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10.7.40 [George Orwell]

July 10, 2010 in "Time", American Communists, Bahamas, Churchill, Dakar, Duke of Windsor, Empire, England, Europe, Germans, Government, Guilty Men, Hitler, Munich, Nazis, Political, Richelieu, Vernon Bartlett, War-time, arms, battleship, communists, fleet, french, gollancz, harbour, peace offer by orwelldiaries

They have disabled the French battleship Richelieu, which was in Dakar harbour[1]. But no move to seize any of the French West African ports, which no doubt are not strongly held….. According to Vernon Bartlett[2], the Germans are going to make a peace offer along the lines I foresaw earlier, i.e. England to keep out of Europe but retain the Empire, and the Churchill government to go out and be replaced by one acceptable to Hitler. The presumption is that a faction anxious to agree to this exists in England, and no doubt a shadow cabinet has been formed. It seems almost incredible that anyone should imagine that the mass of the people would tolerate such an arrangement, unless they had been fought to a standstill first….. The Duke of Windsor[3] has been shipped off as Governor of the Bahamas, virtually a sentence of exile…… The book Gollancz has brought out, Guilty Men, the usual “indictment” of the Munich crowd, is selling like hot cakes. According to Time, the American Communists are working hand in glove with the local Nazis to prevent American arms getting to England. One can’t be sure how much local freedom of action the various Communists have. Till very recently it appeared that they had none. Of late however they have sometimes pursued contradictory policies in different countries. It is possible that they are allowed to abandon the “line” when strict clinging to it would mean extinction.

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5.7.40 [George Orwell]

July 5, 2010 in Churchill, German radio, Italian, Mers el-Kébir, Oran, Political, War-time, attack, fleet, french, german, submarines, warships by orwelldiaries

The almost complete lack of British casualties in the action against the French warships at Oran[1] makes it pretty clear that the French seamen must have refused to serve the guns, or at any rate did so without much enthusiasm…. In spite of the to-do in the papers about “French fleet out of action”, etc., etc., it appears from the list of ships actually given that about half the French navy is not accounted for, and no doubt more than half the submarines. But how many have actually fallen into German or Italian hands, and how many are still on the oceans, there is nothing in the papers to show…… The frightful outburst of fury by the German radio (if rightly reported, actually calling on the English people to hang Churchill in Trafalgar Square) shows how right it was to make this move.

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