St Pierre and Miquelon, France's oldest and smallest colony, situated off the Newfoundland coast, which was occupied by
de Gaulle's Free French forces on 24 December 1941.
In early 1941 the USA concluded an agreement with
Admiral Robert, the
Vichy French high commissioner for the French West Indies whose fief included the islands, for the maintenance of the status quo of all French possessions in the
western hemisphere. However, a powerful wireless station on the islands began to cause the UK and Canada concern, and discussions started on how best to control its transmissions. The USA vetoed any Free French interference and suggested Canada take action. But Canada, because of its
French-Canadian population, had no wish to offend Vichy France. While all parties hesitated, de Gaulle, despite agreeing to hold his hand, ordered the islands occupied by
Vice-Admiral Muselier's naval forces, a decision overwhelmingly supported by a local plebiscite. The British were delighted, the Canadians relieved, but the US secretary of state,
Cordell Hull, was furious as he regarded it as a breach of the Havana Act (see
Havana conference). He threatened to use force to oust ‘the so-called Free French’, and though a compromise was eventually reached, whereby the islands were demilitarized and declared neutral, he barred the Free French from signing the
United Nations Declaration then being drawn up.
Bibliography
Anglin, D. , The St Pierre and Miquelon Affair of 1941 (Toronto, 1966).