27th Sept 1939 , safe to attack French shipping?
 

Currently Sept 27th 1939 in my current patrol,just entering BF33 (Dover Strait) and recieved a merchant sound contact somewhere N-NE of my position.Currently giving chase to identify contact and there is a fair chance it MAY be French heading from Calais to Dover...maybe.Now on the map France is clearly hostile (ports marked in red) and looking at the flags pullout France entered the war on the 3rd,yet those pesky Free French joined on 1st July 1940.Question,and I know it should be obvious going on the above info,can I open fire on French shipping?.I am SO desperate to bloody the nose of the French! :arrgh!:

Cheers :salute:

If you stick to the historical (as detailed by GWX messages) guidelines, then no. Overt hostilities against the French were frowned upon in the first few months of the war. As far as the game goes, you can have a ball, sink 'em all.

Depends how you choose to play. Though letting them pass by is a lip biter...

:03:

I DO like to be as historically accurate as possible,and I also remember getting quite frequent radio messages about not sinking this or that (prize regulations etc),this is where some of the confusion stems from.I also remember a recent message forbidding attacks against capital ships...ahem,we are at war? :06:
When would it be safe for open warfare against the French then?towards the end of '39?
This is going to be SO hard,letting them schweinhunds through! :damn:

Oops. I just sunk 3 of the buggers on oct. 13, '39. :oops: Oh wait, radio has been intermittent. Yeah, that's the ticket. :up:

Yeah, i sank two, including a blacked out passenger liner in Nov '39...

But, due to the game's limitations, we can't abide by the Prize Regulations to the letter.

So basically, we shouldn't attack merchant ships who are alone and unarmed, since we can't get the crew to safety. Well for the first 2 months of WWII, since there after, Germany went with a unrestricted submarine warfare... so in November, it should be OK...

I just need BDU to give me the green light,my finger is becoming VERY itchy :nope:
And to hell with the stinking Geneva convention!,anyone opens fire on me in this patrol I swear i'm gonna throw ALL the radio equipment overboard!,thereafter there will be no more rules.

LOL...SINK EM ALL!! http://www.psionguild.org/forums/ima...ies/pirate.gif

:D damn right Jim

:rotfl2:

you are definetely not wrong!
everyone opens fire at you without the slightest warning-signs, but only YOU have to act within the limits of the Hague (?) declaration of Naval warfare??
never!
I even sink Aussie-merchs although part of my family lives there ..... :cry::03:

Austrian and Aussie family you have?,now theres a combination for you :sunny:

Of course the messages were real, but are for immersion - they have no effect on the game.

I too follow them, though, and even note the importand OKM and BdU ones in my log. Don't worry, you'll get the okay to attack French ships soon enough, I think about mid-October the restrictions are lifted.

The July 1940 'Free French' thing came about because after France was overrun by the Germans the Vichy government was established, and France officially became a German ally. The 'Free French' Government was formed en-exile and adopted the new flag.

So after June 1940 ships flying the original French flag become friendly.

Thanks for the info SS.

Here's a fair link to help with the context Paul :up:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_French_Forces

Thanks jim,will read this tomorrow,I am SO tired tonight :yawn:
Just one thing,these would be the types that called themselves the French Resistance? :down:
Just wait til I get my bloody paws on them! :arrgh!:
Anyway,goodnight captain :salute:

PS: thats too many smilies for one night hehe ;)

The French Resistance were those French who fought a kind of guerilla war against the Germans on French soil.

The Free French are those that escaped to Britain under the leadership of Charles DeGaulle and fought as part of the Allied cause.