Forgotten Battles: WWII Invasion of Madagascar
A battle between England and Vichy France at the expense of Japan
In 1942, Vichy France was in a strange position. They had been given a status of being semi-autonomous in exchange for their cooperation in the Axis war effort. Unlike the rest of France, Vichy France was throwing in with the Nazis. Vichy France’s leader, Philippe Pétain, believed that he was positioning France to be on the winning side of the war.
If the Axis went on to win the war, Pétain believed that his Vichy French state would be given a seat at the table and a slice of the winnings. France was not only going to exist in the new world order dominated by Germany and Japan, they were going to thrive. This belief caused Vichy France to cozy up to the Axis as much as possible which deeply worried Allied military planners.
One of the biggest concerns was over the island of Madagascar. France had control of Madagascar when they surrendered to the Germans and Germany in turn gave the island over to Vichy France. Britain was worried that the blatantly pro-Axis regime in France would turn the island over to Japan giving them a firm cordon around the entirety of the Indian Ocean.
The thought was unacceptable. Japan had already pushed the British Navy out of their positions in the Far…
