In the summer of 1940, Winston Churchill faced a terrible dilemma. France had just surrendered, and only the English Channel stood between the Nazis and Britain. Germany was poised to seize the entire French fleet, one of the biggest in the world. With these ships, Hitler’s threat to invade Britain could become a reality. Churchill had to make a choice. He could either trust the promises of the new French government that they would never hand over their ships to Hitler or he could make sure that the ships never joined the German navy by destroying them himself.
Vice Admiral Francois Darlan, chief of staff of the French Navy.This program explores what Churchill did next, the reasons why, and how 1,300 French sailors died. This is the forgotten story of Churchill’s deadliest decision: to sink the French Fleet.
Tuesday at 8 p.m. on PBS-HD 6.
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