ABSTRACT
After the 1940 defeat, French Sigint activity continued under the Vichy regime. It remained primarily devoted to the interception of Axis signals although, across the Vichy empire, more diverse threats, including the possibility of Anglo-American or Free French incursions in Africa and the Middle East, led to intelligence-gathering against both the Axis and the Allied powers. During 1942 French Sigint work fell victim to the political divisions within the civil-military hierarchy at Vichy, and was undermined by the Axis occupation of southern France in November. Still, the former emphasis on anti-Axis intelligence-gathering and the involvement of senior Vichy leaders in the continuation of Sigint activity suggest that the regime was less resigned to defeat and eventual collaboration than is often supposed.
