The families of sailors killed in an attack on the French naval fleet ordered by Winston Churchill 80 years ago are calling on Britain to contribute to the cost of a memorial.
The July 3, 1940, strike on the base at Mers el-Kébir in Algeria is sometimes described as France’s Pearl Harbor.
“Psychologically, it would be a form of reparation,” said Jean-Aristide Brument, 75, chairman of the Association of Old Sailors and Families of Victims of Mers el-Kébir.
The attack came after the French army had been overrun by the Germans, prompting Paris to sign an armistice. Fearing that the French fleet could fall into Nazi hands, Churchill ordered the Royal Navy to open fire on the four battleships, six destroyers and one seaplane tender