Battle of Madagascar
| Battle of Madagascar | |||||||||
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| Part of the Indian Ocean theatre of World War II | |||||||||
 Allied soldiers landing from LCAs at Tamatave in May 1942 |
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
Non-combatant Support:  Belgian Congo Poland
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 Empire of Japan (naval)
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 10,000–15,000 soldiers (land forces) |
Vichy France: 8,000 troops 6 tanks 35 aircraft 4 warships |
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| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
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Location of Diego Suarez Bay
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Free Netherlands (naval)
Non-combatant Support:
The Battle of Madagascar was the British campaign to capture Vichy French-controlled Madagascar during World War II. It began with Operation Ironclad, the seizure of the port of Diego Suarez near the northern tip of the island, on 5 May 1942. A subsequent campaign to secure the entire island, Operation Streamline Jane, was opened on 10 September. Fighting ceased and an armistice was granted on 6 November.
Antsiranana is a large bay with a fine harbour near the northern tip of the island of Madagascar and has an opening to the east through a narrow channel called Oronjia Pass. The naval base of Antsirane lies on a peninsula between two of the four small bays enclosed within the Antsiranana bay. Antsiranana Bay cuts deeply into the northern tip of Madagascar (Cape Amber), almost severing it from the rest of the island. In the 1880s, the bay was coveted by France, which claimed it as a coaling station for steamships travelling to French possessions further east. The colonization was formalized after the first Franco-Hova War when Queen Ranavalona III signed a treaty on 17 December 1885 giving France a protectorate over the bay and surrounding territory, as well as the islands of Nosy Be and St. Marie de Madagascar. The colony's administration was subsumed into that of French Madagascar in 1897.
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