I haven’t taken too many vacations that disrupt my early morning Power Line shift, but we are leaving on a structured World War II London/Normandy/Bulge tour this coming Friday that I am afraid will put me of out of commission for a while. The tour leader has assigned each of us parts to play for presentations at appropriate spots on our itinerary.
General Philippe Leclerc, c’est moi, despite the fact that I had never heard of him until my assignment. Unless you’ve read de Gaulle’s war memoirs, or Julian Jackson’s doorstop bio of de Gaulle, you may not have heard of him either.
There is one biography of Leclerc in English: Free France’s Lion: The Life of Philippe Leclerc, De Gaulle’s Greatest General, by William Mortimer Moore. It’s a book that seems geared to specialists, but Leclerc’s character comes shining through. I would like to post a few miscellaneous notes based on my study of his life (corrections by email invited at [email protected]).
Leclerc served in the Fourth Infantry Division in northwest France during the Battle of France. As they sought to hold off the German Army, they retreated and were encircled. Leclerc did not want to wait to be taken prisoner. He asked his commanding officer: “May I have your permission to take my chance?”
With permission, that is what he did. He had badly broken a leg when a horse fell on it while he was teaching at Saumur, the French military academy for cavalry. He walked with a limp and a cane for the rest of his life. He nevertheless headed south on foot and on bicycle. He was captured twice and escaped while he headed to Spain.
On June 18, 1940, de Gaulle made the first of his appeals for Free France from London over the BBC. Few knew who de Gaulle was and fewer still heard the broadcast. De Gaulle made a second appeal on June 22. This time Leclerc heard it. De Gaulle directed these remarks to his fellow countrymen on the day of the armistice negotiated by Pétain with the Nazis:
The French Government, after requesting the armistice, has now full knowledge of the conditions dictated by the enemy. As a result, the French Army, Naval and Air Forces would be completely discharged, our weapons laid down, the French territory occupied and the French Government under the control of Germany and Italy.
One can say that this armistice would not only result in capitulation but also in slavery. However, a large number of French people do not accept the capitulation or the enslavement for reasons that are called honor, common sense and the higher interest of the Nation.
I am talking about honor! Indeed, France is committed to not laying down its weapons unless its allies agree to do so. As long as its allies continue fighting, our government does not have the right to capitulate. The Polish Government, the Norwegian Government, the Belgian Government, the Dutch Government, as well as the Government of Luxemburg, although evicted from their own countries, have understood their duty.
I am appealing to your common sense! It is absurd to consider the fight as over. Yes, we have been heavily defeated. A bad military system, the mistakes made in conducting the operations, the government’s spirit of abandon have all made us lose the Battle of France. But we still have a large Empire, an intact fleet, a lot of gold. We still have allies with immense resources who dominate the oceans. We still have the gigantic potential of the American industry. The same war conditions which led to our defeat by 5,000 aircraft and 6,000 tanks can, tomorrow, lead to victory with 20,000 tanks and 20,000 aircraft.
I am talking about the higher interest of our Nation! Because this war is not a war between France and Germany that can be decided by a battle. It is a world war. Nobody can predict if the countries that have taken a neutral stand, will do so tomorrow, nor can one predict if Germany’s allies will remain forever its allies. If the forces of freedom finally prevail over those of slavery, what would be the fate of a France which submitted to the enemy?
Honor, common sense, and the superior interest of the Nation command to all the free French to continue fighting wherever they are and however they can. I, General de Gaulle, am starting this national task here in England. I invite all French soldiers of the Army, the Navy and the Air Force, I invite the engineers and workers specialized in armament that are on British soil or could go there, to join me.
I invite the leaders, the soldiers, the sailors, the pilots of the French Army, Navy and Air Force, wherever
they may be, to get in touch with me. I invite all the French who want to remain free to listen to me and to follow me. Long live a free and independent France!
Leclerc headed to meet with de Gaulle in London.
