HistoryExtra podcast

E2559 - Churchill's toughest decision

Published: June 9, 2026

Duration: 35:46

In the summer of 1940, the Royal Navy attacked a French fleet moored off the coast of north Africa, killing almost 1,300 sailors. Winston Churchill described his decision to greenlight the operation as the toughest he ever had to take. But was it the right decision? Edward Abel Smith talks to Spencer Mizen about an incident that would shake Britain's wartime relations with France.


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