Appeal of 18 June as the beginning of the Resistance and Free French, historians have shown that the appeal was heard only by a minority of French people. De Gaulle's 22 June 1940 speech on the BBC was more widely heard. General de Gaulle became the "de facto" leader of the Free French Forces that had escaped to London in June 1940. Marshal Philippe Pétain, a hero of World War I, pledged to sign an armistice with Nazi Germany, and led the collaborating Vichy government while the Germans occupied the country's northern portion and several leading politicians, including Georges Mandel, Leon Blum, Pierre Mendès
Free Belgian forces (older) officers to other ranks. Since the Belgian military had officially surrendered in May 1940 and the Belgian Constitution specifically forbade Belgians from joining foreign militaries, the Free Belgian forces were officially committing treason; the charge was only annulled in 1948 and nobody was prosecuted. Despite the formation of all-Belgian ground units from late 1940, many Belgian volunteers – especially those in the Royal Air Force – served in majority British units, particularly in the early years after the formation of the Free Belgian forces. In 1940, the Belgian government-in-exile decided to raise a military unit from pre-war Belgian émigrés