Tag Archives: de Gaulle

This week in the War, 23–29 September: Failure at Dakar

Posted on September 28, 2012 by secondbysecond

This week in the war, on 23 September 1940, the Free French leader, Charles de Gaulle, arrived with a Royal Navy task force at Dakar on the coast of the Vichy-controlled colony of French West Africa. He sailed on board … Continue reading →

Posted in World War II | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off

In the news: Curiosity and the ingredients for life

Posted on August 6, 2012 by secondbysecond

In the early hours of this morning, NASA’s Martian rover Curiosity touched down on the Red Planet to tackle a question that has fired the imagination of the public at least as far back as H.G. Wells’s War of the … Continue reading →

Posted in In the news, World War II | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off

This week in the War, 8–14 July 1940: Vive l’Angleterre! Vive la France!

Posted on July 14, 2012 by secondbysecond

14 July, Bastille Day—in happier times a day of national celebration—was observed as a day of mourning throughout France, this week in the war, 1940. In London, General de Gaulle laid a wreath at the Cenotaph and inspected soldiers of … Continue reading →

Posted in Book, World War II | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

This week in the War, 17–23 June 1940: Two tourists in Paris

Posted on June 17, 2012 by secondbysecond

Most visitors to Paris love the city—and I’m no exception; I adore it—and most come in July or August. It’s the time of year when Parisians flee to the countryside, abandoning their parks and boulevards to hordes of tourists. Paris … Continue reading →

Posted in Book, World War II | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off

This week in the War, 20–26 May 1940: Maxime Weygand–man of the hour

Posted on May 24, 2012 by secondbysecond

Monday 20 May 1940, General Maxime Weygand (who had been appointed French commander-in-chief the previous day)  met with General Gamelin, whom he was replacing, and with a government which was already beginning to panic. The seventy-three-year-old Weygand had (like de … Continue reading →

Posted in Book, World War II | Tagged , , | Comments Off

This week in the War, 22–28 January 1940: De Gaulle’s memo

Posted on January 24, 2012 by secondbysecond

With France supposedly secure behind its Maginot Line, most French people believed there was cause for optimism. Having the largest army in Europe, they reasoned that their country would surely prevail. This view was not shared by a certain French colonel, named Charles de … Continue reading →

Posted in World War II | Tagged | Comments Off