Back الصومال الفرنسي خلال الحرب العالمية الثانية Arabic Somalia francesa durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial Spanish Histoire de la côte française des Somalis pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale French Italian invasion of French Somaliland SIMPLE
French Somaliland was the scene of only minor skirmishes during World War II, mostly between June and July 1940. After the battle of France and the armistice of 22 June 1940, the colony's status was briefly in limbo until a governor loyal to the client Vichy regime was installed on 25 July. It was the last French colony in Africa to remain loyal to the Vichy regime, only surrendering to Free French forces on 26 December 1942.
French Navy officer Pierre Nouailhetas governed the colony for most of the period it was loyal to the Vichy regime. After a British aerial bombardment against the colony in 1940, Nouailhetas instituted a brutal reign of terror in French Somaliland, targeting both European and African residents perceived as collaborating with the Allies; he was eventually recalled and forced to retire as a result of his action.
From September 1940, the colony was under a Allied blockade, with many of its inhabitants fleeing to the neighbouring colony of British Somaliland. After the colony's liberation by Free French forces, numerous officials were appointed as its governors and French Somaliland was only starting to recover from the blockade when the war ended in 1945.