The Dying Gaul (film)

# The Dying Gaul (film)

## Abstract

The Dying Gaul is a 2005 American drama film written and directed by Craig Lucas, his feature directorial debut. The screenplay is based on his 1998 off-Broadway play of the same name, the title of which was derived from an ancient Roman marble copy of a lost Hellenistic sculpture.

## Plot

In 1995 Hollywood, novice screenwriter Robert Sandrich has written an autobiographical script inspired by his lover's death by AIDS -related cerebral tuberculosis. It impresses both studio executive Jeffrey Tishop and his wife Elaine, but for commercial reasons Jeffrey is willing to greenlight the project only if Robert changes his protagonist from Maurice to Maggie and shifts the focus of his plot from gay to straight people. Robert initially refuses to compromise his principles, but when Jeffrey threatens to make the film without his participation, he decides to accept the $1 million paycheck he's been offered and make the requested edits.

Both Jeffrey and Elaine find themselves attracted to Robert, who becomes a frequent guest in their Malibu home and soon drifts into a sexual relationship with the manipulative producer. The connection Elaine feels to the grieving young man is more emotional and cerebral than physical and, after discovering Robert is addicted to Internet chat rooms, she tracks him down online and engages him in conversation while posing as a gay man. Using information he has revealed to her in person, she convinces him that he is communicating with his dead lover. Complications ensue when Robert reveals he's having an affair with Jeffrey, which forces Elaine to face the truth about her seemingly perfect marriage and prompts a confrontation that leads to tragedy.

## Cast

- Patricia Clarkson as Elaine Tishop

- Peter Sarsgaard as Robert Sandrich

- Campbell Scott as Jeffrey Tishop

- Elizabeth Marvel as Kelly Cartonis

- Bill Camp as Malcolm

## Release

The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2005 and was shown at the Miami Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, the Seattle International Film Festival, the Provincetown International Film Festival, the Philadelphia International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, the Montréal World Film Festival, Film Fest New Haven, the Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival, and the Austin Film Festival before opening in eleven theaters in the United States on November 4, 2005.

## Critical reception

On review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes, The Dying Gaul has an approval rating of 50% based on 70 reviews. The site's critics consensus reads, "Though it has a fine cast, The Dying Gaul ' s plot feels calculated and too intellectualized."

Stephen Holden of the New York Times called the film "a boldly expressionistic, proudly theatrical film" and wrote that Craig Lucas "makes an auspicious, nervy debut as a screen director."

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times thought "there are implausibilities in the plot devices that lead the movie to its ultimate conclusion. And then the final developments themselves, I think, are wrong in both theory and practice. There is some ambiguity about why a final event takes place, and that's all right, but the way in which the movie reveals it is, I think, singularly ineffective. It leads to one of those endings where you sit there wishing they'd tried a little harder to think up something better."

Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle observed the film "has the best kind of story in that it unfolds as a series of surprises, and yet every step, twist and turn seems inevitable in retrospect. Just in terms of plot, it's a meticulous piece of construction, with key information gracefully planted and nothing extraneous. On mechanics alone, it would qualify as satisfying entertainment. Yet The Dying Gaul is hardly a mere mechanical construction... Lucas' insight into the subtleties of interaction – and the churning depths that those subtleties suggest – is of a whole other order than that of most film directors. In this psychological thriller, the psychological isn't neglected; it's intrinsic."

Peter Travers of Rolling Stone rated the film three out of four stars and commented, "Lucas the director serves Lucas the playwright beautifully, giving the film a seductive gleam that only enhances the shock when he reveals the toxicity underneath. The actors could not be better. Sarsgaard, Scott and the luminous Clarkson negotiate the film's razor-sharp laughs and bone-deep tragedy with resonant skill. Lucas' powerfully haunting film gets under your skin."

In a 2015 interview, Sarsgaard said The Dying Gaul was his favorite film as a performer.

## Awards and nominations

Craig Lucas was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. The National Board of Review cited the film for Special Recognition For Excellence In Filmmaking.

## Home media

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released the film on Region 1 DVD on March 21, 2006. It is in anamorphic widescreen format with an audio track and subtitles in English. Bonus features include deleted scenes and an alternate ending.

The Region 2 release has neither the deleted scenes nor the alternative ending.


List of Dyson products

# List of Dyson products

## Abstract

Dyson is a Singapore-based company and manufacturer of bagless vacuum cleaners (using cyclonic separation and brushless electric motors), heatless hand dryers, bladeless fans/heaters, and robotic vacuum cleaners.

## Technologies

Dyson has developed various basic technologies for use in their products, including designing and manufacturing its own specialized motors.

### Dyson Digital Motor

The electric motor marketed as the Dyson Digital Motor (DDM) is a direct current motor, operating on the switched reluctance principle. These brushless motors rotate at up to 110,000 rpm. The motor used a two-pole brushless rotor with a digital controller. Dyson said its efficiency was 84%, which was less than the 96% efficiency that is achieved in some brushless designs. In order to deal with the high speed and centrifugal forces, the impeller is made of carbon fibre reinforced polymer; the shaft is steel.

The first mass-produced version was named "X020" and used in the Airblade hand dryer; the later DDM "V2" was used for Dyson handheld vacuum cleaners. Dyson has continued to develop its proprietary motor designs for various products, improving efficiency for increased battery life, and reducing acoustic noise, resulting in a "V8" version (for cordless vacuums) and a "V9" version (for a hair dryer), as of 2020.

### Root Cyclone technology

The Dyson Root Cyclone technology is used in all Dyson vacuum cleaners from DC07 onward. The DC17, DC22, and DC23 use the improved "Root Cyclone & Core Separator", also called "Radix Cyclone", "Intermediary Cyclone", or "Level 3 Root Cyclone Technology".

Most of the current range use "2 Tier Radial cyclones", consisting of two cascaded levels of cyclonic separators to remove dirt and dust without requiring a bag or filter.

## Vacuum cleaners

### Model names

Most versions are identified by a name such as "DC14". Later upright and cylinder cleaners have labels such as "Small Ball" or "Big Ball" which relate to the machine's form factor. Cordless vacuum cleaners are identified by names such as "V11" or "V7" which denote the version of the appliance (the higher the model number, the greater its specification). Older cordless models pre-dating the Dyson V6 have names in the "DC14" style.

Some have submodels identified by a suffix indicating specific facilities, implemented sometimes by additional tools supplied. Suffixes with the same meaning vary from model to model.

- All Floors, Multi Floor, Wood+Wool: suitable for both hard surfaces and carpets.

- Allergy: suitable for filtering out microscopic allergens.

- Animal: designed to pick up animal hair better than a general-purpose model, and filter out fine particles. These machines come with a mini turbine tool to help remove pet hair, human hair and cotton fibres from upholstery, cars, and confined areas.

- Motorhead: cylinder or handheld model with direct-drive motorised brush head.

- Full Gear: same features as "Animal", with more attachments.

- Absolute: has a full range of tools and is typically the top-of-the-line model.

#### Special Edition models

Other suffixes may indicate exclusivity to certain stores, e.g. "Comet Exclusive" and "Overdrive" (Comet) or "Blitz it" (Currys).

Some are limited editions:

##### "Drawing" limited editions

These machines feature a different range of tools to the usual "Multifloor" and "Animal" versions and also appear in different colours. The Drawing later became exclusive to the British John Lewis Department Stores.

##### "De Stijl" limited editions

Some of the early Dyson models (DC01, DC02, DC04) were available in a " De Stijl " colour scheme of purple, red and yellow, in homage to the Dutch design movement of the same name.

##### "Dyson Antarctic Solo" limited editions

In 1996, 100,000 recoloured DC01 and DC02 models were produced as part of a fund-raising effort for Ranulph Fiennes's solo expedition to the Antarctic. For these models, the yellow parts found on the mainstream models were replaced with light blue ones, and on the DC02 Antarctic Solo the body was also recoloured in white instead of silver.

### Current models

### Discontinued models

## Airblade hand dryer

### Airblade

The first Dyson Airblade, launched in 2006, is a hand dryer for commercial customers, typically made available in public hand washing facilities. The Airblade uses Dyson's Digital Motor to produce a stream of air that flows at up to 430 mph (700 km/h) and is claimed to dry the hands in 10 to 12 seconds. The Airblade uses a HEPA filter to remove bacteria and mould from the air. The Dyson Airblade is the world's first hygienic commercial hand dryer according to NSF International; it is accredited by the British Skin Foundation and the Royal Institute of Public Health as well. The Dyson Airblade is hazard analysis and critical control points (HACCP) approved.

### Airblade Wash+Dry

The Airblade Wash+Dry launched in 2013 and is a tap with an integrated hand dryer

## Air Multiplier bladeless fans and air purifiers

The Dyson "Air Multiplier" was announced in October 2009 as an electric fan, intended to provide smoother airflow and, having no exposed rotating blades, operating in a safer manner than conventional fans. While it is described as a "bladeless" fan, it has blades inside its base. The fan works by drawing air in through an inlet in the base pillar and forcing it through an outlet in the upper ring. The jet of air travels over the airfoil shape of the ring, creating local low pressure, thereby pulling air from behind it as it decelerates in a process known as "induction". Once the air exits the ring it entrains the air in front and alongside. Using this process, a small brushless impeller in the fan's base can power a much larger air outlet without exposing any blades.

Dyson stated that the initially-generated air flow is multiplied between 15 and 18 times for the models AM01, AM02 and AM03, projecting a smooth stream of uninterrupted air, without the buffeting effect caused by conventional fan blades. In March 2014, the second-generation models of the Air Multiplier were acoustically re-engineered so that the "bladeless" fans were quieter than their predecessors, using improved airflow and a Helmholtz resonator to cancel a 10 kHz whine.

Later, Dyson produced combination heating and cooling fans (some with HEPA filters) based on its "air multiplier" design. In addition, some newer designs feature "Jet Focus", the ability to shift between a wide and shallow or a narrower but farther-reaching stream of air, under user control. Most of the Dyson fans and heaters are controlled by small infrared remote controls, which can be held magnetically on the appliance when not in use. A more-limited set of control switches is provided on the body of the appliance.

The design for a "bladeless" fan had been patented by Toshiba in 1981, but was not marketed before the patent expired. An initial patent claim by Dyson was rejected by the Intellectual Property Office, ruling that it "cannot be considered novel or cannot be considered to involve an inventive step" compared to the earlier patent.

The Air Multiplier fan received the Japanese Good Design Award in 2010.

In September 2011, Dyson announced the Dyson Hot fan heater (AM04), using Air Multiplier technology. Like most fan heaters, it has a thermostat to control the temperature, and can also be used as a cooling fan (without heat). All AM04 models made prior to 1 April 2014 are subject to a no-charge product recall for repairs because of a fire risk.

In March 2015, Dyson released an Air Multiplier humidifier, which uses "Ultraviolet Cleanse" technology to clean water by running it through ultraviolet light twice before it is released. A piezoelectric transducer in the base vibrates up to 1.7 million times a second to break the water down into small droplets which are drawn up and added to the air with Air Multiplier technology.

In January 2016, Dyson released the Dyson Pure Cool air purifier. It uses the same Air Multiplier technology to blow air, as well as a 0.99 micron HEPA filter to trap suspended particles. Along with a coarse filter to trap slow particles, the unit uses low-force velocity to trap fine particles within the filter as well.

Around 2020, Dyson discontinued its basic cooling fans in favour of an extended range of combination fan air purifiers, some with optional heating. High-end models feature automatic monitoring of indoor air quality for particulates and volatile organic compound (VOC) contamination, and reporting over Bluetooth or WiFi to a smartphone app.

## Contrarotator washing machine

The Dyson CR01 Contrarotator, first available in November 2000, was a washing machine with two counter-rotating drums, the first of its type. Each drum had 5,000 perforations to help evacuate water. Dyson's next washing machine, in 2004, was the CR02, with "Flowcheck" and "Allergy" models. The company stopped making washing machines in 2005 as they were unprofitable. As of November 2012, Dyson no longer supports or services the Contrarotator washing machines, which it has declared obsolete.

## Hair care products

In April 2016, Dyson introduced the "Supersonic" handheld hair dryer. A Dyson Digital Motor V9 is housed in the handle. In October 2018, the company launched the "Airwrap" styler, which uses the same motor as the Supersonic hair dryer, and is able to style wet hair using the Coandă effect. In March 2020, Dyson announced a cordless hair straightener called the "Corrale".

## Lighting

In 2015 Dyson introduced the "CSYS" range of LED lamps. The lamps incorporate heat pipe technology designed to extend the life of the product, by cooling the LED emitters.

In 2018, Dyson released the "Lightcycle", featuring the same heat pipe technology as the previous CSYS lights, but with Bluetooth connectivity via the Dyson Link app, and the ability to adjust the intensity and colour temperature to both the individual and their surroundings.

## Medical care

In March 2020, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dyson announced that they would be supporting UK hospitals by manufacturing ventilators. On March 25, it was announced that the British government had ordered 10,000 units of The CoVent from the company, subject to passing stringent medical tests. The plan was cancelled a month later, after Dyson realized that it would be difficult for a company with no history of manufacturing ventilators to quickly obtain regulatory approval.

## Wearables

In March 2022, Dyson introduced Dyson Zone, a noise-cancelling headphone that doubles as an air purifier for the face. The Dyson Zone headphones combine personal air purification with high-quality audio features. Equipped with miniature compressors and dual-layer filters, they capture particles and gas pollutants while providing a stream of clean air. The headphones feature four air purification settings and adaptive functionality for tailored air delivery. With advanced active noise cancellation (ANC) using 11 microphones, they can reduce external volume significantly. The headphones boast a long battery life of 50 hours for audio and include technology for clear voice calls. The Dyson app complements the headphones by monitoring real-time air quality and noise levels, allowing users to adjust settings accordingly. These headphones address the global issue of air pollution, particularly prevalent in low- and middle-income countries. Despite their high cost, they offer a solution for those concerned about air quality and its impact on health.


The Escape Artist (film)

# The Escape Artist (film)

## Abstract

The Escape Artist is a 1982 film starring Griffin O'Neal and Raúl Juliá. It was based on a book by David Wagoner, and was the feature film directorial debut of Caleb Deschanel. It was the final film of Joan Hackett, Desi Arnaz, and Gabriel Dell, and the film debut of Harry Anderson. It was also the final film performance of Jackie Coogan, though one film he had shot earlier (The Prey, which was shot in 1979) was not released until 1983.

## Plot

Young and self-confident Danny Masters is the teen-aged son of the late Harry Masters, the "greatest escape artist except for Houdini ". Danny himself is an accomplished magician and escape artist. He leaves home to join Uncle Burke and Aunt Sibyl in their magic/mentalist act; Sibyl welcomes him, but Burke is unenthusiastic.

Danny soon finds himself embroiled with Stu Quiñones, corrupt son of Mayor Leon Quiñones. The quest for a missing wallet (pick-pocketed by Danny) leads to the comeuppance of the crooked mayor, and separately of his vindictive and out-of-control son. Along the way, Danny comes to terms with the death of his father, the circumstances of which he did not previously know.

## Cast

- Raúl Juliá as Stu Quiñones

- Griffin O'Neal as Danny Masters

- Desi Arnaz as Mayor Leon Quiñones

- Teri Garr as Arlene

- Joan Hackett as Aunt Sibyl

- Gabriel Dell as Uncle Burke

- John P. Ryan as Vernon

- Elizabeth Daily as Sandra

- M. Emmet Walsh as Fritz

- Jackie Coogan as Magic Shop Owner

- Hal Williams as Cop At Mayor's Office

- Helen Page Camp as Neighbor

- David Clennon as Newspaper Editor

- Huntz Hall as Turnkey

- Harry Anderson as Harry Masters

- Carlin Glynn as Treasurer's Secretary

- Margaret Ladd as Reporter

- Garry Marshall as Drummer

- Doug McGrath as The Photographer

- Richard Bradford as Sam City Treasurer (uncredited)

## Production notes

This film was shot in 1980, but remained unreleased for two years as it underwent extensive re-editing. The cast includes two members of the 1930s troupe the Dead End Kids: Gabriel Dell and Huntz Hall.

## Reception

The film received mixed to poor reviews, with critics generally praising the performances, but finding the script elements unfocused. Vincent Canby of the New York Times noted that the finished film "represents a lot more talent than is ever demonstrated on the screen."


The End of the Tour

# The End of the Tour

## Abstract

The End of the Tour is a 2015 American drama film about writer David Foster Wallace. The film stars Jason Segel and Jesse Eisenberg, was written by Donald Margulies, and was directed by James Ponsoldt. Based on David Lipsky 's best-selling memoir Although of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself, screenwriter Margulies first read the book in 2011, and sent it to Ponsoldt, a former student of his, who took on the job of director. Filming took place in early 2014 in Michigan, with scenes also shot at the Mall of America. Danny Elfman provided the score, with the soundtrack featuring songs by musicians like R.E.M. and Brian Eno, whose inclusion was based on the kind of music Wallace and Lipsky listened to.

The film debuted at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, and was theatrically released on July 31, 2015, by A24 to critical acclaim, particularly for the performance of Segel. He received Best Actor nominations from various awards groups, including the Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead.

## Plot

Writer David Lipsky is dismayed to hear about the suicide of novelist David Foster Wallace in 2008. He had interviewed the author over a period of days twelve years earlier, following the publication of Wallace's novel Infinite Jest, which received critical praise and became an international bestseller, a touchstone for numerous readers. He listens to the recordings he made during their time together.

The film returns to the period shortly after the book's release. Although initially skeptical of the high praise Wallace's book is receiving, Lipsky – a writer having only marginal success – is awestruck after reading it. He persuades his editor at Rolling Stone magazine to give him an assignment to interview Wallace during his book tour.

The journalist travels to meet Wallace at his home on the outskirts of Bloomington-Normal, Illinois (near Illinois State University where the author teaches writing). Lipsky finds the young author unassuming and amiable, but indifferent to being interviewed. Wallace permits Lipsky to tape-record their conversations, with the proviso that Lipsky won't use any direct quotes which Wallace asks to have taken "off the record" five minutes later. Wallace opens up to Lipsky on a variety of subjects, ranging from dogs to television to fame and self-identity, but remains somewhat guarded. He tacitly admits to alcoholism, but offers few details of his experience. Lipsky's mention of Wallace's brief voluntary institutionalization under a suicide watch causes some friction between them.

As their conversation continues late into the night, Wallace invites Lipsky to stay in his unused "guest room", rather than a motel. The room is dominated by stacks of his books. They resume the interview in the morning. Lipsky also accompanies Wallace for a few days to Minneapolis-Saint Paul, where Wallace has the final appearance of his book tour. There they meet two women friends of Wallace: Betsy, whom he knew in graduate school, and Julie, a literary critic; the men spend time with the women later that night and the next day at the Mall of America. Although Wallace and Lipsky generally get along well, Wallace becomes angry when he sees Lipsky flirting with Betsy.

After their return to Wallace's home, tension increases when Lipsky asks the author about rumors of past heroin abuse. Wallace denies it, accusing Lipsky of looking for a stereotypical angle from which to write his article. As their time comes to an end, the two spend a morning together, mainly as new friends rather than as journalist and subject. Lipsky summons the nerve to give Wallace a copy of his own novel, and they agree to stay in touch.

The closing passage is set fourteen years later, when Lipsky is on his own book tour. He reads from his memoir, Although of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself (2010), based on their 1996 encounter. He recounts the road trip he had with Wallace, reflecting on ideas the two had discussed and how their conversations made Lipsky less lonely.

## Cast

- Jason Segel as David Foster Wallace

- Jesse Eisenberg as David Lipsky

- Ron Livingston as Bob Levin

- Anna Chlumsky as Sarah

- Joan Cusack as Patty Gunderson

- Mickey Sumner as Betsy

- Mamie Gummer as Julie

- Becky Ann Baker as Bookstore manager

## Production

### Development

Lipsky's 2010 memoir Although of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself was a New York Times bestseller and an NPR Best Book of the Year. Lipsky also received the National Magazine Award in 2009 for writing about David Foster Wallace. Time magazine's Lev Grossman wrote, "the transcripts of their brilliant conversations read like a two-man Tom Stoppard play," and NPR's Michael Schaub called the book "crushingly poignant... startlingly sad yet deeply funny."

In 2011, Pulitzer Prize –winning playwright Donald Margulies read the memoir. "Here was a story of two men circling each other," Margulies told the Los Angeles Times. "It was all there." He wrote a screenplay based on Lipsky's book. A few lines were additionally inspired by Wallace's posthumous novel The Pale King.Margulies included material that Lipsky shared with him about time with Wallace off-tape and which he had not included in his memoir. Margulies pointed out,

"What Lipsky shared with me is that moment that some people have accused me of creating. As being too Hollywood.. When in fact it was something that Lipsky didn't include in his book because he felt that it got in the way of Wallace's voice. Because that was really what he was trying to convey in that book... That moment that occurs between the two guys in Julie's kitchen, I wouldn't have known if David Lipsky hadn't shared that with me. Not to sound too coarse about it, but it provided me with my third act. Because it's a turn that occurs. A schism that occurs that changes the tenor of what follows. Dramatically speaking, I felt that that was absolutely necessary. And serendipitous that such a thing actually occurred, and that David Lipsky was generous enough to share it with me, and gave me permission to include it in the film. So there were things that I pulled to it that were not in the book. But certainly not anything that didn't happen."

Margulies sent the completed script to James Ponsoldt, his former student at Yale University and a Sundance Award-winning director. The New York Times has described him as "A devoted David Foster Wallace fan himself." Ponsoldt had excerpts read at his wedding from Wallace's memorable commencement speech "This is Water", at Kenyon College. (Ponsoldt told The Wall Street Journal he had read Wallace since high school, and that Infinite Jest "was the most substantive relationship of my freshman year.") Ponsoldt later told The A.V. Club about his response to being offered the script by Margulies: "I was flattered. I was excited. I was very nervous. I was hyper-aware of Lipsky's book. Wallace is a hero to me." He continued, "When I read it, I was deeply, deeply moved and blown away by what Donald had pulled off."

Ponsoldt discussed the project's history with an interviewer, " book came out in 2010. It was a 'New York Times' bestseller. He wrote it with the support of some of David Foster Wallace's family. They're thanked prominently in the acknowledgements. The article that Lipsky had written for 'Rolling Stone' when Wallace died won a National Magazine Award. Our film was made with the support of people who knew Wallace, who aided in the making of the film." Margulies explained, "We've approached this with such, we think, humanity." Speaking with Time magazine, David Lipsky related that before sending the memoir to publishers, he asked for the Wallace family's approval. Segel told the Los Angeles Times, "My personal feeling in taking on the movie and especially in seeing it is that it's a real extension of David Foster Wallace's themes and writing." Vanity Fair 's Richard Lawson reported, "His estate does not endorse this movie. But Segel, and Ponsoldt, and everyone else involved do him wonderful justice anyway. By the end of the tour, we truly feel the weight and impact of what a loss for our culture Wallace's death was."

### Casting

Eisenberg was cast as David Lipsky in December 2013. Eisenberg told the Orange County Register he had been a fan of Wallace's work since college. "I just thought it was phenomenal." An admirer of Margulies' plays, it took him "no time at all to accept the part," Eisenberg said. With a screenplay, "You only really have the story and the characters to judge, and this had a wonderful story, wonderful characters." Eisenberg spent time with Lipsky learning how to accurately portray a journalist. Wired, after observing that "there has been enough conversation over the meaning and implications of director James Ponsoldt's fourth feature The End Of The Tour to rival the page count of Infinite Jest," praised Eisenberg's performance as "the best part of the film," deserving of "awards attention."

According to The New York Times, Segel was nervous about taking the part as David Foster Wallace. But "paging through the screenplay, Mr. Segel felt a rush of recognition." Preparing for the role, Segel listened exhaustively to Lipsky's recordings, watched online clips of Wallace, and assembled a small book club to read Infinite Jest. He told The New York Times that when he bought the novel, the saleswoman rolled her eyes. "She said, ' Infinite Jest. Every guy I've ever dated has an unread copy on his bookshelf.'" Segel's performance as David Foster Wallace was called "a revelation" by Entertainment Weekly, "stunning" by Vanity Fair, and "infinitely impressive" by the Chicago Sun-Times. Matthew Jacobs of The Huffington Post wrote, "It's early, but let's prep Jason Segel's Oscar campaign just to be safe."

Mickey Sumner was cast as Wallace's classmate Betsy. "It was a movie about David Foster Wallace," she explained, "whom I adored and loved." Anna Chlumsky —playing Sarah, Lipsky's girlfriend—told Variety she was attracted by the depth of Margulies' screenplay. By March 18, 2014, Academy Award-nominated actor Joan Cusack had joined the cast as Wallace's Minneapolis–Saint Paul escort, Patty Gunderson. On March 19, 2014, Ron Livingston joined the cast as Rolling Stone editor Bob Levin.

### Filming

Principal photography began on February 19, 2014, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Hudsonville, Michigan, and continued for five weeks. On March 19, 2014, it was announced that filming was taking place at JW Marriott Grand Rapids and shooting was said to wrap soon. Around March 20, 2014, Muskegon County Airport was used for scenes representing Chicago O'Hare Airport and a fuselage of an Embraer 145 in Muskegon hangar was used for aircraft interior scenes. Around March 21, some scenes were filmed at the Mall of America and near the Third Avenue Bridge in Minneapolis.

### Music

The film's soundtrack, written by Danny Elfman, was released by Lakeshore Records on July 24, 2015. Supervised by Tiffany Anders, the soundtrack features songs by Alanis Morissette, R.E.M., Brian Eno, and Felt. There is also a cover by Tindersticks of Pavement's ballad "Here". Director James Ponsoldt told ComingSoon.net, "From early on, R.E.M. and Brian Eno were a band and a musician that sort of factored into the time that David Lipsky and David Foster Wallace spent together. And they had conversations about what they listened to. So I knew that R.E.M. and Eno would feature in the movie." Reviewing Elfman's score at Soundtrack Dreams, Minhea Manduteanu wrote, "From 'Walking the dog' on, everything fell into place. It's not by accident that this final section includes a cue by Brian Eno. Elfman channeled his inner Eno in those cues and it worked magic."

## Release

On December 9, 2014, it was announced the film would receive its premiere at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. On January 23, 2015, A24 acquired distribution rights to the film. The film debuted at the Sundance Festival's Eccles Theater on January 24, 2015. The premiere earned what New York and USA Today called "rave" and "glowing reviews". The New York Times reported, "Mr. Segel's performance – empathetic, nuanced, whip smart – left the packed theater breathless."

The End of the Tour began a limited theatrical release on July 31, 2015, distributed by A24 Films.

## Reception

### Critical response

The film received a 92% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 161 reviews, with an average rating of 8/10. The site's critical consensus states: "Brilliantly performed and smartly unconventional, The End of the Tour pays fitting tribute to a singular talent while offering profoundly poignant observations on the human condition." The film also holds a score of 82 out of 100 on Metacritic, based on 35 reviews.

At RogerEbert.com, critic Brian Tallerico called the film a "joy," and "stunning... a gift of highly intellectual discussion between two brilliant people at turning points in their lives", while also praising Jason Segel and Jesse Eisenberg.

In his review for The New York Times, A.O. Scott wrote, "I love it... You hang on its every word and revel in its rough, vernacular beauty... This one is just about as good as it gets." Entertainment Weekly gave the film an "A−" rating and Chris Nashawaty wrote it was "thoughtful and deeply affecting... The real revelation (an overused word, but it truly applies here) is Jason Segel... It's a profoundly moving story". Matthew Jacobs of HuffPost cited Jason Segel's portrayal of Wallace as one of the 23 best performances of 2015.

The Washington Post ' s Ann Hornaday gave the film four out of four and called it, "A five-day conversation you won't want to end... Part love story, part road trip, part elegy to a bygone, pre-9/11 age, ' The End of the Tour ' brims with compassion and sharply honed insight" about "what it means to be human". In his review for Vanity Fair, Richard Lawson called it a "wise, humbly sublime film... a profound, and profoundly affecting, movie, one that had me blubbering with happy-sad tears What a pleasure to spend two hours in its company." Lawson especially praised Segel's performance as "a stunning, career-defining performance."

In his review for the New York Daily News, Joe Neumaier awarded the film five out of five, calling it "one of the best movies of the year... Director James Ponsoldt's smart, incisive and extraordinary drama is the kind of film that burrows into your head and leaves you illuminated about life and how to live it." Neumaier called Segel's work "an award-worthy performance". In her review for the Los Angeles Times, Sheri Linden wrote "James Ponsoldt's magnificent The End of the Tour gives us two guys talking, and the effect is breathtaking... They're played with a wrought and wary chemistry, synapses blazing, by Jason Segel and Jesse Eisenberg."

In his review for Rolling Stone, Peter Travers called the film "riveting" and "mesmerizing", writing "As the details accumulate, so does the power of the film, an illuminating meditation on art and life... That's what makes the movie, elevated by two extraordinary actors, an exhilarating gift." In her review for Slate, Dana Stevens called the film, "A movie of ideas that contains actual ideas", writing "I greatly enjoyed it." In his review for Cut Print Film, Josh Oakley awarded the film a perfect "10/10", calling it "one of the best films of the year", and stating " The End of the Tour presents, with ample evidence, Wallace as a figure who could never fill the holes of loneliness with the spackle of acclaim." In his review for the Chicago Sun-Times, Richard Roeper awarded the film four out of four stars, calling it "brilliant... this is one of the best movies of the year".

In his review for the Minnesota Star Tribune, Colin Covert gave the film four out of four, writing, "Simply put, it is a masterwork."

Wallace's literary estate was not approached to participate in the film: it did not give permission — and ultimately opposed — the film.

### Year-end lists

The film appeared on many critics' lists of the best films of 2015.

- 15th – A.O. Scott, The New York Times

- 7th – Richard Lawson, Vanity Fair

- 8th – John Powers, Vogue

- 22nd – The Guardian

- Best of 2015 (not ranked) – Entertainment Weekly

- 9th – Nate Scott, USA Today

- 1st – Ramin Setoodeh, Variety

- Top 10 runner-ups (not ranked) – Ann Hornaday, The Washington Post

- Top 10 (not ranked) – K.M. McFarland, Wired

- 5th – Tim Grierson, The New Republic


Free France

# Free France

## Abstract

Free France (French: France libre) 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 (Forces françaises libres), 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.

Following the defeat of the Third Republic by Nazi Germany, Marshal Philippe Pétain led efforts to negotiate an armistice and established a German puppet state known as Vichy France. Opposed to the idea of an armistice, de Gaulle fled to Britain and from there broadcast the Appeal of 18 June (Appel du 18 juin) exhorting the French people to resist the Nazis and join the Free French Forces. On 27 October 1940, the Empire Defense Council (Conseil de défense de l'Empire)—later the French National Committee (Comité national français or CNF)—formed to govern French territories in central Africa, Asia, and Oceania that had heeded the 18 June call.

Initially, with the exception of French possessions in the Pacific, India, and Equatorial Africa, all the territories of the French colonial empire rejected de Gaulle 's appeal and reaffirmed their loyalty to Marshall Pétain and the Vichy government. It was only progressively, often with the decisive military intervention of the Allies, that Free France took over more Vichy possessions, securing the majority of colonies by November 1942.

The Free French fought both Axis and Vichy troops and served in almost every major campaign, from North Africa to Indochina. The Free French Navy operated as an auxiliary force to the Royal Navy and, in the North Atlantic, to the Royal Canadian Navy. Free French units also served in the Royal Air Force, Soviet Air Force, and British SAS, before larger commands were established directly under the control of the government-in-exile. On 13 July 1942, "Free France" was officially renamed Fighting France (France combattante) to mark the struggle against the Axis both externally and within occupied France.

Exile officially ended after the reconquest of North Africa, when the Free French government relocated from London to Algiers. From there, the French Committee of National Liberation (Comité français de Libération nationale, CFLN) was formed as the provisional government of all French, uniting the disparate forces that opposed the Axis and their collaborators. On 1 August 1943, Free French Forces united with the Army of Africa (L'Armée d'Afrique) to form the French Liberation Army (Armée française de la Libération, AFL). By June 1944, the AFL numbered more than 500,000, and the CFLN was succeeded by the Provisional Government of the French Republic (Gouvernement Provisoire de la République française, GPRF), which was established in anticipation of the liberation of France. The AFL participated in the Normandy landings and the invasion of southern France, ultimately leading the liberation of Paris in August 1944, which ushered in the provisional government on French soil.

The AFL took part in the Allied advance through France and subsequent invasion of Germany, and by end of the war totaled over 1.3 million troops—the fourth-largest Allied army in Europe. The provisional government ruled France until the establishment of the Fourth Republic in October 1946, having preempted the country's occupation by Allied forces and secured its status as a major power.

## Definition

Historically, an individual became "Free French" by enlisting in the military units organised by the CFN or by employment by the civilian arm of the Committee. On 1 August 1943 after the merger of CFN and representatives of the former Vichy regime in North Africa to form the CFLN earlier in June, the FFF and the Army of Africa (constituting a major part of the Vichy regular forces allowed by the 1940 armistice) were merged to form the French Liberation Army, Armée française de la Libération, and all subsequent enlistments were in this combined force.

In many sources, Free French describes any French individual or unit that fought against Axis forces after the June 1940 armistice. Postwar, to settle disputes over the Free French heritage, the French government issued an official definition of the term. Under this "ministerial instruction of July 1953" (instruction ministérielle du 29 juillet 1953), only those who served with the Allies after the Franco-German armistice in 1940 and before 1 August 1943 may correctly be called "Free French".

## History

### Prelude

On 10 May 1940, Nazi Germany invaded France and the Low Countries, rapidly defeating the Dutch and Belgians, while armoured units attacking through the Ardennes cut off the Franco-British strike force in Belgium. By the end of May, the British and French northern armies were trapped in a series of pockets, including Dunkirk, Calais, Boulogne, Saint-Valery-en-Caux and Lille. The Dunkirk evacuation was only made possible by the resistance of these troops, particularly the French army divisions at Lille.

From 27 May to 4 June, over 200,000 members of the British Expeditionary Force and 140,000 French troops were evacuated from Dunkirk. Neither side viewed this as the end of the battle; French evacuees were quickly returned to France and many fought in the June battles. After being evacuated from Dunkirk, Alan Brooke landed in Cherbourg on 2 June to reform the BEF, along with the 1st Canadian Division, the only remaining fully equipped formation in Britain. Contrary to what is often assumed, French morale was higher in June than May and they easily repulsed an attack in the south by Fascist Italy. A defensive line was re-established along the Somme but much of the armour was lost in Northern France; they were also crippled by shortages of aircraft, the vast majority incurred when airfields were over-run, rather than air combat.

On 1 June, Charles de Gaulle was promoted to brigadier general; on 5 June, Prime Minister Paul Reynaud appointed him Under Secretary of State for Defence, a junior post in the French cabinet. De Gaulle was known for his willingness to challenge accepted ideas; in 1912, he asked to be posted to Pétain 's regiment, whose maxim 'Firepower kills' was then in stark contrast to the prevailing orthodoxy of Attaque à outrance. He was also a long-time advocate of the modern armoured warfare ideas applied by the Wehrmacht, and commanded the 4th Armoured Division at the Battle of Montcornet. However, he was not personally popular; significantly, none of his immediate military subordinates joined him in 1940.

The new French commander Maxime Weygand was 73 years old and like Pétain, an Anglophobe who viewed Dunkirk as another example of Britain's unreliability as an ally; de Gaulle later recounted he 'gave up hope' when the Germans renewed their attack on 8 June and demanded an immediate Armistice. De Gaulle was one of a small group of government ministers who favoured continued resistance and Reynaud sent him to London in order to negotiate the proposed union between France and Britain. When this plan collapsed, he resigned on 16 June and Pétain became President of the Council. De Gaulle flew to Bordeaux on the 17th but returned to London the same day when he realised Pétain had already agreed to an armistice with the Axis Powers.

### De Gaulle rallies the Free French

On 18 June 1940, General de Gaulle spoke to the French people via BBC radio, urging French soldiers, sailors and airmen to join in the fight against the Nazis:

Some members of the British Cabinet had reservations about de Gaulle 's speech, fearing that such a broadcast could provoke the Pétain government into handing the French fleet over to the Nazis, but British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, despite his own concerns, agreed to the broadcast.

In France, de Gaulle 's "Appeal of 18 June" (Appel du 18 juin) was not widely heard that day but, together with his BBC broadcasts in subsequent days and his later communications, came to be widely remembered throughout France and its colonial empire as the voice of national honour and freedom.

### Armistice

On 19 June, de Gaulle again broadcast to the French nation saying that in France, "all forms of authority had disappeared" and since its government had "fallen under the bondage of the enemy and all our institutions have ceased to function", that it was "the clear duty" of all French servicemen to fight on.

This would form the essential legal basis of de Gaulle 's government in exile, that the armistice soon to be signed with the Nazis was not merely dishonourable but illegal, and that in signing it, the French government would itself be committing treason. On the other hand, if Vichy was the legal French government as some such as Julian T. Jackson have argued, de Gaulle and his followers were revolutionaries, unlike the Dutch, Belgian, and other governments in exile in London. A third option might be that neither considered that a fully free, legitimate, sovereign, and independent successor state to the Third Republic existed following the Armistice, as both Free France and Vichy France refrained from making that implicit claim by studiously avoiding using the word "republic" when referring to themselves. In Vichy's case, underlying reasons were compounded by ideals of a Révolution nationale stamping out France's republican heritage.

On 22 June 1940, Marshal Pétain signed an armistice with Germany, followed by a similar one with Italy on 24 June; both of these came into force on 25 June. After a parliamentary vote on 10 July, Pétain became the leader of the newly established authoritarian regime known as Vichy France, the town of Vichy being the seat of government. De Gaulle was tried in absentia in Vichy France and sentenced to death for treason. He, on the other hand, regarded himself as the last remaining member of the legitimate Reynaud government and considered Pétain's assumption of power to be an unconstitutional coup d'état.

## Beginnings of the Free French forces

Despite de Gaulle 's call to continue the struggle, few French forces initially pledged their support. By the end of July 1940, only about 7,000 soldiers had joined the Free French Army in England. Three-quarters of French servicemen in Britain requested repatriation.

France was bitterly divided by the conflict. Frenchmen everywhere were forced to choose sides, and often deeply resented those who had made a different choice. One French admiral, René-Émile Godfroy, voiced the opinion of many of those who decided not to join the Free French forces, when in June 1940, he explained to the exasperated British why he would not order his ships in Alexandria harbour to join de Gaulle:

Equally, few Frenchmen believed that Britain could stand alone. In June 1940, Pétain and his generals told Churchill that "in three weeks, England will have her neck wrung like a chicken". Of France's far-flung empire, only the French domains of Saint Helena (on 23 June at the initiative of Georges Colin, honorary consul of the domains) and the Franco-British ruled New Hebrides condominium in the Pacific (on 20 July) answered de Gaulle 's call to arms. It was not until late August that Free France would gain significant support in French Equatorial Africa.

Unlike the troops at Dunkirk or naval forces at sea, relatively few members of the French Air Force had the means or opportunity to escape. Like all military personnel trapped on the mainland, they were functionally subject to the Pétain government: "French authorities made it clear that those who acted on their own initiative would be classed as deserters, and guards were placed to thwart efforts to get on board ships." In the summer of 1940, around a dozen pilots made it to England and volunteered for the RAF to help fight the Luftwaffe. Many more, however, made their way through long and circuitous routes to French territories overseas, eventually regrouping as the Free French Air Force.

The French Navy was better able to immediately respond to de Gaulle 's call to arms. Most units initially stayed loyal to Vichy, but about 3,600 sailors operating 50 ships around the world joined with the Royal Navy and formed the nucleus of the Free French Naval Forces (FFNF; in French: FNFL). France's surrender found her only aircraft carrier, Béarn, en route from the United States loaded with a precious cargo of American fighter and bomber aircraft. Unwilling to return to occupied France, but likewise reluctant to join de Gaulle, Béarn instead sought harbour in Martinique, her crew showing little inclination to side with the British in their continued fight against the Nazis. Already obsolete at the start of the war, she would remain in Martinique for the next four years, her aircraft rusting in the tropical climate.

Many of the men in the French colonies felt a special need to defend France, their distant "motherland," eventually making up two-thirds of de Gaulle 's Free French Forces.

### Composition

The Free French forces included men from the French Pacific Islands. Mainly coming from Tahiti, there were 550 volunteers in April 1941. They would serve through the North African campaign (including the Battle of Bir Hakeim), the Italian Campaign and much of the Liberation of France. In November 1944, 275 remaining volunteers were repatriated and replaced with men of French Forces of the Interior to deal better with the cold weather.

The Free French forces also included 5,000 non-French Europeans, mainly serving in units of the Foreign Legion. There were also escaped Spanish Republicans, veterans of the Spanish Civil War. In August 1944, they numbered 350 men.

The ethnic composition of divisions varied. The main common difference, before the period of August to November 1944, was armoured divisions and armour and support elements within infantry divisions were constituted of mainly white French soldiers and infantry elements of infantry divisions were mainly made up of colonial soldiers. Nearly all NCOs and officers were white French. Both the 2e Division Blindée and 1er Division Blindée were made up of around 75% Europeans and 25% Mahgrebians, which is why the 2e Division Blindée was selected for the Liberation of Paris. The 5e Division Blindée was almost entirely made up of white Frenchmen.

Records for the Italian campaign show that both the 3rd Algerian Infantry Division and 2nd Moroccan Infantry Division were made up of 60% Mahgrebians and 40% Europeans, while the 4th Moroccan Infantry Division was made up of 65% Mahgrebians and 35% Europeans. The three North African divisions had one brigade of North African soldiers in each division replaced with a brigade of French Forces of the Interior in January 1945. Both the 1st Free French Division and 9th Colonial Infantry Division contained a strong contingent of Tirailleurs Sénégalais brigades. The 1st Free French Division also contained a mixed brigade of French Troupes de marine and the Pacific island volunteers. It also included the Foreign Legion Brigades. In late September and early October 1944, both the Tirailleurs Sénégalais brigades and Pacific Islanders were replaced by brigades of troops recruited from mainland France. This was also when many new Infantry divisions (12 overall) began to be recruited from mainland France, including the 10th Infantry Division and many Alpine Infantry Divisions. The 3rd Armoured Division was also created in May 1945 but saw no combat in the war.

The Free French units in the Royal Air Force, Soviet Air Force, and British SAS were mainly composed of men from metropolitan France.

Before the addition of the assemblies of Northern Africa and the loss of the runaways who fled France and went to Spain in the spring of 1943 (10,000 according to Jean-Noël Vincent's calculations), a report by the major state general of the Free French Forces in London from October 30, 1942 records 61,670 combatants in the Army, of which 20,200 were from colonies and 20,000 were from the Levant's special troops (non-Free French forces).

In May 1943, citing the Joint Planning Staff, Jean-Louis Crémieux-Brilhac alludes to 79,600 men who constitute ground forces, including 21,500 men from special Syro-Lebanese troops, 2,000 men of color supervised by Free French Forces in northern Palestine, and 650 soldiers assigned to the general headquarters in London.

According to the tally of Henri Écochard, an ex-Free French Forces serviceman, there were at least 54,500 soldiers.

In 2009, in his work on the Free French Forces, Jean-François Muracciole, a French historian specializing in Free France, reevaluated his count with that of Henri Écochard, while considering that Écochard's list had greatly underestimated the number of colonial combatants. According to Muracciole, between the creation of the Free French forces in the Summer 1940 and the merger with the Army of Africa in summer 1943, 73,300 men fought for Free France. This included 39,300 French (from metropolitan France and colonial settlers), 30,000 colonial soldiers (mostly from sub-Saharan Africa) and 3,800 foreigners. They were divided up as follows:

Army: 50,000;

Naval: 12,500;

Aviation: 3,200;

Communications in France: 5,700;

Free French Forces committees: 1,900.

General Leclerc's second armored division included two units of female volunteers: The Rochambeau Group with the Army (dozens of women) and the Woman Service of the Naval Fleet with the Navy (9 women). Their role consisted of administering first aid to the first line of injured soldiers (often to stop bleeding) before evacuating them by stretcher to ambulances and then driving these ambulances under enemy fire to care centers several kilometers behind the lines.

The following anecdote by Pierre Clostermann suggests the spirit of the times in the Free French Forces; a commander reproaches one of Clostermann's comrades for having yellow shoes and a yellow sweater under his uniform, to which the comrade responds: "My Commander, I am a civilian who voluntarily came to fight the war that the soldiers don't want to fight!"

## Cross of Lorraine

Capitaine de corvette Thierry d'Argenlieu suggested the adoption of the Cross of Lorraine as a symbol of the Free French. This was chosen to recall the perseverance of Joan of Arc, patron saint of France, whose symbol it had been, the province where she was born, and now partially annexed into Alsace-Lorraine by Nazi Germany, and as a response to the symbol of national-socialism, the Nazi swastika.

In his general order No. 2 of 3 July 1940, Vice Admiral Émile Muselier, two days after assuming the post of chief of the naval and air forces of the Free French, created the naval jack displaying the French colours with a red cross of Lorraine, and a cockade, which also featured the cross of Lorraine. Modern ships that share the same name as ships of the FNFL—such as Rubis and Triomphant —are entitled to fly the Free French naval jack as a mark of honour.

A monument on Lyle Hill in Greenock, in the shape of the Cross of Lorraine combined with an anchor, was raised by subscription as a memorial to the Free French naval vessels which sailed from the Firth of Clyde to take part in the Battle of the Atlantic. It has plaques commemorating the loss of the Flower-class corvettes Alyssa and Mimosa, and of the submarine Surcouf. Locally, it is also associated with the memory of the loss of the destroyer Maillé Brézé which blew up at the Tail of the Bank.

## Mers El Kébir and the fate of the French Navy

After the fall of France, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill feared that, in German or Italian hands, the ships of the French Navy would pose a grave threat to the Allies. He therefore insisted that French warships either join the Allies or else adopt neutrality in a British, French, or neutral port. Churchill was determined that French warships would not be in a position to support a German invasion of Britain, though he feared that a direct attack on the French Navy might cause the Vichy regime to actively ally itself with the Nazis.

On 3 July 1940, Admiral Marcel-Bruno Gensoul was provided an ultimatum by the British:

It is impossible for us, your comrades up to now, to allow your fine ships to fall into the power of the German enemy. We are determined to fight on until the end, and if we win, as we think we shall, we shall never forget that France was our Ally, that our interests are the same as hers, and that our common enemy is Germany. Should we conquer we solemnly declare that we shall restore the greatness and territory of France. For this purpose we must make sure that the best ships of the French Navy are not used against us by the common foe. In these circumstances, His Majesty's Government have instructed me to demand that the French Fleet now at Mers el Kebir and Oran shall act in accordance with one of the following alternatives;

(a) Sail with us and continue the fight until victory against the Germans.

(b) Sail with reduced crews under our control to a British port. The reduced crews would be repatriated at the earliest moment.

If either of these courses is adopted by you we will restore your ships to France at the conclusion of the war or pay full compensation if they are damaged meanwhile.

(c) Alternatively if you feel bound to stipulate that your ships should not be used against the Germans lest they break the Armistice, then sail them with us with reduced crews to some French port in the West Indies — Martinique for instance—where they can be demilitarised to our satisfaction, or perhaps be entrusted to the United States and remain safe until the end of the war, the crews being repatriated.

If you refuse these fair offers, I must with profound regret, require you to sink your ships within 6 hours.

Finally, failing the above, I have the orders from His Majesty's Government to use whatever force may be necessary to prevent your ships from falling into German hands.

Gensoul's orders allowed him to accept internment in the West Indies, but after a discussion lasting ten hours, he rejected all offers, and British warships commanded by Admiral James Somerville attacked French ships during the attack on Mers-el-Kébir in Algeria, sinking or crippling three battleships. Because the Vichy government only said that there had been no alternatives offered, the attack caused great bitterness in France, particularly in the Navy (over 1,000 French sailors were killed), and helped to reinforce the ancient stereotype of perfide Albion. Such actions discouraged many French soldiers from joining the Free French forces.

Despite this, some French warships and sailors did remain on the Allied side or join the FNFL later, such as the mine-laying submarine Rubis, whose crew voted almost unanimously to fight alongside Britain, the destroyer Le Triomphant, and the then-largest submarine in the world, Surcouf. The first loss of the FNFL occurred on 7 November 1940, when the patrol boat Poulmic struck a mine in the English Channel.

Most ships that had remained on the Vichy side and were not scuttled with the main French fleet in Toulon, mostly those in the colonies that had remained loyal to Vichy until the end of the regime through the Case Anton Axis invasion and occupation of the zone libre and Tunisia, changed sides then.

In November 1940, around 1,700 officers and men of the French Navy took advantage of the British offer of repatriation to France, and were transported home on a hospital ship travelling under the International Red Cross. This did not stop the Germans from torpedoing the ship, and 400 men were drowned.

The FNFL, commanded first by Admiral Emile Muselier and then by Philippe Auboyneau and Georges Thierry d'Argenlieu, played a role in the liberation of French colonies throughout the world including Operation Torch in French north Africa, escorting convoys during the Battle of the Atlantic, in supporting the French Resistance in non-Free French territories, in Operation Neptune in Normandy and Operation Dragoon in Provence for the liberation of mainland France, and in the Pacific War.

In total during the war, around 50 major ships and a few dozen minor and auxiliary ships were part of the Free French navy. It also included half a dozen battalions of naval infantry and commandos, as well as naval aviation squadrons, one aboard HMS Indomitable and one squadron of anti-submarine Catalinas. The French merchant marine siding with the Allies counted over 170 ships.

## Struggle for control of the French colonies

With metropolitan France firmly under Germany's thumb and the Allies too weak to challenge this, de Gaulle turned his attention to France's vast overseas empire.

### African campaign and the Empire Defence Council

De Gaulle was optimistic that France's colonies in western and central Africa, which had strong trading links with British territories, might be sympathetic to the Free French. Pierre Boisson, the governor-general of French Equatorial Africa, was a staunch supporter of the Vichy regime, unlike Félix Éboué, the governor of French Chad, a subsection of the overall colony. Boisson was soon promoted to "High Commissioner of Colonies" and transferred to Dakar, leaving Éboué with more direct authority over Chad. On 26 August, with the help of his top military official, Éboué pledged his colony's allegiance to Free France. By the end of August, all of French Equatorial Africa (including the League of Nations mandate French Cameroun) had joined Free France, with the exception of French Gabon.

With these colonies came vital manpower—a large number of African colonial troops, who would form the nucleus of de Gaulle 's army. From July to November 1940, the FFF would engage in fighting with troops loyal to Vichy France in Africa, with success and failure on both sides.

In September 1940 an Anglo French naval force fought the Battle of Dakar, also known as Operation Menace, an unsuccessful attempt to capture the strategic port of Dakar in French West Africa. The local authorities were not impressed by the Allied show of strength, and had the better of the naval bombardment which followed, leading to a humiliating withdrawal by the Allied ships. So strong was de Gaulle 's sense of failure that he even considered suicide.

There was better news in November 1940 when the FFF achieved victory at the Battle of Gabon (or Battle of Libreville) under the very skilled General Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque (General Leclerc). De Gaulle personally surveyed the situation in Chad, the first African colony to join Free France, located on the southern border of Libya, and the battle resulted in free French forces taking Libreville, Gabon.

By the end of November 1940 French Equatorial Africa was wholly under the control of Free France, but the failures at Dakar had led French West Africa to declare allegiance to Vichy, to which they would remain loyal until the fall of the regime in November 1942.

On 27 October 1940 the Empire Defence Council was established to organise and administer the imperial possessions under Free French rule, and as an alternative provisional French government. It was constituted of high-ranking officers and the governors of the free colonies, notably governor Félix Éboué of Chad. Its creation was announced by the Brazzaville Manifesto that day. La France libre was what de Gaulle claimed to represent, or rather, as he put it simply, " La France "; Vichy France was a "pseudo government", an illegal entity.

In 1941–1942, the African FFF slowly grew in strength and even expanded operations north into Italian Libya. In February 1941, Free French Forces invaded Cyrenaica, again led by Leclerc, capturing the Italian fort at the oasis of Kufra. In 1942, Leclerc's forces and soldiers from the British Long Range Desert Group captured parts of the province of Fezzan. At the end of 1942, Leclerc moved his forces into Tripolitania to join British Commonwealth and other FFF forces in the Run for Tunis.

### Asia and the Pacific

France also had possessions in Asia and the Pacific, and these far-flung colonies would experience similar problems of divided loyalties. French India and the French South Pacific colonies of New Caledonia, French Polynesia and the New Hebrides joined Free France in the summer 1940, drawing official American interest. These South Pacific colonies would later provide vital Allied bases in the Pacific Ocean during the war with Japan.

French Indochina was invaded by Japan in September 1940, although for most of the war the colony remained under nominal Vichy control. On 9 March 1945, the Japanese launched a coup and took full control of Indochina by the beginning of May. Japanese rule in Indochina lasted until the successful August Revolution which was led by communist-dominated Viet Minh, and the entry of British and Chinese forces.

From June 1940 until February 1943, the concession of Guangzhouwan (Kouang-Tchéou-Wan or Fort-Boyard), in South China, remained under the administration of Free France. The Republic of China, after the fall of Paris in 1940, recognised the London-exiled Free French government as Guangzhouwan's legitimate authority and established diplomatic relations with them, something facilitated by the fact that the colony was surrounded by the Republic of China's territory and was not in physical contact with French Indochina. In February 1943 the Imperial Japanese Army invaded and occupied the leased territory.

### North America

In North America, Saint-Pierre and Miquelon (near Newfoundland) joined the Free French after an "invasion" on 24 December 1941 by Rear Admiral Emile Muselier and the forces he was able to load onto three corvettes and a submarine of the FNFL. The action at Saint-Pierre and Miquelon created a serious diplomatic incident with the United States, despite this being the first French possession in the Americas to join the Allies, which doctrinally objected to the use of military means by colonial powers in the western hemisphere and recognised Vichy as the official French government.

Mainly because of this and of the often very frosty relations between Free France and the USA (with President Roosevelt 's profound distrust of de Gaulle playing a key part in that, with him being firmly convinced that the general's aim was to create a South-American style junta and become the dictator of France), other French possessions in the New World were among the last to defect from Vichy to the Allies (with Martinique holding out until July 1943).

### Syria and East Africa

In 1941, the FFF fought alongside British Empire troops against the Italians in Italian East Africa during the East African Campaign.

In June 1941, during the Syria-Lebanon campaign (Operation Exporter), Free French Forces fighting alongside British Commonwealth forces faced substantial numbers of troops loyal to Vichy France—this time in the Levant. De Gaulle had assured Churchill that the French units in Syria would rise to the call of Free France, but this was not the case. After bitter fighting, with around 1,000 dead on each side (including Vichy and Free French Foreign Legionnaires fratricide when the 13th Demi-Brigade (D.B.L.E.) clashed with the 6th Foreign Infantry Regiment near Damascus). General Henri Dentz and his Vichy Army of the Levant were eventually defeated by the largely British allied forces in July 1941.

The British did not themselves occupy Syria; rather, the Free French General Georges Catroux was appointed High Commissioner of the Levant, and from this point, Free France would control both Syria and Lebanon until they became independent in 1946 and 1943 respectively. However, despite this success, the numbers of the FFF did not grow as much as had been wished for. Of nearly 38,000 Vichy French prisoners of war, just 5,668 men volunteered to join the forces of General de Gaulle; the remainder chose to be repatriated to France.

Despite this bleak picture, by the end of 1941, the United States had entered the war, and the Soviet Union had also joined the Allied side, stopping the Germans outside Moscow in the first major reverse for the Nazis. Gradually the tide of war began to shift, and with it the perception that Hitler could at last be beaten. Support for Free France began to grow, though the Vichy French forces would continue to resist Allied armies—and the Free French—when attacked by them until the end of 1942.

### Creation of the French National Committee (CNF)

Reflecting the growing strength of Free France was the foundation of the French National Committee (French: Comité national français, CNF) in September 1941 and the official name change from France Libre to France combattante in July 1942.

The United States granted Lend-Lease support to the CNF on 24 November.

### Madagascar

In June 1942, the British attacked the strategically important colony of French Madagascar, hoping to prevent its falling into Japanese hands and especially the use of Diego-Suarez 's harbour as a base for the Imperial Japanese Navy. Once again the Allied landings faced resistance from Vichy forces, led by Governor-General Armand Léon Annet. On 5 November 1942, Annet, at last, surrendered. As in Syria, only a minority of the captured Vichy soldiers chose to join the Free French. After the battle, Free French general Paul Legentilhomme was appointed High Commissioner for Madagascar.

## Battle of Bir Hakeim

Throughout 1942 in North Africa, British Empire forces fought a desperate land campaign against the Germans and Italians to prevent the loss of Egypt and the vital Suez canal. Here, fighting in the harsh Libyan desert, Free French soldiers distinguished themselves. General Marie Pierre Koenig and his unit—the 1st Free French Infantry Brigade —resisted the Afrika Korps at the Battle of Bir Hakeim in June 1942, although they were eventually obliged to withdraw, as Allied forces retreated to El Alamein, their lowest ebb in the North African campaign. Koenig defended Bir Hakeim from 26 May to 11 June against superior German and Italian forces led by Generaloberst Erwin Rommel, proving that the FFF could be taken seriously by the Allies as a fighting force. British General Claude Auchinleck said on 12 June 1942, of the battle: "The United Nations need to be filled with admiration and gratitude, in respect of these French troops and their brave General Koenig". Even Hitler was impressed, announcing to the journalist Lutz Koch, recently returned from Bir Hakeim:

You hear, Gentlemen? It is a new evidence that I have always been right! The French are, after us, the best soldiers! Even with its current birthrate, France will always be able to mobilise a hundred divisions! After this war, we will have to find allies able to contain a country which is capable of military exploits that astonish the world like they are doing right now in Bir-Hakeim!

Generalmajor Friedrich von Mellenthin wrote in his mémoirs Panzer Battles,

n the whole course of the desert war, we never encountered a more heroic and well-sustained defence.

## First successes

From 23 October to 4 November 1942, Allied forces under general Bernard Montgomery, including the FFI, won the Second battle of El Alamein, driving Rommel's Afrika Korps out of Egypt and back into Libya. This was the first major success of a Western Allied army against the Axis powers, and marked a key turning point in the war.

### Operation Torch

Soon afterwards in November 1942, the Allies launched Operation Torch in the west, an invasion of Vichy-controlled French North Africa. An Anglo-American force of 63,000 men landed in French Morocco and Algeria. The long-term goal was to clear German and Italian troops from North Africa, enhance naval control of the Mediterranean, and prepare an invasion of Italy in 1943. The Allies had hoped that Vichy forces would offer only token resistance to the Allies, but instead they fought hard, incurring heavy casualties. As a French foreign legionnaire put it after seeing his comrades die in an American bombing raid: "Ever since the fall of France, we had dreamed of deliverance, but we did not want it that way".

After 8 November 1942 putsch by the French resistance that prevented the 19th Corps from responding effectively to the allied landings around Algiers the same day, most Vichy figures were arrested (including General Alphonse Juin, chief commander in North Africa, and Vichy admiral François Darlan). However, Darlan was released and U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower finally accepted his self-nomination as high commissioner of North Africa and French West Africa, a move that enraged de Gaulle, who refused to recognise his status.

Henri Giraud, a general who had escaped from military captivity in Germany in April 1942, had negotiated with the Americans for leadership in the invasion. He arrived in Algiers on 10 November, and agreed to subordinate himself to Admiral Darlan as the commander of the French African army.

Later that day Darlan ordered a ceasefire and Vichy French forces began, en masse, to join the Free French cause. Initially at least the effectiveness of these new recruits was hampered by a scarcity of weaponry and, among some of the officer class, a lack of conviction in their new cause.

After the signing of the cease-fire, the Germans lost faith in the Vichy regime, and on 11 November 1942 German and Italian forces occupied Vichy France (Case Anton), violating the 1940 armistice, and triggering the scuttling of the French fleet in Toulon on 27 November 1942. In response, the Vichy Army of Africa joined the Allied side. They fought in Tunisia for six months until April 1943, when they joined the campaign in Italy as part of the French Expeditionary Corps in Italy (FEC).

Admiral Darlan was assassinated on 24 December 1942 in Algiers by the young monarchist Bonnier de La Chapelle. Although de la Chapelle had been a member of the resistance group led by Henri d'Astier de La Vigerie, it is believed he was acting as an individual.

On 28 December, after a prolonged blockade, the Vichy forces in French Somaliland were ousted.

After these successes, Guadeloupe and Martinique in the West Indies —as well as French Guiana on the northern coast of South America—finally joined Free France in the first months of 1943. In November 1943, the French forces received enough military equipment through Lend-Lease to re-equip eight divisions and allow the return of borrowed British equipment.

### Creation of the French Committee of National Liberation (CFLN)

The Vichy forces in North Africa had been under Darlan's command and had surrendered on his orders. The Allies recognised his self-nomination as High Commissioner of France (French military and civilian commander-in-chief, Commandement en chef français civil et militaire) for North and West Africa. He ordered them to cease resisting and co-operate with the Allies, which they did. By the time the Tunisia Campaign was fought, the ex-Vichy French forces in North Africa had been merged with the FFF.

After Admiral Darlan's assassination, Giraud became his de facto successor in French Africa with Allied support. This occurred through a series of consultations between Giraud and de Gaulle. The latter wanted to pursue a political position in France and agreed to have Giraud as commander in chief, as the more qualified military person of the two. It is questionable that he ordered that many French resistance leaders who had helped Eisenhower's troops be arrested, without any protest by Roosevelt's representative, Robert Murphy.

Later, the Americans sent Jean Monnet to counsel Giraud and to press him into repeal the Vichy laws. The Cremieux decree, which granted French citizenship to Jews in Algeria and which had been repealed by Vichy, was immediately restored by General de Gaulle. Democratic rule was restored in French Algeria, and the Communists and Jews liberated from the concentration camps.

Giraud took part in the Casablanca conference in January 1943 with Roosevelt, Churchill and de Gaulle. The Allies discussed their general strategy for the war, and recognised joint leadership of North Africa by Giraud and de Gaulle. Henri Giraud and Charles de Gaulle then became co-presidents of the French Committee of National Liberation (Comité Français de Libération Nationale, CFLN), which unified the territories controlled by them and was officially founded on 3 June 1943.

The CFLN set up a temporary French government in Algiers, raised more troops and re-organised, re-trained and re-equipped the Free French military, in co-operation with Allied forces in preparation of future operations against Italy and the German Atlantic wall.

### Eastern Front

The Normandie-Niemen Regiment, founded at the suggestion of Charles de Gaulle, was a fighter regiment of the Free French Air Force that served on the Eastern Front of the European Theatre of World War II with the 1st Air Army. The regiment is notable for being the only air combat unit from an Allied western country to participate on the Eastern Front during World War II (except brief interventions from RAF and USAAF units) and the only one to fight together with the Soviets until the end of the war in Europe.

The unit was the GC3 (Groupe de Chasse 3 or 3rd Fighter Group) in the Free French Air Force, first commanded by Jean Tulasne. The unit originated in mid-1943 during World War II. Initially the groupe comprised a group of French fighter pilots sent to aid Soviet forces at the suggestion of Charles de Gaulle, leader of the Free French Forces, who felt it important that French servicemen serve on all fronts in the war. The regiment fought in three campaigns on behalf of the Soviet Union between 22 March 1943, and 9 May 1945, during which time it destroyed 273 enemy aircraft and received numerous orders, citations and decorations from both France and the Soviet Union, including the French Légion d'Honneur and the Soviet Order of the Red Banner. Joseph Stalin awarded the unit the name Niemen for its participation in the Battle of the Niemen River.

## Tunisia, Italy and Corsica

The Free French forces participated in the Tunisian Campaign. Together with British and Commonwealth forces, the FFF advanced from the south while the formerly Vichy-loyal Army of Africa advanced from the west together with the Americans. The fighting in Tunisia ended with the Axis forces surrendering to the Allies in July 1943.

During the campaign in Italy during 1943–1944, a total of between 70,000 and 130,000 Free French soldiers fought on the Allied side. The French Expeditionary Corps consisted of 60% colonial soldiers, mostly Moroccans and 40% Europeans, mostly Pied-Noirs. They took part in the fighting on the Winter Line and Gustav Line, distinguishing themselves at Monte Cassino in Operation Diadem. In what came to be known as the Marocchinate in one of the worst mass atrocities committed by Allied troops during the war, the Moroccan Goumiers, raped and killed Italians civilians on a massive scale during those operations, often under the indifferent eye of their French officers, if not their encouragement. Acts of violence by French troops against civilians continued even after the liberation of Rome. French Marshal Jean de Lattre de Tassigny, claimed that such cases were isolated events exploited by German propaganda to smear allies, particularly French troops.

In September 1943, the liberation of Corsica from Italian occupation began, after the Italian armistice, with the landing of elements of the reconstituted French I Corps (Operation Vesuvius).

## Forces Françaises Combattantes and National Council of the Resistance

The French Resistance gradually grew in strength. General de Gaulle set a plan to bring together the fragmented groups under his leadership. He changed the name of his movement to "Fighting French Forces" (Forces Françaises Combattantes) and sent Jean Moulin back to France as his formal link to the irregulars throughout the occupied country to co-ordinate the eight major Résistance groups into one organisation. Moulin got their agreement to form the "National Council of the Resistance" (Conseil National de la Résistance). Moulin was eventually captured, and died under brutal torture by the Gestapo.

De Gaulle's influence had also grown in France, and in 1942 one resistance leader called him "the only possible leader for the France that fights". Other Gaullists, those who could not leave France (that is, the overwhelming majority of them), remained in the territories ruled by Vichy and the Axis occupation forces, building networks of propagandists, spies and saboteurs to harass and discomfit the enemy.

Later, the Resistance was more formally referred to as the " French Forces of the Interior " (Forces Françaises de l'Intérieur, or FFI). From October 1944 – March 1945, many FFI units were amalgamated into the French Army to regularise the units.

## Liberation of France

The liberation of continental France began on D-Day, 6 June 1944, with the invasion of Normandy, the amphibious assault aimed at establishing a bridgehead for the forces of Operation Overlord. At first hampered by very stiff German resistance and the bocage terrain of Normandy, the Allies broke out of Normandy at Avranches on 25–31 July 1944. Combined with the landings in Provence of Operation Dragoon on 14 August 1944, the threat of being caught in a pincer movement led to a very rapid German retreat, and by September 1944 most of France had been liberated.

### Normandy and Provence landings

Opening a "Second Front" was a top priority for the Allies, and especially for the Soviets to relieve their burden on the Eastern Front. While Italy had been knocked out of the war in the Italian campaign in September 1943, the easily defensible terrain of the narrow peninsula required only a relatively limited number of German troops to protect and occupy their new puppet state in northern Italy. However, as the Dieppe raid had shown, assaulting the Atlantic Wall was not an endeavour to be taken lightly. It required extensive preparations such as the construction of artificial ports (Operation Mulberry) and an underwater pipeline across the English Channel (Operation Pluto), intensive bombardment of railways and German logistics in France (the Transportation Plan), and the wide-ranging military deception such as creating entire dummy armies like FUSAG (Operation Bodyguard) to make the Germans believe the invasion would take place where the Channel was at its narrowest.

By the time of the Normandy Invasion, the Free French forces numbered around 500,000 strong. 900 Free French paratroopers landed as part of the British Special Air Service 's (SAS) SAS Brigade; the 2e Division Blindée (2nd Armoured Division or 2e DB)—under General Leclerc—landed at Utah Beach in Normandy on 1 August 1944 together with other follow-on Free French forces, and eventually led the drive toward Paris.

In the battle for Caen, bitter fighting led to the almost total destruction of the city, and stalemated the Allies. They had more success in the western American sector of the front, where after the Operation Cobra breakthrough in late July they caught 50,000 Germans in the Falaise pocket.

The invasion was preceded by weeks of intense resistance activity. Coordinated with the massive bombardments of the Transportation Plan and supported by the SOE and the OSS, partisans systematically sabotaged railway lines, destroyed bridges, cut German supply lines, and provided general intelligence to the allied forces. The constant harassment took its toll on the German troops. Large remote areas were no-go zones for them and free zones for the maquisards so-called after the maquis shrubland that provided ideal terrain for guerrilla warfare. For instance, a large number of German units were required to clear the maquis du Vercors, which they eventually succeeded with, but this and numerous other actions behind German lines contributed to a much faster advance following the Provence landings than the Allied leadership had anticipated.

The main part of French Expeditionary Corps in Italy which had been fighting there was withdrawn from the Italian front, and added to the French First Army —under General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny —and joined the US 7th Army to form the US 6th Army Group. That was the force that conducted Operation Dragoon (also known as Operation Anvil), the Allied invasion of southern France. The objective of the French 2nd Corps was to capture ports at Toulon (France's largest naval port) and Marseilles (France's largest commercial port) in order to secure a vital supply line for the incoming troops. Most of the German troops there were second-line, consisting mainly of static and occupation units with a large number of Osttruppen volunteers, and with a single armoured division, the 11. Panzer-Division. The Allies sustained only relatively light casualties during the amphibious assault, and were soon in an all-out pursuit of a German army in full retreat along the Rhône valley and the Route Napoleon. Within 12 days the French forces were able to secure both ports, destroying two German Divisions in the process. Then on 12 September, French forces were able to connect to General George Patton 's Third Army. Toulon and Marseille were soon providing supplies not only to the 6th Army Group but also to General Omar Bradley 's 12th Army Group, which included Patton's Army. For its part, troops from de Lattre's French First Army were the first Allied troops to reach the Rhine.

While on the right flank the French liberation army was covering Alsace-Lorraine (and the Alpine front against German-occupied Italy), the centre was made up of US forces in the south (12th Army Group) and British and Commonwealth forces in the north (21st Army Group). On the left flank, Canadian forces cleared the Channel coast, taking Antwerp on 4 September 1944.

## Liberation of Paris

After the failed 20 July plot against him, Hitler had given orders to have Paris destroyed should it fall to the Allies, similarly to the planned destruction of Warsaw.

Mindful of this and other strategic considerations, General Dwight D. Eisenhower was planning to by-pass the city. At this time, Parisians started a general strike on 15 August 1944 that escalated into a full-scale uprising of the FFI a few days later. As the Allied forces waited near Paris, de Gaulle and his Free French government put General Eisenhower under pressure. De Gaulle was furious about the delay and was unwilling to allow the people of Paris to be slaughtered as had happened in the Polish capital of Warsaw during the Warsaw uprising. De Gaulle ordered General Leclerc to attack single-handedly without the aid of Allied forces. Eventually, Eisenhower agreed to detach the 4th US Infantry Division in support of the French attack.

The Allied High Command (SHAEF) requested the Free French force in question to be all-white, if possible, but this was very difficult because of the large numbers of black West Africans in their ranks. General Leclerc sent a small advance party to enter Paris, with the message that the 2e DB (composed of 10,500 French, 3,600 Maghrebis and about 350 Spaniards in the 9th company of the 3rd Battalion of the Régiment de Marche du Tchad made up mainly of Spanish Republican exiles) would be there the following day. This party was commanded by Captain Raymond Dronne, and was given the honour to be the first Allied unit to enter Paris ahead of the 2e Division Blindée. The 1er Bataillon de Fusiliers Marins Commandos formed from the Free French Navy Fusiliers-Marins that had landed on Sword Beach were also amongst the first of the Free French forces to enter Paris.

The military governor of the city, Dietrich von Choltitz, surrendered on 25 August, ignoring Hitler's orders to destroy the city and fight to the last man. Jubilant crowds greeted the Liberation of Paris. French forces and de Gaulle conducted a now iconic parade through the city.

## Provisional republic and the war against Germany and Japan

### Re-establishment of a provisional French Republic and its government (GPRF)

The Provisional Government of the French Republic (gouvernement provisoire de la République Française or GPRF) was officially created by the CNFL and succeeded it on 3 June 1944, the day before de Gaulle arrived in London from Algiers on Churchill's invitation, and three days before D-Day. Its creation marked the re-establishment of France as a republic, and the official end of Free France. Among its most immediate concerns were to ensure that France did not come under allied military administration, preserving the sovereignty of France and freeing Allied troops for fighting on the front.

After the liberation of Paris on 25 August 1944, it moved back to the capital, establishing a new "national unanimity" government on 9 September 1944, including Gaullists, nationalists, socialists, communists and anarchists, and uniting the politically divided Resistance. Among its foreign policy goals was to secure a French occupation zone in Germany and a permanent UNSC seat. This was assured through a large military contribution on the western front.

Several alleged Vichy loyalists involved in the Milice (a paramilitary militia)—which was established by Sturmbannführer Joseph Darnand who hunted the Resistance with the Gestapo—were made prisoners in a post-liberation purge known as the épuration légale (legal purge or cleansing). Some were executed without trial, in "wild cleansings" (épuration sauvage). Women accused of "horizontal collaboration " because of alleged sexual relationships with Germans during the occupation were arrested and had their heads shaved, were publicly exhibited and some were allowed to be mauled by mobs.

On 17 August, Pierre Laval was taken to Belfort by the Germans. On 20 August, under German military escort, Pétain was forcibly moved to Belfort, and on 7 September to the Sigmaringen enclave in southern Germany, where 1,000 of his followers (including Louis-Ferdinand Céline) joined him. There they established a government in exile, challenging the legitimacy of de Gaulle 's GPRF. As a sign of protest over his forced move, Pétain refused to take office, and was eventually replaced by Fernand de Brinon. The Vichy regime's exile ended when Free French forces reached the town and captured its members on 22 April 1945, the same day that the 3rd Algerian Infantry Division took Stuttgart. Laval, Vichy's prime minister in 1942–1944, was executed for treason. Pétain, "Chief of the French State" and hero of Verdun, was also condemned to death but his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment.

As the wartime government of France in 1944–1945, its main purposes were to handle the aftermath of the occupation of France and continue to wage war against Germany as a major Ally. It also made several important reforms and political decisions, such as granting women the right to vote, founding the École nationale d'administration, and laying the grounds of social security in France, and lasted until the establishment of the IVth Republic on 14 October 1946, preparing its new constitution.

## Campaigns in France and Germany 1944–1945

By September 1944, the Free French forces stood at 560,000 (including 176,500 White French from North Africa, 63,000 metropolitan French, 233,000 Maghrebis and 80,000 from Black Africa). The GPRF set about raising new troops to participate in the advance to the Rhine and the invasion of Germany, using the FFI as military cadres and manpower pools of experienced fighters to allow a very large and rapid expansion of the French Liberation Army. It was well equipped and well supplied despite the economic disruption brought by the occupation thanks to Lend-Lease, and their number rose to 1 million by the end of the year. French forces were fighting in Alsace-Lorraine, the Alps, and besieging the heavily fortified French Atlantic coast submarine bases that remained Hitler-mandated stay-behind "fortresses" in ports along the Atlantic coast like La Rochelle and Saint-Nazaire until the German capitulation in May 1945.

Also in September 1944, the Allies having outrun their logistic tail (the " Red Ball Express "), the front stabilised along Belgium's northern and eastern borders and in Lorraine. From then on it moved at a slower pace, first to the Siegfried Line and then in the early months of 1945 to the Rhine in increments. For instance, the Ist Corps seized the Belfort Gap in a coup de main offensive in November 1944, their German opponents believing they had entrenched for the winter.

The French 2nd Armoured Division, tip of the spear of the Free French forces that had participated in the Normandy Campaign and liberated Paris, went on to liberate Strasbourg on 23 November 1944, thus fulfilling the Oath of Kufra made by its commanding officer General Leclerc almost four years earlier. The unit under his command, barely above company size when it had captured the Italian fort, had grown into a full-strength armoured division.

The spearhead of the Free French First Army that had landed in Provence was the Ist Corps. Its leading unit, the French 1st Armoured Division, was the first Western Allied unit to reach the Rhône (25 August 1944), the Rhine (19 November 1944) and the Danube (21 April 1945). On 22 April 1945, it captured Sigmaringen in Baden-Württemberg, where the last Vichy regime exiles, including Marshal Pétain, were hosted by the Germans in one of the ancestral castles of the Hohenzollern dynasty.

They participated in stopping Operation Nordwind, the very last German major offensive on the western front in January 1945, and in collapsing the Colmar Pocket in January–February 1945, capturing and destroying most of the German XIXth Army. Operations by the First Army in April 1945 encircled and captured the German XVIII SS Corps in the Black Forest, and cleared and occupied south-western Germany. At the end of the war, the motto of the French First Army was Rhin et Danube, referring to the two great German rivers that it had reached and crossed during its combat operations.

In May 1945, by the end of the war in Europe, the Free French forces comprised 1,300,000 personnel, and included around forty divisions making it the fourth largest Allied army in Europe behind the Soviet Union, the US and Britain. The GPRF sent an expeditionary force to the Pacific to retake French Indochina from the Japanese, but Japan surrendered and Viet Minh took advantage by the successful August Revolution before they could arrive in theatre.

At that time, General Alphonse Juin was the chief of staff of the French army, but it was General François Sevez who represented France at Reims on 7 May, while General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny led the French delegation at Berlin on V-E day, as he was the commander of the French First Army. At the Yalta Conference, Germany had been divided into Soviet, American and British occupation zones, but France was then given an occupation zone in Germany, as well as in Austria and in the city of Berlin. It was not only the role that France played in the war which was recognised, but its important strategic position and significance in the Cold War as a major democratic, capitalist nation of Western Europe in holding back the influence of communism on the continent.

Approximately 58,000 men were killed fighting in the Free French forces between 1940 and 1945.

## World War II victory

A point of strong disagreement between de Gaulle and the Big Three (Roosevelt, Stalin and Churchill), was that the President of the Provisional Government of the French Republic (GPRF), established on 3 June 1944, was not recognised as the legitimate representative of France. Even though de Gaulle had been recognised as the leader of Free France by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill back on 28 June 1940, his GPRF presidency had not resulted from democratic elections. However, two months after the liberation of Paris and one month after the new "unanimity government", the Big Three recognised the GPRF on 23 October 1944.

In his liberation of Paris speech, de Gaulle argued "It will not be enough that, with the help of our dear and admirable Allies, we have got rid of him from our home for us to be satisfied after what happened. We want to enter his territory as it should be, as victors", clearly showing his ambition that France be considered one of the World War II victors just like the Big Three. This perspective was not shared by the western Allies, as was demonstrated in the German Instrument of Surrender's First Act. The French occupation zones in Germany and in West Berlin cemented this ambition.

## Legacy

The Free French Memorial on Lyle Hill in Greenock, in western Scotland, in the shape of the Cross of Lorraine combined with an anchor, was raised by subscription as a memorial to sailors on the Free French Naval Forces vessels that sailed from the Firth of Clyde to take part in the Battle of the Atlantic.

The memorial is also associated, locally, with the memory of the French destroyer Maillé Brézé (1931) which sank at the Tail of the Bank.

To this day, General de Gaulle 's Appeal of 18 June 1940 remains one of the most famous speeches in French history.