A Tous Les Francais Leaflet From De Gaulle's London's Headquarters

On June 17, 1940, still reeling from France’s fall to Nazi Germany three days earlier, the recently promoted Brigadier General and Under-Secretary of State for National Defence, Charles de Gaulle, fled to London. The next day, having obtained special permission from Winston Churchill, he broadcast a message to France on the BBC radio from Broadcasting House: “I, General de Gaulle, now in London, call on all French officers and men who are at present on British soil, or may be in the future, with or without their arms; I call on all engineers and skilled workmen from the armaments factories who are at present on British soil, or may be in the future, to get in touch with me.”

This speech, known as L’Appel du 18 juin (The Appeal of 18 June) is often considered to be the founding step of the French Resistance.

On the 18th June 1940 and inspirational poster was printed in London for circulation throughout the UK and directed at French men and women who had arrived in the UK. Printed in French, it had an English translation in the bottom left hand corner and was entitled “A Tous Les Français”, (To all Frenchmen).

A leaflet sized version was also produced in French with some printed in both French and English such as I have here. I believe these bilingual versions are very rare, the only other example I can find being in the French Resistance Museum.

This rare example is in very good condition and free from damage.