more dogfights occurred over the skies of Dakar, with the French Curtiss Hawks generally outgunning the British Swordfish and Skuas. Aftermath Overall, the Battle of Dakar did not go well for the Allies. The Vichy forces did not back down. Resolution was so heavily damaged she had to be towed to Cape Town. In most of this conflict, bombers of the Vichy French Air Force (Armée de l'Air de Vichy), based in North Africa, bombed the British base at Gibraltar. On 24 September about 50 aircraft dropped 150 bombs while on 25 September about 100 aircraft dropped 300 bombs on the harbour and dockyards. Most of the bombs missed. Some damage was caused, and a few civilians were killed. The raid on 25 September also caused the sinking of the British armed trawler . Finally, the Allies withdrew, leaving Dakar and French West Africa in Vichy hands. The effects of the Allied failure were mostly political. De Gaulle had believed that he would be able to persuade the Vichy French at Dakar to change sides, but this turned out not to be the case, a result that damaged his standing among the Allies. Even his success in the Battle of Gabon two months later did not wholly repair this damage. He would have to content himself with the much less important and economically developed French Equatorial Africa as the main Free French territory for the time being. English novelist Evelyn Waugh participated in the expedition as an officer in the Royal Marines. The battle has a role in his semi-autobiographical novel Men at Arms, which forms the first part of his Sword of Honour trilogy. Order of battle Allies Aircraft carrier: Battleships: , Heavy cruisers: , , Light cruisers: , Destroyers: , , , , , , , , , , Escorts/patrol boats: , , , , , Merchant ships: four Free French and one British Transports: and Westernland (Dutch ocean liners), (Polish ocean liner) and three more 101 Royal Marine Brigade Vichy French Battleship: Light cruisers: , Destroyers: , , , Escorts/patrol boats: , , , , , Auxiliary cruisers: , , , , Merchant ships: , , (Danish freighter) Submarines: , , See also Military history of Gibraltar during World War II Syria-Lebanon Campaign Battle of Madagascar References Further reading Churchill, Winston. The Second World War, Vol 2 Book II Chapter xxiv `Dakar`. Sutherland, Jon; Canwell, Diane, Vichy