Edward Abel Smith - a Hateful Decision

Edward Abel Smith tells the full story of the British attack on the French Navy at Mers el Kebir on 1 July 1940.

With the Nazis closing in and time running out, Winston Churchill ordered Operation Catapult.

By the end of one of the most agonising but necessary military operations, a large part of the French navy would be destroyed and nearly 1,300 French sailors would be dead, a number which would haunt all involved for the rest of their lives.A Hateful Decision is based on extensive new archival research, rediscovered eyewitness accounts and reflections from the private papers of the key protagonists.