French National Committee
The French National Committee was the coordinating body created by General Charles de Gaulle which acted as the government in exile of Free France from 1941 to 1943. The committee was the successor of the smaller Empire Defense Council.
left to right: Diethelm, Muselier, De Gaulle, Cassin, Pleven and Auboyneau.
Free France was a political entity claiming to be the legitimate government of France following the dissolution of the Third Republic during World War II. Led by General Charles de Gaulle, Free France was established as a government-in-exile in London in June 1940 after the Fall of France to Nazi Germany. It joined the Allied nations in fighting Axis forces with the Free French Forces, supported the resistance in Nazi-occupied France, known as the French Forces of the Interior, and gained strategic footholds in several French colonies in Africa.
Commemorative medal for voluntary service in Free France
Charles de Gaulle was an armoured division commander and a minister in the Reynaud government during the Battle of France.
In Occupied France during the war, reproductions of the 18 June appeal were distributed through underground means as pamphlets and plastered on walls as posters by supporters of the Résistance. This could be a dangerous activity.
4 Carlton gardens, London. During WWII the building served as provisional headquarters of the Free French Resistance movement
