France fights on out of Corsica

I notice that France Fights On had them pull out of Corsica/be pushed out. Corsica was apparently too close to Italy to be able to defend properly with the limited air support available to the Allies at that point.

While the Italian navy wasn't a lot of threat, any time Allied ships tried to reinforce/support the island, they got hammered. Is my recollection of that TL.
 

Archibald

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I notice that France Fights On had them pull out of Corsica/be pushed out. Corsica was apparently too close to Italy to be able to defend properly with the limited air support available to the Allies at that point.

While the Italian navy wasn't a lot of threat, any time Allied ships tried to reinforce/support the island, they got hammered. Is my recollection of that TL.

Good point here. Once the Germans finish their invasion of France - August 15, 1940 - they obviously base aircrafts in Southern France. That, and Italy, there's no way Corsica survives for long.

Admittedly, Corsica is farther from mainland France than Great Britain was, but it is also a much smaller island, meaning even the southern tip is within reach of the Luftwaffe.

It is not a coincidence if the FFO German invasion of Corsica is called "operation Merkur" :rolleyes:.
Because the Germans have no landing ships, they go the OTL Crete way: parachutists. They barely managed to establish a couple of bridgeheads.
After ferocious air and sea battles, the Italian navy and Luftwaffe units based in southern France ultimately prevails.
The french Air force can't defend Corsica airspace as much as it should because the Luftwaffe is fixing them with a so-call "Blitz against Tunis and Algiers". The AdA has to keep lot of fighter squadrons in North Africa for air defence, and that ultimately tip the balance in favour of the Luftwaffe over Corsica, saving the bridgeheads there.
Stukas also sunk the Bearn carrier, damaging french battleships and cruisers.

Note: before Corsica felt, there were talks between De Gaulle and Churchill about "basing Wellingtons [bombers] in Corsica" to bomb Italy. Corsica, incidentally, was Napoleon birth place. You can imagine De Gaulle reaction at Churchill suggestion...
 
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Isn't theere also the question of what change would be needed to get the French to even try such an option? After all several other countries chose the 'government in exile' strategy and the French had options if they didn't want to base it in Britain so what would need to be different to make them pursue it?

There was a bunch of politics in the French cabinet in the end where one guy changing his stance to continue the fight would make a difference. The obvious choice would be Admiral Darlan.

Darlan had the clout unlike De Gaulle to just order the Navy to North Africa and continue the fight regardless of whatever the rump Petain government did, with the navy still in the fight all of the colonies would have been free french in short order.
 
Admittedly, Corsica is farther from mainland France than Great Britain was, but it is also a much smaller island, meaning even the southern tip is within reach of the Luftwaffe.

Malta was close to the Luftwaffe too and it held out, perhaps because the Germans were not really interested, while your invasion scenerio is probably how it would go down, I just don't see the Germans being interested in taking the place vs. that kind of effort expended.
 
Note: before Corsica felt, there were talks between De Gaulle and Churchill about "basing Wellingtons [bombers] in Corsica" to bomb Italy. Corsica, incidentally, was Napoleon birth place. You can imagine De Gaulle reaction at Churchill suggestion...

Presumably they would be flying from an airfield given the name RAF WATERLOO, and any Fleet Air Arm Swordfish would be based at RNAS TRAFALGER. (thats Royal Naval Air Station by the way not Air Service).
 
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