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 poured cold water on the Dominions' desire to be receptive to German peace feelers. On 19 July 1940 Hitler in a speech put out peace feelers to Britain. However, on 22 July Halifax delivered a speech rejecting the offer. Halifax had little further interest in tentative German peace feelers throughout the year. In 1942 Hitler told Bormann of how Halifax had "declined the hand of peace". However, Halifax later damaged his own reputation by lying to the official historian, claiming the talks had just been intended to keep Italy out of the war. May 1940 War Cabinet Crisis The May