When My Story Was Breaking News

Eighty-one years ago today – on July 5, 1940 – the front page of the New York Times splashed the story of a British attack on the French fleet in a harbor on the coast of Algeria. The actual event took place two days before – on July 3, 1940 . The British strike was noteworthy because Britain and France had fought side-by-side as allies as recently as two weeks prior to this assault. (Note: the third row of the headline is about an unrelated bomb blast at the New York World’s Fair – a crime that was never solved).

Subheads and corollary articles in that day's paper tell more of the story. The battle took place at Mers el-Kebir, near Oran, a French port on the coast of Algeria. The French ships were sunk, and roughly 1,300 French seamen were killed, after a French admiral defied a British ultimatum to comply with one of several peaceful options offered by the British – which, for their part, the French considered unnecessary and dishonorable. Another confrontation occurred that same day in Alexandria, Egypt. In that Mediterranean port, two bold and reasonable admirals were able to settle matters peacefully.

The decision to attack the French fleet weighed heavily on Winston Churchill, who revered France and the French. Churchill had been Prime Minister for less than two months at the time of the attack, and did not yet have the full support of Parliament. After Churchill explained the British action in a speech to the House of Commons on July 4, however, he was met with boisterous cheers. Tears rolled down his cheeks as he took his seat after his speech.

I wrote about William Bullitt, America’s Ambassador to France – who shared Churchill’s extraordinary affection for France - two newsletters ago. Not surprisingly, the French government relied on Bullitt as their initial conduit to protest the British action.

You might think that Adolph Hitler would be delighted to see two of his enemies at battle with one another. And he was! … but his propaganda machine could not resist using this clash as an excuse to assail Churchill, labeling him the “Greatest Criminal in All History.” For good measure, a German press release added: “It would not surprise us if the English people … were to hang Winston Churchill to the gallows facing the Nelson Statue on Trafalgar Square.”

As Britain and the Commonwealth fought alone against Nazi Germany for a year and a half, Winston Churchill also fought to win the support of the United States. Senator Key Pittman, the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee had been highly skeptical of Britain’s ability to stand up to Germany. In the wake of the British attack on the French fleet, however, Senator Pittman declared: “Every member of the United States Senate approves Churchill's course and applauds his courage in preventing the use of the French Navy by Hitler.”

There is much more to this story, including, of course, the French point of view. This is the story that inspired me to research and write about the details. I've got a book to finish writing!

Thanks for reading,
Bill