An 803 Squadron pilot follows Force H's ultimatum, magnetic mining at the harbor entrance, Strasbourg's escape, Skua fighter cover, and Swordfish torpedo attacks. He expected the French fleet to accept internment in Martinique or Guadeloupe, join Britain, or scuttle, which explains the sickness he recalls when British guns opened fire. The second strike torpedoed Dunkerque, and his mess rejected a pilot's boast that he had machine-gunned French sailors in the water. That pilot had flown for Franco during the Spanish Civil War, a detail that sharpens the witness's judgment about moral conduct. The account then follows 803 Squadron as it re-equipped with Fulmars, joined HMS Formidable, and sailed toward West Africa for the attempt to take Dakar.
Chapter · 1:38-4:54
Ark Royal and the Mers-el-Kebir attack
A Fleet Air Arm account places Ark Royal's aircraft over Mers-el-Kebir and shows both the tactical sequence and the moral shock of attacking a recent ally.