fears that the Germans would force
the French Fleet, the fourth largest in the world, to turn against their
former ally, while in fact their orders were to scuttle in the event of
the Germans attempting to seize them.
At War With Our Ally examines the background to the fall of France and
its consequences, most particularly the way the French Navy was dealt
with. It studies the confused situation that the chaos of devastating
defeat created including the rise of a relatively junior French general,
Charles de Gaulle who was smuggled out of France by the RAF on the night
of 16/17 June.
Elsewhere French ships were boarded and seized by the British and at
Oran, their Fleet was bombarded by the Royal Navy. There were numerous
other incidents with French aircraft bombing Gibraltar.