Wallis & Futuna Island: Why Axis in 1941?

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el cid again
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Wallis & Futuna Island: Why Axis in 1941?

Post by el cid again »

Don't look at RHS unless you are interested in REAL history -
not popular history per se - nor well known history - just
the way it was in reality as far as we can tell.

A query came in - why are Wallis and Futuna Islands (there are three
of them, all traditional Polynesian kingdoms until annexed by France -
and they are still French territory) shown as Japanese? Because they
were pro Vichy in December 1941. They have no forces whatever - but
unless the computer randomly elects to make them "occupied by the Allies"
the Allies must send something to them - as historically happened, before
they become a legitimate Allied "base" and "production center" - in both
cases so small the terms barely apply. The RHS map tries to show the
reality on the ground when the war began. Note, for example, Sinkiang
is under Soviet command - with tiny numbers of Soviet units and Soviet
allied warlord units.


From the Wikipedia article on the islands.
During World War II the island's administration was pro-Vichy until a Free French corvette from New Caledonia deposed the regime on 26 May 1942. Units of the US Marine Corps landed on Wallis on 29 May 1942.[5]
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YankeeAirRat
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RE: Wallis & Futuna Island: Why Axis in 1941?

Post by YankeeAirRat »

From the CIA World Factbook
The Futuna island group was discovered by the Dutch in 1616 and Wallis by the British in 1767, but it was the French who declared a protectorate over the islands in 1842, and took official control of them between 1886 and 1888. Notably, Wallis and Futuna was the only French colony to side with the Vichy regime during World War II, a phase that ended in May of 1942 with the arrival of 2,000 American troops. In 1959, the inhabitants of the islands voted to become a French overseas territory and officially assumed this status in July 1961.
Take my word for it. You never want to be involved in an “International Incident”.
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YankeeAirRat
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RE: Wallis & Futuna Island: Why Axis in 1941?

Post by YankeeAirRat »

From the Hyperwar article on USMC Defense Battalions
On 21 January, the 2d Marine Brigade (the 8th Marines and the 2d Battalion, 10th Marines, the latter recently returned from Iceland) arrived in Samoa, along with Lieutenant Colonel Raymond E. Knapp's 2d Defense Battalion. The newcomers built on the foundation supplied by the 7th Defense Battalion and were themselves reinforced by the newly activated 8th Defense Battalion under Lieutenant Colonel Augustus W Cockrell. The Marines in Samoa anchored a line of bases and airfields that protected the exposed sea routes to Australia and New Zealand, which were judged likely objectives for the advancing Japanese.

On 27 May 1942, the 8th Defense Battalion moved southwest from Samoa to the Wallis Islands, a French possession. Tanks, field artillery, motor transport, and infantry reinforced the defense battalion, which remained there through 1943. The stay proved uneventful except for a visit from Eleanor Roosevelt, the President's wife, who was touring the Pacific theater of war.
Take my word for it. You never want to be involved in an “International Incident”.
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YankeeAirRat
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RE: Wallis & Futuna Island: Why Axis in 1941?

Post by YankeeAirRat »

U.S. Marine Corps World War II Order of Battle: Ground and Air Units in the Pacific War, 1939-1945

From Page 213
This Force (FPO SF 207) was formed at Apia, Upolu by Defense Force, Somoan Group on 25 May 42 to occupy Wallis (aka Uvea Island). On 26 May May, a Free French corvette from New Caledonia deposed the pro-Vichy resident commissioner on Wallis.
Take my word for it. You never want to be involved in an “International Incident”.
US87891
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Joined: Sun Jan 02, 2011 1:31 pm

RE: Wallis & Futuna Island: Why Axis in 1941?

Post by US87891 »

ORIGINAL: el cid again
Don't look at RHS unless you are interested in REAL history -
n terms of REAL history, they were Axis in 1941. Vichy France leaned Axis by necessity. Your argument is disjoint and unintelligible. What do these islands have to do with Sinkiang and the USSR?

As the YankeeAirRat fellow points out, these islands were secured by a show of force. They must have been something other than friendly to cause a visit by a Free French Aviso and the US Marines. That is REAL history.

Given the game system, an island group can be either Allied or Axis. There is no neutrality allowed. In both the game and in REAL history, if a set of islands needed a visit from a warship and the Crotch, then they were not Allied: i.e., they were Axis. Is this concept too difficult to grasp?
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bigred
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RE: Wallis & Futuna Island: Why Axis in 1941?

Post by bigred »

ORIGINAL: US87891

ORIGINAL: el cid again
Don't look at RHS unless you are interested in REAL history -
n terms of REAL history, they were Axis in 1941. Vichy France leaned Axis by necessity. Your argument is disjoint and unintelligible. What do these islands have to do with Sinkiang and the USSR?

As the YankeeAirRat fellow points out, these islands were secured by a show of force. They must have been something other than friendly to cause a visit by a Free French Aviso and the US Marines. That is REAL history.

Given the game system, an island group can be either Allied or Axis. There is no neutrality allowed. In both the game and in REAL history, if a set of islands needed a visit from a warship and the Crotch, then they were not Allied: i.e., they were Axis. Is this concept too difficult to grasp?
nothing difficult. The islands will have a jap flag on them until the allies land on them w troops.
---bigred---

IJ Production mistakes--
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