1942: Madagascar

With the rapid Japanese advance into Malaya, the Dutch East Indies and Burma during the opening weeks of 1942, the strategic importance of Madagascar became increasingly evident. The Allied governments naturally feared that the Vichy régime might permit the Japanese to penetrate, and even take over, Madagascar as they had French Indo-China. Situated off the southeast coast of Africa, Madagascar lies athwart the vital Allied lifelines running from Britain and the United States around the Cape of Good Hope to Egypt, the Persian Gulf and India. A Japanese invasion of Madagascar would have meant the end of Britain's long-standing control over the Indian Ocean.

Madagascar is rated as the world's fourth largest island, with an area of 228,500 sq. mi. Its population of 4,000,000 contains only a few thousand Europeans — largely officials, traders and professional men. Aside from its strategic value, it possesses important natural resources, especially valuable in wartime.

On Feb. 18 Vichy's Ambassador in Washington, M. Henry-Haye, formally denied that his government intended to open Madagascar to Japanese occupation. But there were continued rumors during February and March that Japanese emissaries were on the island — a fact later verified when two of them were killed after the British invasion. The presence of German agents was also reported.

At the end of April anti-British broadcasts from Madagascar increased in intensity and the local Vichy-controlled government was reported to be carrying out a reign of terror against Free French elements on the island. On April 23 the Union of South Africa broke off diplomatic relations with Vichy, thus precipitating rumors of an imminent Allied invasion of Madagascar.

Early in May British troops landed in northern Madagascar and invested the French naval base at Diego Suarez. This place surrendered three days later after considerable fighting, in which several hundred men were lost on each side, together with a British corvette and a French submarine. After removing the danger that the Japanese might seize the Diego Suarez base, the British began moving slowly southward into the rest of the island. Meanwhile Free French elements were admitted to the administration of the occupied area.

During June, July and August the British made no serious attempt to expand their hold on the island. On July 2, however, they seized Mayotta, one of the Comoro Islands in the Mozambique Channel. This move was dictated by the necessity of insuring free passage through that Channel, where several Allied ships had been sunk by Japanese submarines. Mayotta possesses a good harbor and an airfield. On Aug. 12 the British Broadcasting Company announced that three-fourths of the French force at Diego Suarez had joined the ranks of General De Gaulle's Fighting French.

On Sept. 10 the British landed forces at Majunga, Ambanja and Morondava on the west coast of Madagascar. Obviously this was the prelude to a campaign for reducing the entire island to Allied control. In spite of the protests of Laval, the United States gave its approval to this assault upon Vichy-held territory. The British declared that they were forced to take this step 'in order to deny the Axis powers bases and facilities,' since they had been unable to obtain any assurance from Governor-General Armand Annet that he would keep Axis agents out of Madagascar. General Sir William Platt, British Commander-in-Chief in East Africa and conqueror of Italian East Africa, was in charge of the Imperial expeditionary forces.

French resistance was met in varying degrees of intensity, and it was not until early in November that the campaign came to an end. On Sept. 16 M. Annet announced that he was sending plenipotentiaries to discuss terms with the British; but this negotiation fell through and French resistance stiffened for a while. On Sept. 18 the British took the port of Tamatave on the east coast, and in conjunction with columns moving eastward across the island, captured the capital of Antananarivo on Sept. 23. The French flag was kept flying to signify that the British forces were not seeking to conquer the island but merely to remove Axis influences. On Oct. 4 Antsirabe was taken, on the 29th Fianarantsoa fell. On Nov. 5 an armistice was again requested by Annet, and this time the British terms were accepted, though not announced publicly. As High Commissioner of Madagascar the British installed General Le Gentilhomme, Commissioner for War on General de Gaulle's French National Committee, and former Governor of French Somaliland.

In order to complete the process of eliminating potential Axis bases in the southern Indian Ocean the Fighting French took over the island of Reunion in early December. This left French Somaliland as the only Vichy-controlled region in the East African area, and even this colony went over to De Gaulle before the end of the year.