Customer Reviews

The Deadly Stroke

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Tute examines one of the overlooked actions of World War Two when the British sink a French battle group before it could fall into the hands of the Germans or Italians. Not much has been written about this action, since it was the British who were the aggressor in this action. The main characters in this episode were the British negotiator Holland and the French admiral of the four battleships based in Oran, Algeria. Tute follows the negotiations through to the deadly conclusion where 1300 French sailors died and three French battleships sank.
I liked the way Tute described how the situation came to be with the collaspe of France in 1940. Some more material about when the British submarine sank the French cruiser would have also helped.

A period of WWII history we don't pay much attention to, the immediate aftermath of the fall of France in 1940 left the powerful French naval fleet at grave risk of falling under Nazi control. This book details what happened in what may well have been one of the decisive actions of WWII.

The battle was fought between British and French naval units who only days before had fought side by side, and had a far reaching impact on the course of WWII.

I only gave the book four stars because i was left feeling disappointed that the focus was too narrow. There is much more to the story than simply the naval battle at Mers el Kabir which i wish the author had gone into in more detail.