France, 2nd WW. Historical recollections of Staff Sergeant J - Lot 334

France, 2nd WW. Historical recollections of Staff Sergeant Jean-Pierre CHENEVEAU (1926-2012), concerning the Dakar battles of September 23 / 24 and 25, 1940 (he was 14 years old at the time). Original handwritten letter (2 pages) dated April 17, 1994 from sailor René JAULT, Chief Quartermaster, French Navy, at the forward station of the submarine "Bévéziers", which sank the Royal Navy battleship "HMS Résolution" on September 25, 1940. "I had the privilege of pressing the firing buttons on the four torpedoes...." Attached are a number of archive documents from sailor GABORIAU, Quartermaster on the Richelieu, who lived through the battles of Mers el-Kébir and Dakar in 1940, including: - Old typescript account of DUNKERQUE in 1940. - Batch of unpublished silver print photos (9 x 7 cm) concerning the return from Indochina in 1941. - Various typescript and annotated song texts. - Various typescript documents from the navy (1946), including application for a veteran's card (1954). - Program for the Gala evening in aid of the martyred city of Tours, March 18, 1944. - Program for the matinée récréative offered by the Croiseur Lamotte-Picquet, on board Saïgon on August 30, 1942. Provenance: family estate of Médecin Général Roger Charles CHENEVEAU (1897-1982). Historical context: Despite the blow dealt to England on July 3, 1940 at Mers-El-Kébir, General de Gaulle and Winston Churchill thought they could conquer French West Africa (AOF), which remained under French state control under the Armistice of June 22, 1940. So, on September 23 / 24 and 25 1940, the Royal Navy, accompanied by General de Gaulle and four F.N.F.L. ships, attacked the armed forces of the French state under the command of Pierre Boisson, Governor General of French West Africa (AOF), off the coast of Dakar.