Operation Catapult led to the British bombardment of the French fleet at the Algerian port of Mers el-Kébir and the death of 1,297 French naval personnel. The previous chapter illustrated how strategic, moral and symbolic factors shaped the operational boundaries for Catapult. This chapter examines how the operation unfolded. It draws on press publications and statements to illustrate how strategic language was used to create or challenge a sense of national legitimacy.

Pétain’s government condemned the bombardments as an attack on neutral territory. British statements drew on historical imagery to justify the brutality of the operations. Images of past military victories (many against the French) were a reminder of British resilience. They suggested that British victory was something of an historic certainty. British press statements also delegitimised Pétain’s government by implying its unpopularity amongst the French public. Desmond Morton, Churchill’s personal assistant, mandated that the British press refers to the metropolitan government as the ‘Vichy Government’ or the ‘Pétain Government’, but never the French government.