"British Perceptions of the Italian Navy, 1935-1943" Topic

Of possible interest

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Armand

Interesting article, Armand!

As I understand it, British oil at the beginning of WWII came from Saudi Arabia by pipeline to the ports in Palestine, then by ship through the Mediterranean and Gibraltar to Britain. Once Italy declared war, they quickly stopped shipping oil through the Med, and began importing it from the US, and had RAF engines refitted with new carburetors to use the higher-octane American fuel by the start of the Battle of Britain.

Also, I find one particular line interesting: over a century after the naval battle at Navarino, the British still felt that, as one of the original three "protecting powers" they could just expect to use Greek harbors as bases. Never mind that Greece was technically neutral until late October 1940. Back in World War I, when they pulled their army out of Gallipoli, the British and French armies had just decided to camp out at Thessaloniki.

Grelber

Glad you enjoyed it my friend and thanks for the data…

Armand

"At a dinner with Churchill, Ribbentrop had said that, in a future war with Britain, Germany would have the Italians on its side. Churchill, referring to Italy's poor record in the First World War, responded with one of his devastating verbal flashes: "That's only fair – we had them last time."

Ha!…

Armand