Free French FREEDOM Signals code for Western Allied HQ in Algiers FREE FRENCH Forces Franỗaises Libres. French forces that refused to accept the armistice with Germany of June 22, 1940, or took up arms after German occupation of the so-called zone libre once governed from Vichy From August 1940 to June 1944, some French continued the fight from Britain and bases in the overseas French Empire They were principally led by Brigadier General Charles de Gaulle On June 18, 1940, as the German FALL GELB operation ended in disaster for France, the then nearly unknown de Gaulle broadcast from London a rejection of any surrender to Germany Ten days later Winston Churchill’s government recognized de Gaulle as the true representative of France On August agreement was reached to arm and support “Free French” forces The first unit was the 13th demibrigade of the French Foreign Legion, which was in England when the armistice was signed Most of the Armée d’Afrique was initially fiercely loyal to Vichy, reflecting the influence within it of colonial elites and a conservative officer class However, some later joined and served with the Free French On the other hand, nearly all evacuees from Dunkirk chose to ignore de Gaulle and return home, as did luminary French politicians and civilians in London, though some went to the United States instead It was the foreigners of the Legion and black soldiers and colonial nations of French Equatorial Africa who first and most critically rallied to de Gaulle, starting in August 1940 That was a crucial moment, as most of the Empire and nearly all Troupe Coloniales and Tirailleurs Senagalese remained loyal to Vichy General Georges Catroux, former governor of French Indochina, was the only prominent military man to join de Gaulle in the early days Some Tirailleurs joined the Free French in August That permitted de Gaulle to launch the first of several small but politically significant military campaigns The failure of the first, the Dakar expedition undertaken with the British in September, led London to conclude that the Free French should not be trusted with advance information about military operations Next came invasion and conquest of Gabon from French Cameroun in November, a try made against British advice However, French West Africa failed to rally Operating from desert bases in Chad, the Free French waged an independent and ultimately successful Fezzan campaign, attacking into Italian Tripoli from 1941 until early 1943 The Free French also undertook an unopposed occupation of the tiny islands of St Pierre-et-Miquelon off Newfoundland in December 1941 That action raised the ire of President Franklin D Roosevelt, who early on took an intense personal dislike to de Gaulle The Brazzaville Declaration (October 27, 1940) initiated a political as well as military Free French movement, but it remained feeble until the end of 1942 Tensions with the British grew as the Free French looked to chop off more French colonies from the body of Vichy, while Churchill wished to avoid colonial distractions from the main fight in the Middle East Nevertheless, it was agreed to jointly invade Syria in June 1942 That same month a Free French brigade distinguished itself at Bir Hakeim, significantly boosting de Gaulle’s prestige in London On July 13, 1942— the same day that Vichy forces surrendered in the Levant—the Free French movement changed its name to “Fighting France” (“La France Combattante”) It did so 407