Editing New Caledonia (section)

===World War II===
{{further| Pacific Islands home front during World War II#Employment}}
In June 1940, after the [[fall of France]], the [[General councils (France)|General Council]] of New Caledonia voted to reject the [[Vichy France|Vichy government]] and continue supporting the Allied military effort against Germany. However, the colonial governor [[Georges-Marc Pélicier]] promulgated the Vichy government's [[French Constitutional Law of 1940|Constitutional Law]], which sparked street demonstrations and an assassination attempt. By this time Caldoches had been in contact with [[Charles de Gaulle]] who encouraged them to form a [[Free France|Free French]] committee and appointed [[Henri Sautot]] as governor. The Vichy government despatched a warship, ''[[French aviso Dumont d'Urville|Dumont d'Urville]]'', at Pélicier's request, but soon deemed him incompetent and appointed an acting governor. By this time the Australian government had agreed to intervene and despatched [[HMAS Adelaide (1918)|HMAS ''Adelaide'']] to oversee the installation of Sautot as governor. A stand-off between ''Dumont d'Urville'' and ''Adelaide'' followed, with Pélicier and other pro-Vichy officials ultimately deported to French Indochina.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.isfar.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/49.I_DENISE-FISHER-Supporting-the-Free-French-in-New-Caledonia-First-Steps-in-Australian-Diplomacy.pdf|title=Supporting the Free French in New Caledonia: First Steps in Australian Diplomacy|first=Denise|last=Fisher|journal=Explorations: A Journal of French-Australian Connections|volume=49|issue=1|year=2010|pages=18–37|access-date=26 May 2024|archive-date=24 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240324131228/https://www.isfar.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/49.I_DENISE-FISHER-Supporting-the-Free-French-in-New-Caledonia-First-Steps-in-Australian-Diplomacy.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1941, some 300 men from the territory volunteered for service overseas. They were joined, in April, by 300 men from French Polynesia ('the Tahitians'), plus a handful from the French districts of the New Hebrides: together they formed the {{lang|fr|Bataillon du Pacifique}}. The Caledonians formed two of the companies, and the Polynesians the other two. In May 1941, they sailed to Australia and boarded the {{RMS|Queen Elizabeth}} for the onward voyage to Africa. They joined the other Free French (FF) battalions in [[Qastina]] in August, before moving to the Western Desert with the 1st FF Brigade ({{lang|fr|1<sup>re</sup> BFL}}). There they were one of the four battalions who took part in the breakout after the [[Battle of Bir Hakeim]] in 1942. Their losses could not easily be replaced from the Pacific and they were therefore amalgamated with the Frenchmen of another battalion wearing the anchor of {{lang|fr|la Coloniale}}, the BIM, to form the {{lang|fr|Bataillon de l'infanterie de marine et du Pacifique}}. The combined battalion formed part of the {{lang|fr|Gaulliste 1<sup>re</sup> Division Motorisée d'Infanterie}}/{{lang|fr|Division de Marche d'Infanterie}}, alongside three divisions from the French North African forces, in the French Expeditionary Corps during the Italian Campaign. They landed in Provence in 1944, when they were posted out and replaced by local French volunteers and résistants.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}}

Meanwhile, in March 1942, with the assistance of Australia,<ref>{{cite book |last=Hasluck |first=Paul Meernaa Caedwalla |url=https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/awm-media/collection/RCDIG1070583/document/5519866.PDF |chapter=Chapter 6 – Clearing a Way to Total War, October 1940 – January 1941 |title=The Government and the People, 1939–1941 |volume=I |year=1952 |publisher=Australian War Memorial |place=Canberra |edition=1965 |access-date=6 August 2009 |archive-date=30 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220530234827/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/awm-media/collection/RCDIG1070583/document/5519866.PDF |url-status=live }}</ref> New Caledonia became an important [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] base,<ref name="gb-2"/> and the main South Pacific Fleet base of the [[United States Navy]] in the South Pacific moved to Nouméa in 1942–1943.<ref name="Rottman2002">{{cite book |first=Gordon L. |last=Rottman |title=World War 2 Pacific Island Guide |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ChyilRml0hcC&pg=PA71 |year=2002 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-313-31395-0 |page=71 |quote=In October, the decision was made to relocate the main South Pacific Fleet base from Auckland to Nouméa (FPO SF 131). Unloading facilities were improved by February 1943 and construction immediately began on the naval operating base. |via=Google Books |access-date=18 October 2015 |archive-date=19 March 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150319130955/http://books.google.com/books?id=ChyilRml0hcC&pg=PA71 |url-status=live }}</ref> The fleet that turned back the [[Imperial Japanese Navy|Japanese Navy]] in the [[Battle of the Coral Sea]] in May 1942 was based at Nouméa.<ref name="gb-2">{{cite book |first=David |last=Stanley |title=South Pacific Handbook |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=unz2v_HT5q0C&pg=PA549 |year=1989 |publisher=David Stanley |isbn=978-0-918373-29-8 |pages=549– |via=Google Books |access-date=18 October 2015 |archive-date=13 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160413093620/https://books.google.com/books?id=unz2v_HT5q0C&pg=PA549 |url-status=live }}</ref> American troops [[Pacific Islands home front during World War II#Employment|stationed on New Caledonia]] numbered as many as 50,000, matching the entire local population at the time.<ref name="ped"/>