Churchill, Britain And France

[mattgibbs]

Hello folks
I have been reading a bit about the relationship with French intelligence during the war and have had cause to think about the relations with France, Britain and the rest of the Allies.

Churchill once said that the heaviest cross he had to bear was the Cross of Lorraine - which as we know De Gaulle picked as the symbol of a Free France.

A news quote about released records from the PRO states:

Winston Churchill attempted to have General Charles de Gaulle removed as leader of the Free French forces, wartime records released to the public have revealed. The papers released to the Public Record Office show that American President Franklin D Roosevelt shared the British prime minister's concern about de Gaulle. But the British war cabinet rebuffed Churchill's attempts to sever links with de Gaulle in the later stages of World War II.

The documents show that Churchill believed de Gaulle to be a vain and even malignant man with fascist tendencies, who hated England. He wanted to put General Henri Giraud in command of Free French forces.
And the records show that as the war progressed, Churchill's sentiments were increasingly shared by President Roosevelt. He accused de Gaulle of fomenting racial discord and said a speech by the French leader had been described as "like pages of out of Mein Kampf".

The tensions between Churchill and the war cabinet over de Gaulle are underlined by telegrams between London and Washington, where the prime minister was holding talks with Roosevelt in 1943. They show that Harold Macmillan, then minister for the Middle East, shared Churchill's unease about de Gaulle.

Twenty years later, when Macmillan had become prime minister, de Gaulle as French president blocked British membership of the European Community. [Hows that for some thanks] The 1943 telegrams show London and Washington's concern that de Gaulle was prepared to deal with Russia or even Germany as he "no longer had confidence in the Anglo-Saxons".

There was also concern that de Gaulle was requiring Free French groups to sign an oath of allegiance to him as "the sole legitimate leader". But thoughts of abandoning de Gaulle were made difficult because of the agreement Churchill had signed with him in 1940 when Britain faced invasion and needed French resistance help. However, Churchill told Cabinet colleagues in 1943 that he felt de Gaulle was "absorbed in his own personal career". He said: "He hates England and has left a trail of Anglophobia behind him everywhere."

But the war cabinet advised Churchill not to abandon de Gaulle, a move which would have risked the support of 80,000 French troops fighting under de Gaulle's leadership. The war cabinet warned that the resistance movement would consider the removal of de Gaulle as a betrayal, with an inevitable swing towards Russia. And it doubted that de Gaulle was demanding a loyalty oath from troops.

In the summer of 1943, de Gaulle, who had escaped to London in 1940 after the fall of France, became undisputed leader of the Free French, ending Churchill's attempts to have him removed. De Gaulle continued to lead the French resistance movement from Britain until France was liberated in 1944.

What bearing on the future did this split within the Allied cause actually have?? One example I came across was that as De Gaulle toured france, when he met English agents and advisors who had parachuted in to help the resistance after D Day he generally gave them 48 hours to leave France and told them that they did not belong in France. To me this does not read well.

Kind regards
MG

[spidge]

I will steal another saying.

"The only problem with France is that it is full of Frenchmen"

There is a History Channel presentation I saw in Australia that shows whilst Churchill tried to keep the peace Roosevelt did not just dislike De Gaulle, he disliked him with a vengeance and distrusted him to a point where Roosevelt would not allow Churchill to share information with De Gaulle.

Churchill also refused permission to allow De Gaulle to leave Britain at one stage (Algeria??) as secret material given to De Gaulle was being leaked.

[spidge]

A good report on the triangular relationship can be read at this site.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/war/wwtwo/all...at_war_04.shtml

[mattgibbs]

Thanks
That was an interesting link with more background detail!
Regards
MG

[Rabbieburns]

While De Gaulle's plane was taking off, on a trip from Hendon to Glasgow on April the 21st 1943, the pilot felt the elevator control failing to respond. The pilot, Flt. Lt. Peter Loat managed to bring the plane to a halt. On examination it was found that the control rod of the Wellington had been burnt through with acid. De Gaulle flew in a second plane to Glasgow but returned by train to London. Naturally he never flew in a plane in the UK ever again.

[Kyt]

The Anglo-French relationship, with all it's complexities from the beginning of the war to the fall of France are beautifully chronicled by Major-General Sir Edward Spears' diary "Assignment to Catastrophe". It wasn't always pleasant even before anybody had heard of de Gualle.

[von Poop]

Spears:
"The hardest cross I have to bear is the Cross of Lorraine."

One of my favourite quotes.