Eighty years ago, France acquires a fourth would-be leader

 

France acquired its fourth would-be national leader when Admiral Darlan declared that he was the head of government. It was only by chance that he had found himself in French North Africa as the senior figure of the Vichy regime when the allies invaded so it was not hard to question the legitimacy of this piece of self-promotion. Darlan had done a private deal with General Eisenhower under which he had already promoted himself High-Commissioner and instructed Vichy forces to cease fire. It also put off the evil day when a choice would have to be made between General Giraud, the Americans' choice but almost no-one else's, and General de Gaulle, who controlled the French French armed forces. Marshal Petain remained the figurehead of Vichy.

The German forces trapped in Tunisia began to put up a stiff resistance to the allied advance from Algeria. The had just been reinforced by the 10th  Panzer Dvision, which mounted a counter-attack forcing the allies to retreat to strong defensive positions around Terbouba. The weather had already turned bad which favoured German defensive operations. The conquest of Tunisia was set to be a long and costly operation.

The RAF mounted one of its largest day-time raids against the  continent when 93 light and medium bombers of 2 Group attacked the Philips valves works at Eindhoven, which was considered to be a strategically vital target. Nearly one sixth of the attackers were shot down; the slow Lockheed Venturas, essentially a militarized airliner,  suffered especially badly and were withdrawn from bombing operations. The buildings were badly damaged and 150 or so Dutch people were casualties. It is debatable whether the raid disrupted production more than the plant's workers who practised discreet but effective sabotage.

The British Viceroy in India, Lord Linglithgow, had his term in office extended for an unprecedented third time. This appeared to signal all-out resistance to Gandhi's 'Quit India' movement; Linlithgow exemplified traditional imperialism red in tooth and claw.