History
After the defeat of France, Marshal Henri-Philippe Pétain was forced to sign the armistice with Germany on 22 June 1940. This was however not the end for the French Air Force. The branch was soon split into two camps: those who escaped from France and joined the Free French Forces (Forces Françaises Libres) and those who stayed and flew for the French Armistice Air Force on behalf of the Vichy government. Initially the Germans wanted to disband the air force completely, and all personnel were to be demobilized by mid-September. However, on 3 July 1940 the British Royal Navy attacked the French fleet anchored in the Algerian ports of Oran and Mers-el-Kebir. Angered, the French broke all connections with the British. The Germans now agreed to the forming of a Vichy French air force.
Read more about this topic: Vichy French Air Force
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“No matter how vital experience might be while you lived it, no sooner was it ended and dead than it became as lifeless as the piles of dry dust in a school history book.”
—Ellen Glasgow (1874–1945)
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—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)