Free France 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 from their Alexandria harbour to join de Gaulle: Equally, few Frenchmen believed that England could stand alone.
May 1940 War Cabinet Crisis May 1940 War Cabinet Crisis The May 1940 War Cabinet Crisis was a confrontation between Winston Churchill, newly appointed as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and Edward Wood, the Viscount Halifax and Foreign Secretary, which took place between 25 and 28 May. Halifax believed that in view of the imminent Fall of France and the encirclement of British forces at Dunkirk, the U.K. should explore the possibility of a negotiated peace settlement with Adolf Hitler, with the still-neutral Italian leader Benito Mussolini brokering the agreement. Churchill outmaneuvered Halifax by calling a meeting of his 25-member Outer Cabinet two days