Swordfish Under Fighter Attacks?

[lcm1]

Originally Posted by flash

Hi LCM1
Notice of what?

Not to sure of your reaction to my mail Flash, if it was intended to be funny I will politely laugh,if not,in which case it could be sarcasm and I will not bother with you any more. lcm1

[flash]

Originally Posted by lcm1

Not to sure of your reaction to my mail Flash, if it was intended to be funny I will politely laugh,if not,in which case it could be sarcasm and I will not bother with you any more. lcm1

Oh,sorry LCM1, I certainly didn't mean to upset you.
Allow me to explain.
You said you agreed with one of my posts but nobody takes notice anyway,I responded with "Notice of what" as if to say notice of what?
It's just my pathetic attempt at humour..

[clackers]

Originally Posted by flash

I can't believe that Hitler thought there was any fight left in France,do you believe there was?

I've just quoted you from an expert Hitler's reluctance to let France fight on beside Britain from its colonies and with its fleet, in the same way that the Dutch, Poles, Czechs and others did. What else do you need?

He only occupied the rest of France when he realised that from Operation Torch this was what was happening anyway.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Case_Anton

Originally Posted by flash

One could argue that the dissolution of the French state absolved Darlan of any obligations to the former. The Nation he had sworn fealty to had ceased to exist.

No, for better or worse, this unholy mix of conservatives and collaborators was the official government and was recognized as such by the US, the SU, Australia and Canada. There was no government in exile as there was for the Netherlands.

De Gaulle said otherwise, but of course, he had even less legitimacy.

Originally Posted by flash

Churchill for all his faults was one of the few who had seen through Hitlers facade and knew that ,if left alone,at some point the powerful French fleet would be suborned into the axis Navy.

No, he didn't know. Despite being advised by people like Dudley Pound, Admiral of the Home Fleet.

And in fact it never happened. Not after a thousand lives being lost at Mers El Kebir, not even after the Torch landings.

It also led to unnecessary c@ckups like this one:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Dakar

[At ease]

Originally Posted by redcoat

The RN was fully aware of the shortcomings of the Swordfish against modern fighters that's why they operated them mainly at night or outside the range of land based fighters.

If Indomitable had not run aground in the West Indies prior to joining up with "Force Z", I don't think there would have been much opportunity to try to avoid Swordfish/Albacores going in harms way under conditions not conducive to loss minimisation.

If the Swordfish/Albacores had been slaughtered in the Far East in the protection of "Force Z"(as they most certainly would have been), I am wondering if any commander would have had the courage to ask Esmonde & crews to participate in Operation "Fuller"?

[lcm1]

Originally Posted by clackers

I've just quoted you from an expert Hitler's reluctance to let France fight on beside Britain from its colonies and with its fleet, in the same way that the Dutch, Poles, Czechs and others did. What else do you need?

He only occupied the rest of France when he realised that from Operation Torch this was what was happening anyway.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Case_Anton



No, for better or worse, this unholy mix of conservatives and collaborators was the official government and was recognized as such by the US, the SU, Australia and Canada. There was no government in exile as there was for the Netherlands.

De Gaulle said otherwise, but of course, he had even less legitimacy.



No, he didn't know. Despite being advised by people like Dudley Pound, Admiral of the Home Fleet.

And in fact it never happened. Not after a thousand lives being lost at Mers El Kebir, not even after the Torch landings.

It also led to unnecessary c@ckups like this one:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Dakar

It is easy to look back on the situation regarding the French fleet at that time, particularly as we can now say, it would never have happened BUT Dudley Pound had no past record of being able to tell fortunes and who really knew at that time what the next move by the Germans would be? The French had some very useful warships sitting there and as callous as it may seem now,there was the possibility of hundreds of British lives at stake in the future and perhaps the war itself,so I imagine WSC thought,'Better safe than sorry' and I am sure that many people that now condemn him for the action that was taken,would have in that same time and situation thought the same thing and done the same thing!! lcm1