1939
SEPTEMBER
1939
France
declared war on Germany
1940
JUNE
1940
France
surrendered to Germany and Italy -
The Franco-German
surrender document was signed. Its
provisions included
German occupation of the Channel and
Biscay coasts and
demilitarisation of the French fleet
under Axis control.
The south east of France remained French
under pro-German
Vichy control.
SEPTEMBER
1940
Vichy
France - Three French cruisers
sailed from Toulon
and, on the 11th, passed through the
Strait of Gibraltar
bound for French West Africa. All but
one of the cruisers
arrived at Dakar just as Operation
'Menace' was about to
get underway. This was the unsuccessful
Anglo-Free French
attempt to occupy this strategic port.
1941
1942
NOVEMBER
1942
8th
- French North African Landings:
Operation 'Torch'
Southern
France - Hitler ordered German
troops into unoccupied
Vichy France on the 11th. On the 27th,
SS units tried to
capture the French fleet at Toulon. They
were too late to
stop the scuttling of three battleships,
seven cruisers,
30 destroyers, 16 submarines and many
other smaller
vessels.
1943
JANUARY
1943
21st
- Submarine "Sahib" on patrol off
western
Corsica, the French island north of
Sardinia, sank German
"U-301".
MAY
1943
21st
-
British submarine "Sickle" on patrol
south of
Toulon, southern France torpedoed German
"U-303".
OCTOBER
1943
30th
-
Submarine "Ultimatum" on patrol off
Toulon sank
"U-431"
1944
MAY
1944
Merchant
Shipping
War - U-boats had only managed to
sink 10
merchantmen in the Mediterranean in the
first five months
of 1944. In return 15 had been lost,
including three in
USAAF raids on Toulon, southern France -
two in March and
one in April.
JUNE
1944
Normandy
Invasion 6th June, Operation
'Overlord'
AUGUST
1944
|
15th
-
South of France Landings:
Operation 'Dragoon'
Originally
code-named
'Anvil', the South of France
invasion
was planned to coincide with
the Normandy
landings. Since that decision
was made, Britain
pushed for the Allies to
concentrate on the
Italian campaign, but under US
pressure agreed to
go ahead with the now re-named
Operation
'Dragoon' using forces
withdrawn from US Fifth
Army in Italy. No major
British units were
involved and for the first
time in the
Mediterranean the Royal Navy
was in the minority
in both ships and commanders.
However, Adm Sir
John Cunningham remained Naval
C-in-C.
|
Landing
Areas: |
Three
Attack
Forces landing on
the southern
French
mainland between
Toulon and Cannes.
A fourth
Force on the
offshore islands
|
|
Forces
landing: |
US
Seventh Army - Gen
Patch
US Sixth Corps
followed-up by
French Second
Corps
|
|
Departure
from: |
Italy,
Algeria
|
|
Naval
Attack Force
Commanders: |
Naval
Control force
Commander
Vice-Adm H K
Hewitt USN
US Rear-Adms
Davidson, Lewis,
Lowry, Rodgers
|
|
Naval
Control, Attack
&
Convoy Escort Forces
|
British
&
Allied
|
French
|
U.S.A.
|
|
Battleships
|
1
|
1
|
3
|
|
Cruisers
|
7
|
5
|
8
|
|
Destroyers
& escorts |
27
|
19
|
52
|
|
Other
warships |
69
|
6
|
157
|
|
Attack
transports & LSIs
|
9
|
-
|
23
|
|
Landing
craft & ships
(major
only) |
141
|
-
|
369
|
|
Totals
|
254
|
31
|
612
|
|
Grand
Total |
897
|
The warships were allocated
across the four
attack forces and, in addition,
over 1,300 mainly
assault landing craft took part
in the landings.
Air cover and support was
provided by Rear-Adm
Troubridge with seven British
and two US escort
carriers. After intensive air
and sea
bombardments, the landings took
place against
light resistance accompanied by
US airborne drops
inland. Both the US and French
Corps soon spread
out and headed north after the
retreating
Germans. Before the month was
out, Cannes, Toulon
and Marseilles had fallen into
Allied hands. |
SEPTEMBER
1944
South of
France -
Conclusion - The Allies reached
Lyons on the 3rd and
by the 12th, French troops advancing
from the south had
met French units of Gen Patton's US
Third Army near
Dijon.
The
French campaign is continued in
Western
Europe
1944-45
End
of the
Mediterranean U-boats - The last
three U-boats in the
Mediterranean were lost to sea and air
attack in
September. Since June 1944 the other
eight surviving
U-boats had all been lost at Toulon,
five in USAAF raids
and three blown up to prevent capture.
