military@att.att.com (Bill Thacker) (07/08/90)
From: military@att.att.com (Bill Thacker) Friday, 5 July, 1940 Vichy France breaks off diplomatic relations with Britain in reprisal for the Mers-el-Kebir attack. Vichy French ships capture several British merchant vessels in reprisal for the Mers-el-Kebir raid, and Vichy aircraft stage an unsuccessful raid on shipping at Gibraltar. France warns that British vessels approaching within 20 miles of the French coastlines will be attacked. The U-34 torpedoes and sinks the destroyer HMS Whirlwind off Ireland, and the U-30 enters the newly-operational base at Lorient. Rumania's new government joins the Axis powers, invoking new policies, including anti-Semitic measures, intended to strengthen German-Rumanian ties. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Bill Thacker military@att.att.com Send submissions for "50 Years Ago" to military-request@att.att.com "The ties of comradeship and excessive fidelity are completely broken now." - French Foreign Minister Paul Baudoin.