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01:00General Charles de Gaulle, leader of the Free French Forces in World War II, marches triumphantly through the newly liberated
01:07streets.
01:08After four years of occupation, the German forces surrender, and France's capital erupts with joy.
01:22Four years earlier, de Gaulle, then a relatively junior officer, had escaped to Britain as France collapsed.
01:29Around him gathered a group of men who were determined to keep the honour and spirit of France alive.
01:34Their symbol became Joan of Arc's Cross of Lorraine.
01:40And two years later, in the Western Desert, the Free French captured the world's imagination by holding out for two
01:47weeks at Bir Hakim against Rommel's panzers.
01:50They then fought gallantly in all European combat theatres until their country was liberated.
02:00The men who had been declared traitors by their own countrymen were finally vindicated when their leader arrived to review
02:06a victory parade in Paris.
02:08France took her place again as one of the big four Allied powers.
02:20France was bled white during World War I.
02:25Her leaders were convinced that she could never afford to fight another major war in Europe.
02:33They pinned their hopes on the Maginot Line, a belt of fortifications on France's eastern border, to deter future German
02:41aggression.
02:48But in September 1939, France found herself mobilising again for war with Germany.
02:58While her armed forces appeared strong enough to repel a second German invasion,
03:03France's military planning had been distorted by misplaced faith in the defensive power of the Maginot Line.
03:17When the Germans launched their Blitzkrieg in May 1940,
03:21the French had no answer to this revolutionary, high-speed mechanised warfare.
03:36In less than three weeks, the Germans trapped the northern French armies,
03:41together with the British Expeditionary Force, in the port of Dunkirk.
03:48Among those rescued off the beaches and taken back to Britain,
03:51were some 100,000 French soldiers.
04:02On the 5th of June, the Germans turned south to overrun the remainder of France.
04:15The vast majority of those Frenchmen who had been evacuated to England
04:19volunteered to return to their country, but it was too late.
04:24On the 14th of June, the Germans entered Paris.
04:32Two days later, the French decided to seek an armistice.
04:39Most of the people of France were numb with shock and resigned to their fate.
04:48They put their trust in the elderly Philippe Pétain,
04:51who had saved France in World War I through his defence of Verdun.
04:56Pétain had been made Prime Minister,
04:58and was certain that only by making peace could he end France's suffering.
05:06On the 22nd of June, an armistice was signed with the Germans,
05:11symbolically and humiliatingly,
05:13in the same railway carriage used by the Allies
05:16to accept Germany's surrender in 1918.
05:23While the Germans occupied northern France and all the west coast,
05:27Pétain's government was allowed relative autonomy
05:29over the remainder of the country.
05:33This became known as Vichy France,
05:36after the town in which Pétain established his regime.
05:44The Germans allowed France's overseas empire to remain intact,
05:48and the colonial administrations accepted Vichy
05:51as France's legitimate government.
05:57However, a few Frenchmen could not stomach defeat,
06:00and were determined to fight on.
06:04I refused the idea that we would stop fighting.
06:11We had an empire, we had a navy,
06:15we had good plans, we had gold.
06:19We had every reason to fight on.
06:25On the 16th of June, the day that the French government decided to seek an armistice,
06:30a virtually unknown officer, Brigadier General Charles de Gaulle,
06:34broadcast from London.
06:46De Gaulle had commanded an armoured division during the recent campaign.
06:53He had then briefly been deputy minister of defence,
06:56before being smuggled to Britain by the RAF
06:59when he realised that France was facing defeat.
07:03The British gave de Gaulle their official support
07:06as leader of a free French movement.
07:09He made further broadcasts to the French people.
07:14I invite all French people who wish to remain free
07:17to listen to me and to follow me.
07:21Long live France, free in honour and independence.
07:28But de Gaulle's message had little effect.
07:31The Vichy government declared him a traitor
07:33and condemned him to death in his absence.
07:38The prospect of de Gaulle raising forces
07:41to carry on the fight against Nazi Germany looked bleak.
07:48By mid-August 1940,
07:51the free French strength in Britain was a little over 2,000 men.
07:55They drew their inspiration from Joan of Arc,
07:58the warrior-heroine of 15th century France,
08:01adopting her symbol, the Cross of Le Ré.
08:06We were rebels.
08:08The position of a rebel is a very particular one.
08:11We were condemned to death.
08:14Our families were completely cut off from us.
08:16We had no news from them.
08:19Our pay was stopped.
08:22Vichy made it clear that our families and our children
08:25would suffer with risings.
08:28But these threats were ignored
08:30by an increasing number of French men and women
08:32who rallied to de Gaulle's inspirational leadership.
08:42They were determined to free France from Nazi tyranny.
08:49Among the free French were airmen,
08:52veterans of the Battle for France who joined the RAF.
09:0013 French fighter pilots fought with great courage in the Battle of Britain.
09:11But the situation of the French Navy proved a major problem.
09:18Churchill was concerned that the French fleet might be used by the Germans.
09:22The terms of the armistice dictated that it should be demobilized under Axis control.
09:29Some French ships were in British ports,
09:31both at home and in the Mediterranean,
09:33when the armistice came into effect.
09:35But the bulk of the Navy was still in its bases in French North Africa.
09:42On the 2nd of July, 1940,
09:45after an ultimatum to join the British was rejected,
09:48British warships bombarded the French vessels
09:51in the ports of Oran and Merz-el-Kabir.
10:01Some 1,300 French sailors were killed by their former ally.
10:14Some 1,300 French sailors were killed by the French sailors.
10:14Simultaneously, the French warships in British ports
10:17were seized by the Royal Navy.
10:19In most cases, their crews offered no resistance
10:21and allowed their vessels to be taken over.
10:26But scuffles on board the submarine Sur Coupes at Plymouth
10:29resulted in the deaths of three British sailors and one Frenchman.
10:39In the Mediterranean, a French squadron
10:41which had put into the Egyptian port of Alexandria
10:44allowed itself to be demilitarized by the British.
10:48But the deaths of so many French sailors
10:51at the hands of their former ally
10:53did little for de Gaulle's cause
10:55and increased Vichy French bitterness towards Britain.
11:02The first glimmer of hope for the free French
11:05came in the colonies of Equatorial Africa
11:08to which de Gaulle had sent a representative.
11:11Captain Philippe de Haute-Clocke
11:13had been wounded during the Battle for France
11:15but managed to escape to England.
11:19There he took one of his middle names, Leclerc,
11:22to minimize the threat of reprisals against his family.
11:26Leclerc's first successes were in Chad
11:28and French Equatorial Africa
11:30where he persuaded the colonial government
11:32to join the free French.
11:35Simultaneously, de Gaulle had gained British support
11:37for a joint landing at the West African port of Dakar
11:40in the hope that it could be won over to the Allied side.
11:47De Gaulle accompanied the Allied force
11:49which arrived off Dakar on the 23rd of September.
11:56The Vichy authorities not only refused demands to surrender
12:00but opened fire.
12:07In the subsequent engagement,
12:09they damaged a British cruiser and a battleship.
12:23the Anglo-French force withdrew,
12:25its tail between its legs.
12:28It was a terrible failure, a total failure.
12:35The next day, General de Gaulle called us together on his ship
12:38and morale was very, very low.
12:41General de Gaulle told us,
12:42this is only a temporary setback.
12:47The General was right.
12:48The following month, he went to the Cameroons
12:50to consolidate his hold on the colonies won over by Leclerc.
13:01Gabon was secured in November,
13:03but only after bitter fighting with the local Vichy troops.
13:11At the end of 1940,
13:12the 13th Demi Brigade,
13:14the cornerstone of the free French forces
13:16which had accompanied de Gaulle to Dakar and the Cameroons,
13:20set sail to join the British in Egypt.
13:27Its tough French foreign legion troops
13:30were eager to get into action
13:31against the enemy in the desert.
13:37Meanwhile, in Chad,
13:40free French units under Colonel Jean Donano
13:42began to operate with the British long-range desert group
13:45against the Italian forces
13:47in Libya's southernmost province of Fezanne.
13:55Donano was killed during a raid on the Italian airfield at Morzouk
13:59in January 1941.
14:05Leclerc took his place
14:06and set off into Libya from Chad
14:08with 3,000 men,
14:10supported by 12 elderly bombers.
14:22On the 1st of March 1941,
14:25the Free French captured the Khufra oasis.
14:31It was a significant achievement for the Allied campaign.
14:40The long-range desert group could now use Khufra as a forward base
14:44and Leclerc cooperated with it
14:46on a number of raids on Italian outposts.
14:52While the Clerc's men were making their mark in the desert,
14:55the 13th Demi Brigade had reached Egypt.
14:58Reinforced with a battalion from Chad,
15:01this now formed the Brigade d'Orient
15:03and fought alongside the British
15:04to capture the Italian colony of Eritrea.
15:08The climax of the French campaign
15:10was spearheading the capture
15:12of the important Red Sea port of Massawa.
15:20More Free French forces
15:22were gathering in Egypt
15:23during the first half of 1941.
15:28But their loyalty to the Allied cause
15:30was severely tested in June.
15:38Syria had remained under Vichy French control
15:40and the British had initially left it alone.
15:43But in May 1941,
15:45there was a revolt against the British
15:47in neighbouring Iraq.
15:50The Germans supported the rebels
15:52and obtained Vichy French agreement
15:54to use airfields in Syria.
15:56Once the British became aware of this,
15:58they decided to invade,
16:00fearing that the Luftwaffe
16:01and Vichy French air force
16:03would launch attacks against Egypt.
16:12The Allied force included
16:14six Free French battalions
16:16and an artillery battery,
16:17together with a few tanks.
16:22They attacked on the 8th of June,
16:24but soon faced bitter resistance.
16:37Free French liaison officers
16:38went in with the leading Australian
16:40and British units
16:41and tried to persuade the Vichy troops
16:43to come over to the cause of de Gaulle,
16:45but they were ignored.
16:51The Frenchmen ended up fighting Frenchmen.
16:53During the Battle for Damascus,
16:56foreign legion units
16:57went into action on both sides.
17:04It took six weeks to achieve victory
17:07and bring General Dents,
17:09the Vichy governor-general,
17:10to the armistice table.
17:17But the majority of his soldiers
17:19continued to believe
17:20that de Gaulle and his men
17:21were traitors to France,
17:22and only 6,000 of the 37,000 in Syria
17:26agreed to join the Free French.
17:31The rest were repatriated
17:33to Vichy France,
17:34where they were welcomed as heroes.
17:49De Gaulle was furious
17:50at not being consulted
17:51about the armistice.
17:53He resented the repatriation,
17:55and, even more,
17:56the fact that the British,
17:58rather than the Free French,
17:59would now oversee Syria.
18:05During the autumn of 1941,
18:08the Free French airmen in Britain
18:09formed their first dedicated
18:11fighter squadron within the RAF,
18:13No. 340,
18:15Isle de France,
18:16equipped with Spitfires
18:18and initially based in Scotland.
18:25At the same time,
18:26the airmen who had flown
18:27in support of Leclerc
18:28in the deep south
18:29of the Libyan desert
18:30became the Lorraine squadron.
18:33Equipped with Blenheim bombers,
18:35this joined the RAF's
18:36Desert Air Force
18:37and began to fly operations
18:39in support of the British 8th Army.
18:49The Free French Navy
18:51was also deeply involved
18:52in the Battle of the Atlantic.
18:59Its ships escorted convoys
19:01and battled against
19:03the U-boat menace.
19:06The Corvette Acconi
19:08achieved the almost unique feat
19:10of sinking two U-boats
19:12in one day
19:13on the 11th of March, 1943.
19:19She rammed the first one,
19:21which had already been damaged,
19:22and forced a second to the surface,
19:25ramming it as well.
19:32The entry of America
19:34into the war
19:34in December 1941
19:36meant that French possessions
19:38in the Americas
19:38could be taken from Vichy.
19:42Washington wanted to do this
19:43through negotiation,
19:44but in one instance,
19:46de Gaulle disregarded
19:47American wishes
19:48and took unilateral action.
19:56This was over the tiny islands
19:58of Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon
20:00off Newfoundland.
20:04De Gaulle ordered
20:05Admiral Émile Muselier,
20:07the commander of a free
20:08French naval task force
20:09in the Canadian port of Halifax,
20:11to seize them.
20:15Ignoring U.S. and Canadian opposition,
20:18Muselier's force,
20:19led by the submarine Surcouf,
20:21made an unopposed landing
20:23on the 24th of December 1941.
20:30Most of the inhabitants
20:31were delighted
20:32to join the free French.
20:44de Gaulle's unilateral action
20:46over the islands
20:47outraged the American
20:48and Canadian governments.
20:50But for the time being,
20:51this mattered little.
20:52The main theatre
20:53of free French operations
20:55was far away,
20:56in the deserts of North Africa,
20:58fighting alongside the British.
21:02By the end of 1941,
21:04the free French ground forces
21:05in the Middle East
21:06had been reorganized
21:07into two brigades
21:08and placed under
21:09the British 8th Army.
21:12A small contingent
21:13also joined
21:14the newly formed
21:15Special Air Service
21:16and soon distinguished itself
21:18in raids on Axis airfields.
21:24General Marie-Pierre Koenig's
21:26first free French brigade
21:27became the first French ground unit
21:29to engage the Germans
21:30in battle
21:31since the disastrous summer
21:32of 1940.
21:35Koenig was a tough,
21:37no-nonsense soldier
21:38and the bulk of his force
21:39was from the Foreign Legion.
21:44By spring 1942,
21:46the British were holding
21:47a defensive line
21:48running south from Gazala
21:49in eastern Libya
21:50and preparing to mount
21:52another offensive
21:53against Rommel
21:53and his Axis forces.
21:58The defences consisted
22:00of a number of fortified boxes.
22:02The southernmost,
22:04based at Bir Hakim,
22:05was held by the Free French.
22:10This was protected
22:11by extensive minefields
22:13and barbed wire.
22:14The garrison was also well-equipped
22:16with field and anti-tank guns.
22:18But, like the other boxes
22:20in the Gazala line,
22:21it had a major weakness.
22:23The box to its north
22:24was too far away
22:25to support Bir Hakim
22:27with artillery.
22:30General Koenig and his men
22:31were effectively isolated,
22:32with an open desert flank
22:34stretching away to their south.
22:40Soon they faced a crisis.
22:43because Erwin Rommel,
22:45the Axis commander,
22:46got his attack in first.
22:48On the night of the 26th of May,
22:50he sent his panzers
22:52round the south
22:52of the Gazala line.
23:09Within 24 hours,
23:11they had got astride
23:11the 8th Army's lines
23:12of communication,
23:14creating increasing confusion
23:15in the British rear.
23:22Bir Hakim was totally cut off.
23:35The Italian Trieste Armored Division
23:37and the German 90th Light Division
23:39attacked the Free French Box.
23:41but failed to make much headway.
23:43Rommel was forced to send back
23:45his crack 15th Panzer Division
23:47to help them.
23:50The odds did not look good.
23:55But the Free French
23:56were well dug in
23:57and determined to hold on
23:59for as long as their ammunition
24:00and supplies held out.
24:05the Axis armor was allowed to approach
24:07to point-blank range
24:08before being engaged.
24:10The Axis armor was allowed to approach
24:37eventually after two weeks
24:39with ammunition and food
24:41growing desperately short,
24:43Koenig was given permission
24:44to break up.
24:50He did so on the night of the 10th of June,
24:53bringing 2,700 of his 3,600 men
24:57to safety.
25:02any doubts about the courage
25:04and determination
25:05of the Free French
25:06had been totally dispelled.
25:08They had proved themselves
25:09true gladiators.
25:24The tide of war
25:26in the deserts of North Africa
25:28finally turned
25:29in late October 1942
25:30when General Bernard Montgomery
25:33attacked Erwin Rommel's
25:34Axis forces
25:35at El Alame.
25:37The two Free French brigades
25:39in the British 8th Army
25:40took part in the advance
25:42which drove the Axis forces
25:43out of Libya.
25:50As they did so,
25:52General Leclerc's force
25:53of 3,000 men
25:54which had been operating
25:55in southern Libya
25:56for nearly two years
25:57began to move north.
26:05After an epic
26:061,500 mile trek
26:07across the desert
26:08he met Montgomery
26:09at Tripoli
26:10on the 23rd of January
26:11the day on which
26:12the British arrived
26:13in the Libyan capital.
26:17Leclerc placed himself
26:18under Montgomery's command
26:20and his troops
26:21joined other
26:21Free French brigades
26:23to become
26:23the first
26:24Free French division.
26:29This was soon
26:30to expand rapidly
26:31for a major campaign
26:32had just begun
26:33in another part
26:34of France's overseas empire
26:35which would bring
26:36fresh troops
26:37over to the Free French.
26:46After much debate
26:47the British and Americans
26:49had agreed
26:49that their first
26:50major joint operation
26:51would be to land
26:52in Morocco
26:52and Algeria.
26:54The aim was to clear
26:55the Axis forces
26:56out of North Africa
26:57by threatening
26:58Rommel from the rear.
27:04The Allies hoped
27:05that the Vichy
27:06administrations
27:07in Morocco
27:07and Algeria
27:08would come over
27:09to their side
27:10without opposing
27:11the landings.
27:14So the United States
27:16took the lead
27:16in putting out
27:17feelers.
27:20It had maintained
27:21diplomatic relations
27:22with Vichy France
27:23while Britain
27:24was still hated
27:25for sinking
27:25the French fleet.
27:33The task
27:34was given
27:34to General
27:35Mark Clark
27:35the Deputy
27:36Allied Commander
27:37for Operation Torch.
27:46He was secretly
27:47landed
27:47by the submarine
27:48HMS Seraph
27:49on the Algerian coast
27:51to negotiate
27:52with General
27:53Charles Mast
27:53the commander
27:55of Vichy forces
27:55in the Algiers area
27:57but their discussions
27:58were inconclusive.
28:04President Roosevelt
28:05had decided
28:06that de Gaulle's
28:07increasingly abrasive
28:08behaviour
28:09made him
28:10an unsuitable figure
28:11to rally
28:11the French
28:12North African territories.
28:17Instead
28:18he chose
28:19General
28:19Henri Giraud
28:20who had escaped
28:21from German
28:22captivity
28:22in April 1942
28:23and taken refuge
28:25in Vichy France.
28:26At a secret rendezvous
28:28HMS Seraph
28:29picked up Giraud
28:30and brought him
28:31back to Gibraltar.
28:41There he met
28:42the Allied Commander
28:42of the landings
28:43General Dwight Eisenhower
28:45who told him
28:46that these would
28:46take place
28:47the following day
28:48the 8th of November.
28:58The Allies landed
28:59near Casablanca
29:00in Morocco
29:00and at the ports
29:02of Oran
29:02and Algiers
29:03in Algeria.
29:06At first
29:07the Vichy French
29:08resisted fiercely
29:09especially
29:10especially in Algiers.
29:23But the following day
29:25Admiral Jean Dallon
29:26the Vichy head
29:27of French
29:28Northwest Africa
29:29agreed to a ceasefire
29:30in Algiers
29:31but not elsewhere.
29:37so fighting continued
29:38for two more days
29:39before Morocco
29:40and Algeria
29:41were secured.
29:49To the disgust
29:50of the free French
29:51Dallon was left
29:52in charge
29:53even though he made it
29:55plain that he still
29:55supported Pétain.
30:02He also arrested
30:03the free French
30:04supporters
30:05who had tried
30:05to capture him
30:06as the Allies
30:06landed.
30:09Nonetheless Dallon
30:10agreed to work
30:11with Giraud
30:11who was flown in
30:12from Gibraltar
30:13while the Allies
30:14prepared to bring
30:14the final Vichy
30:15French territory
30:16Tunisia
30:17on to their side.
30:25But they were now
30:26faced by large
30:27numbers of Axis
30:28troops
30:28which had been
30:29flown into Tunisia.
30:38Their loyalties
30:39divided
30:39the Vichy French
30:41forces in the country
30:41offered no resistance
30:42at first.
30:51But as the Allies
30:52began to advance
30:53into Tunisia
30:54troops under
30:55General Alphonse
30:56Join joined them
30:57and were put
30:58under First Army
30:59command as the
30:5919th French Corps.
31:12The free French
31:14fought hard
31:14during the rest
31:15of the campaign
31:16in Tunisia.
31:17Leclerc's troops
31:18in particular
31:19played a leading role
31:20in Montgomery's
31:21assault on the
31:21formidable Marath
31:22line defences
31:23in March 1943.
31:27While the military
31:28strength of the
31:29free French
31:30was being built up
31:31the political
31:32situation had
31:33changed dramatically.
31:36Dallon was
31:37assassinated by
31:37a young royalist
31:38on Christmas
31:39day in 1942.
31:42De Gaulle
31:43agreed to join
31:44Giraud in a
31:44committee of
31:45national liberation
31:46that within a few
31:47months he had
31:48regained his position
31:49as the sole leader
31:50of the free French.
31:58When the Tunisian
31:59campaign ended
32:00in May 1943
32:01the Allies held
32:03a victory parade
32:04in Tunis.
32:05A large contingent
32:06of the French
32:07corps took part
32:08proof that France
32:09was beginning to
32:10regain her pride.
32:18It was now planned
32:19that the French
32:20corps would join
32:21in the Allied
32:21assault on Italy
32:22but before they
32:23could do so
32:24they had to be
32:25re-equipped
32:26with modern weapons.
32:30The troops
32:31were delighted
32:32with their new
32:32American tanks
32:33and other weapons
32:34and trained
32:35enthusiastically
32:36to take their
32:37place in the
32:37Allied line.
32:44at last
32:45the free French
32:46were becoming
32:46a force
32:47to be reckoned
32:48with.
32:51It was also
32:52becoming clear
32:53that the liberation
32:54of their country
32:55was no longer
32:56a distant dream.
33:02But well before
33:03the free French
33:04forces based in
33:05North Africa
33:05set foot in Europe
33:06a French unit
33:08was already
33:08fighting there.
33:09This was the
33:10Normandie Aviation
33:11Regiment
33:12which was fighting
33:13with the Russians
33:14on the Eastern
33:14Front.
33:18De Gaulle was
33:19determined to give
33:20active support
33:21to the Soviet Union
33:22and after lengthy
33:23negotiations with
33:24the British and
33:25Russian governments
33:25an air force unit
33:27was sent via
33:28Persia and Baku.
33:29After training
33:30on the Yak-1
33:31fighter the regiment
33:33went into action
33:34in March 1943.
33:38In 1944
33:39the regiment
33:40was awarded
33:41the title
33:41Niemann
33:42for its part
33:42in supporting
33:43the crossing
33:44of that river
33:44and by the time
33:45it returned
33:46to France
33:46in June 1945
33:48the Normandie
33:49Niemann regiment
33:50had scored
33:52273 victories.
33:57While the Normandie
33:59Niemann
33:59was beginning
34:00its two-year
34:00campaign
34:01the free French
34:02forces in North
34:03Africa were
34:04organised into
34:05an 80,000 man
34:06French expeditionary
34:07corps under
34:08General Alphonse
34:09Juin.
34:10This deployed to
34:11Italy as part of
34:12General Mark Clark's
34:14US Fifth Army
34:14in the autumn of
34:161943.
34:22The expeditionary
34:23corps was soon
34:24involved in the
34:25grim battles to
34:26force the
34:26formidable mountain
34:27defences of the
34:28Gustav Line
34:29south of Rome.
34:38The backbone
34:39of the corps
34:40were the
34:40Goum,
34:41irregular mountain
34:42gendarmerie units
34:44which had
34:44traditionally policed
34:45the Moroccan
34:46countryside.
34:47They were tough
34:48and ruthless,
34:49recruited from
34:50peoples who had
34:51always used
34:51terror as a weapon
34:52but highly respected
34:54by their French
34:55officers.
35:06The Goum's
35:07mountain warfare
35:08skills enabled
35:09the French
35:10expeditionary
35:10corps to unlock
35:11the Gustav Line
35:12by forcing the
35:13German positions
35:14overlooking the
35:15river Guerillan.
35:32the French
35:33then took part
35:34in the advance
35:35on Rome
35:35and the liberation
35:36of the Italian
35:37capital.
35:42But as 1944 began
35:44all free Frenchmen
35:46were increasingly
35:47concentrating on
35:48the ultimate
35:48objective,
35:49the liberation
35:50of France itself.
36:02The Free French
36:03Air Force in Britain
36:04was now contributing
36:05four fighter
36:06and three bomber
36:07squadrons to the
36:08Royal Air Force.
36:11Among its aces
36:12was Pierre
36:13Klosterman
36:14who had been in
36:15Brazil when the
36:15war started
36:16but had made
36:17his way to Britain
36:18and trained
36:18as a fighter pilot.
36:22Klosterman first
36:23flew Spitfires
36:24with number
36:24341 Alsace
36:26squadron.
36:26By the end
36:27of the war
36:28he was commanding
36:28an RAF Tempest
36:30squadron
36:30and flying a
36:31plane which he
36:32called Vieux Charles
36:33an allusion
36:34to de Gaulle.
36:42He shot down
36:4333 German planes
36:44in just two years
36:45of air fighting.
36:52Free French ships
36:54were also preparing
36:55to support the
36:55Normandy landings
36:56their crews well
36:58hardened as a result
36:59of the long
36:59and arduous
37:00battle of the Atlantic.
37:12On the ground
37:13the main
37:14Free French formation
37:15in Britain
37:16was the 2nd
37:17Armoured Division
37:17commanded by
37:18General Leclerc.
37:23This had been
37:24formed in Morocco
37:25and then deployed
37:26to Britain
37:27in the autumn
37:27of 1943.
37:37Two Free French
37:38parachute battalions
37:39had been incorporated
37:40in the British
37:41Special Air Service.
37:46All were waiting
37:47eagerly for the
37:48moment when they
37:48could set foot
37:49once more
37:50on their native land.
37:57The only Free French
37:59troops to land
38:00in Normandy
38:00on D-Day
38:01the 6th of June
38:021944
38:03were commandos.
38:04They were part
38:05of the British
38:06Number 10
38:07Inter-Allied Commando
38:08led by the dashing
38:09Philippe Kieffer
38:10veteran of several raids.
38:15Kieffer and his men
38:16stormed ashore
38:17side by side
38:18with their British
38:18comrades.
38:22Soon they were
38:23being greeted
38:24by their
38:24jubilant countrymen.
38:31Other Free French
38:33did drop into France
38:34as part of
38:34small Special Forces
38:36teams.
38:48their task
38:49was to liaise
38:50with the French
38:50forces of the
38:51interior
38:51the paramilitary
38:53resistance forces
38:54based in central
38:55France
38:55and coordinate
38:56their operations.
38:58General Leclerc
38:59whose journey
39:00back to France
39:01had begun
39:01over three years
39:02earlier in Chad
39:03had to wait
39:04until late July
39:05before he and
39:06his division
39:06crossed to France.
39:12These American
39:13allies realised
39:14how much it meant
39:15to him to set foot
39:16on French soil
39:17after so long.
39:21Leclerc's division
39:22joined General
39:23George S. Patton's
39:24US Third Army
39:25which was poised
39:26to break out
39:26from Normandy.
39:29Calvados,
39:30the local
39:30apple brandy
39:31spurred Leclerc
39:32and his men
39:33on their way
39:33racing south
39:35and then east
39:36across France.
39:46their ultimate
39:47objective was
39:48the French capital.
39:58The leading elements
39:59of Second Armoured
40:00Division reached Paris
40:01late on the evening
40:02of the 23rd of August.
40:19Amid the wild excitement
40:21Leclerc was able
40:22to briefly slip away
40:24and speak to his father
40:25on the telephone
40:25for the first time
40:26in over four years.
40:29But then
40:30it was back to business.
40:37for the French forces
40:39of the interior
40:40had risen against
40:41the German garrison
40:42in Paris.
40:44Bloody street battles
40:46were raging
40:46and there was a danger
40:48that complete anarchy
40:49might take over.
41:08early on the 24th
41:10as the fighting
41:11in the streets
41:11continued
41:12Leclerc reached
41:13the centre of Paris.
41:24He took the surrender
41:25of the German garrison
41:26commander
41:27General von Choltitz.
41:33Many of his garrison
41:34also surrendered
41:35but other Germans
41:37fought on.
41:46On the following day
41:48came the climax
41:49of the liberation
41:50of Paris.
41:52Charles de Gaulle
41:53visited the Arc de Triomphe
41:55to mark the culmination
41:56of his struggle
41:57to restore France's honour.
42:01His triumphant walk
42:02down the Champs-Elysées
42:03was punctuated
42:04by gun battles
42:05with die-hard Nazis.
42:19But de Gaulle
42:20was not to be denied
42:21his moment
42:22for not only
42:23had Leclerc's troops
42:24led the liberation
42:25of Paris
42:26but ten days earlier
42:27the free French
42:28had been involved
42:29far to the south
42:30in the other
42:31great assault
42:32to liberate
42:32their country.
42:38Allied forces
42:39had landed
42:39in the south
42:40of France
42:40on the 15th of August.
42:42They included
42:43Alphonse Join's
42:44French Expeditionary Corps
42:45battle-hardened
42:46after its campaign
42:47in Italy.
42:50This was now part
42:51of the French
42:52First Army
42:53under General
42:54Jean de Lattre de Tassigny
42:55who had fought
42:56who had fought
42:57as commander
42:57of an infantry regiment
42:58in 1940
42:59and had then
43:00commanded Vichy divisions
43:01in Tunisia
43:02and southern France.
43:07When German forces
43:09occupied southern France
43:10in November 1942
43:11after Operation Torch
43:13de Lattre attempted
43:15to follow his orders
43:16and resist them.
43:17This resulted
43:18in a ten-year prison sentence
43:20from the Vichy regime
43:21but he managed
43:22to escape
43:23across the Mediterranean
43:24to Algeria.
43:31De Lattre's first task
43:32was the liberation
43:33of the ports
43:34of Toulon
43:34and Marseille.
43:43His men
43:44rapidly cleared
43:45the Germans
43:46from both places
43:47to the delight
43:48of the local population.
43:58After this
43:59De Lattre's army
44:00joined the US
44:016th Army
44:02in the advance
44:03up the Rhone Valley.
44:04This culminated
44:06in the liberation
44:06of Lyon
44:07on the 3rd of September.
44:19After bringing Leclerc
44:20under his command
44:21and absorbing elements
44:22of the forces
44:23of the interior
44:24De Lattre advanced
44:25into the Vosges region
44:27just north
44:27of the Swiss border.
44:30The French
44:31then fought
44:32a grim battle
44:33to eliminate
44:33the German forces
44:34around Colmar
44:35the last obstacle
44:37barring their approach
44:38to the river Rhine.
44:55in the West.
44:56Not until early
44:56February 1945
44:57was the way
44:59to Germany's
44:59last natural
45:00obstacle in the West
45:01cleared.
45:02In the final headlong
45:04advance into Germany
45:05the French cleared
45:07the Black Forest
45:07and finished their war
45:09at Hitler's Alpine retreat
45:11Berchtesgaden
45:12now reduced to rubble
45:14by Allied bombers.
45:20But the crowning moment
45:22for the Free French
45:23came with the formal
45:24German surrenders
45:25at Reims
45:26and in Berlin.
45:27French representatives
45:29proudly took their places
45:30at the table
45:31with their American
45:32British and Soviet allies.
45:45De Lattre
45:46was a signatory
45:47of the Berlin surrender.
45:55Thereafter
45:55the French
45:56were given
45:56their sectors
45:57of both Berlin
45:58and Western Germany
45:59to govern.
46:01France had regained
46:02her self-respect
46:03and was once more
46:04a major power.
46:13None of this
46:14would have been possible
46:15without the determination
46:16and vision
46:17of Charles de Gaulle
46:18and the few thousand
46:19Frenchmen
46:20who refused to accept
46:21their country's defeat.
46:24Their war
46:25had taken them
46:26from Britain
46:26through Central
46:27and North Africa
46:28Italy
46:29and North West Europe.
46:36It had been
46:37a long,
46:38hard road.
47:00outcasts
47:00from their own land
47:01these gladiators
47:03had kept the faith
47:04and eventually triumphed.
47:19lament recompense
47:20told me
47:21to go up
47:21to history
47:22To run
47:23Los Angeles
47:25here.
47:25He had been
47:26here to get
47:28a long road.
47:28God toi
47:31should've got
47:32to Nut ізia
47:32and Быle
47:34in the world
47:36to
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