Tag Archives: Darlan

This week in the War, 21–27 December 1942: Vichy’s Admiral Francois Darlan is assassinated in Algiers

Admiral François Darlan, the one-time right-hand man of Vichy head-of-state, Maréchal Philippe Pétain, was assassinated in Algiers this week in the war, on 24 December 1942. At the time of the Operation Torch landings in North Africa, Darlan had switched his allegiance from … Continue reading

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This week in the War, 2–8 November 1942: Operation Torch

On the morning of 8 November 1942, an Anglo-American expeditionary force commanded by American general, Dwight D. Eisenhower, landed in the vicinities of Casablanca, Oran, and Algiers, in Vichy-French North Africa. Operation Torch, which had first been discussed by Roosevelt … Continue reading

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This week in the War, 11–17 August 1941: The evil wind

On 12 August 1941, Vichy’s head of state Marshal Philippe Pétain made a radio broadcast to the people of France. He had felt an evil wind (vent mauvais) blowing across many areas of France, he told them. He said that the … Continue reading

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This week in the War, 2–8 June 1941: The Syria-Lebanon Campaign

On 8 June 1941, British, Commonwealth and Free French forces invaded Syria and Lebanon to attack the Vichy-French garrisons. The aim was to prevent the German army and Luftwaffe from developing bases that would threaten the British hold on Egypt. … Continue reading

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