Portugal during World War II
Upon the start of World War II in 1939, the Portuguese Government announced on 1 September that the 600-year-old Anglo-Portuguese Alliance remained intact, but that since the British did not seek Portuguese assistance, Portugal was free to remain neutral in the war and would do so. In an aide-mémoire of 5 September 1939, the British Government confirmed the understanding. As Hitler's occupation swept across Europe, neutral Portugal became one of the Continent's last escape routes. Portugal managed to remain neutral throughout the war despite extraordinary pressures from both sides, notably over the strategically located Azores islands and over the wolfram (tungsten) trade.
History of Madeira
On 9 March 1916, Germany declared war on Portugal, followed by Portugal declaring war on Germany and starting to organise Portuguese troops to go to the Western Front. The effect of the Portuguese participation in World War I was first felt in Madeira on 3 December 1916 when the German U-boat, , captained by Max Valentiner went into Funchal harbour on Madeira and torpedoed and sank 3 ships, CS "Dacia" (1,856 tons), (2,493 tons) and "Surprise" (680 tons). The commander of the French Gunboat Surprise and 34 of her crew (7 Portuguese) died in the attack. The Dacia, a British cable laying vessel, had previously undertaken war work off the coast of Casablanca and Dakar, was in the process of diverting the South American cable into Brest, France. Following the attack on the ships, the Germans proceeded to bombard Funchal for two hours from a range of about . Batteries on Madeira returned fire and eventually forced the Germans to withdraw.