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
Non-British personnel in the RAF during the Battle of Britain Belgians were also undergoing flight training in France and, despite the reluctance of the Belgian government in Bordeaux, 124 reached Britain by August 1940 but few were able to participate in the Battle of Britain. As of December 2014, the RAF officially recognizes 30 Belgians as having participated in the Battle of Britain (of whom 18 did not survive the war) although the Battle of Britain monument (constructed in 2005) includes 28. At the time of the battle, Belgian pilots were mixed into British units and did not have their own squadrons. By the summer of 1940, Belgians made up