Escadron de Chasse 2/30 Normandie-Niemen Air Base (BA 118). During the rallying of général Charles de Gaulle through the Appeal of 18 June 1940 inviting Frenchmen to join him in London, some went on to Great-Britain in order to continue the fight with the Allies. Great-Britain became the most important « Free French military base and rallying point. Following the rupture of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact by Operation Barbarossa on June 22, 1941, representatives of Vichy were declared as Persona non grata by the Soviet Authorities and were asked to return to France. Colonel Charles Luguet, the air attaché of the Vichy Government in Moscow, changed
Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom) Commons, was for the chairman to function as acting leader in the House. Maclean therefore took on the role of Leader of the Opposition, followed by Asquith, who returned to the House by winning a by-election (1920–22). From 1922 the Labour Party had a recognised leader so took over all remaining commons opposition roles from the Opposition Liberal Party. Since 1922 the principal Government and Opposition parties have been the Labour Party and the Conservative Party. There were three instances of peers being seriously considered for the prime ministership, during the twentieth century (Curzon of Kedleston in 1923, Halifax in