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Preface

The Second World War has probably been the most trying period in the history of the French Navy. Aside from the material hardships, it was the unhappy outcome of the 1940 campaign, the armistice, the occupation of the homeland, and the war that continued which brought the Navy’s corps of officers face to face with tragic problems of conscience. Their behavior in these times of crisis gave rise to hasty judgments, which were the result of exaggerated propaganda, and which history is already in the process of revising.

It was not in order to defend a particular attitude that we undertook to write this book. We did so, rather with the conviction that only a strict presentation of the facts could explain the different stands taken, clear up misunderstandings, and reconcile divergent opinions.

Perhaps it would have been desirable for such an account to come from a historian who had no part in the tragedy, whereas both of us were deeply involved in it. But, apart from the fact that events are often incomprehensible to those who have not lived through them, we do not believe that our having stayed with the majority in the path of discipline prevents us from understanding those who, under very difficult circumstances, elected to do otherwise.

One of the authors having been chosen by destiny to hold high positions in the Government, a respect for the truth has constrained us not to conceal either the deed or the thought. We have endeavored to write objectively, with the serenity allowed by the passage of time, and without giving our book the appearance of pleading a cause or of justifying it.

The facts which we report have been assembled and verified during the course of long years of research, reading, and thought. If at times our experiences have permitted us to add our personal testimony, we have not stated anything that cannot readily be documented. We could have increased, ad infinitum, the number of footnote references. We purposely limited these in order to make the book more readable by avoiding frequent interruptions in the thread of the story. Beyond our personal recollections, one or the other of us was able to have long discussions with most of the leaders who were directly involved in the events related. These discussions have clarified and filled out the picture of events resulting from a study of official records. Such discussions, checked against the innumerable personal accounts published in France and abroad, in Allied as well as in enemy countries, have brought us special advantages which other less favored authors might not have been in a position to obtain.

We realize that, in explaining events and in evaluating their effects, one may well arrive at opinions different from those we have reached. We believe that, as with all human endeavors, this one is not perfect and perhaps constitutes only a step toward an understanding of what took place. At least we are certain that we have never knowingly distorted the truth, and we hope that, by supplying the reader with facts he might not have known, our book will enable him to appraise at its high worth the service record, so often misunderstood, of the French Navy during World War II.

PAUL AUPHAN

Rear Admiral, French Navy (Retired)

JACQUES MORDAL

Villefranche de Rouergue—Paris

October 15, 1957