Free France Free France Free France and its Free French Forces (French: "France Libre" and "Forces françaises libres") were the government-in-exile led by Charles de Gaulle during the Second World War and its military forces, that continued to fight against the Axis powers as one of the Allies after the fall of France. Set up in London in June 1940, it organised and supported the Resistance in occupied France. Charles de Gaulle, a French government minister who rejected the armistice concluded by Marshal Philippe Pétain and who had escaped to Britain, exhorted the French to resist in his BBC broadcast "Appeal of
Evacuations of civilians in Britain during World War II new headquarters. Men of German (and later Italian) origin were interned from 12 May 1940. Many interned were refugees from Nazi Germany. By July, almost all of these men under 70 were held in military camps, mainly on the Isle of Man. At first, unnecessary mistreatment was common, but conditions soon improved. For many interned persons, conditions in the camps were not especially unpleasant. When the Blitz began in September, 1940, there were clear grounds for evacuation. Free travel and billeting allowance were offered to those who made private arrangements. They were also given to children, the elderly, the disabled,