Operation Menace

"A fascinating and well-written account of a failed military operation that deserves to be on the bookshelves of all those interested in naval history." —Marine NewsContinuing on from his study of the Oran operation of July 1940, when the French warships were destroyed at Mers-el-Kébir, the author investigates the allied expedition of September that year, with De Gaulle present, which unsuccessfully attempted to break the French at Dakar away from the Vichy Government. In addition, there is the story of the Admiral Sir Dudley North, Flag Officer Commanding at Gibraltar at the time, who was relieved from his post after allowing a French naval squadron to pass out of the Mediterranean and so jeopardize the Dakar operation.A pet operation of Prime Minister Churchill, it was undertaken against all advice, and it turned out to be a fiasco. In the author''s words, "Menace exemplifies, in its genesis, planning, and execution, all that can go wrong in warfare; an operation fouled up by