1940, 1 July
Italo Balbo, who died on 28 June, is replaced by Marshal Rodolfo Graziani as commander-in-chief of Italian forces in North Africa.
1940, 3 July: Operation CATAPULT
British battleships from Force H bombard the French fleet harboured at Mers-el-Kebir, near Oran on the Algerian coast. The British Vice-Admiral Sir James Somerville, offered the French four choices: "...join the British, sail to British ports, sail to the French West Indies, or scuttle their ships." It took only five minutes to reduce the French fleet, sinking three battleships with the loss of 1,297 sailors. One cruiser, Strasbourg, and five destroyers were able to escape.
1940, 5 July: Operation CATAPULT
As a result of the sinking of the French fleet at Mers-el-Kebir, the Vichy government in France has severed diplomatic relations with Britain.
1940, 6 July: Operation CATAPULT
A second attack at Oran is undertaken by the British Navy.
1940, 7 July
Although official War Office approval is only cabled on 10 July, Major RA Bagnold's Long Range Patrol (LRP) unit is formed.
1940, 13 July
The island of Malta, an important base for Britain's naval superiority in the Mediterranean, is bombed by Italian aircraft. Aden, across the Red Sea from Somaliland, is also bombed.
1940, 25 July
The British Naval bases at Alexandria and Haifa are attacked by Italian bombers.
