Did You Know??

The Allies fought the French in Madagascar.

After Madagascar rallied to the Vichy government in 1940, the Allies worried that it might become a base for the Japanese in the Indian Ocean. This resulted in a British blockade followed by an invasion in May 1942. The Vichy defenders fought fiercely for six months before eventually surrendering.

When the US joined British forces in French North Africa in late 1942, the Allies faced a far bigger challenge than they had experienced in Madagascar. 100,000 Vichy French troops were stationed there. Motivated by a profound sense of their previous defeat and a complex about proving their worth as soldiers, they offered surprisingly stiff resistance before eventually being bested.