On 25 June 1940, the day the Armistice was signed, he was in Alexandria, Egypt. Politically, d'Estienne d'Orves belonged to the right-wing, and had sympathies for Charles Maurras and Catholic monarchism; nonetheless, while many far-right wing theoricists welcomed the arrival of Marshal Philippe Pétain, the strongly patriotic d'Estienne d'Orves was unwilling to accept France's defeat. He attempted to join General Paul Legentilhomme, commander of French troops on the coast of French Somaliland, who had announced his intention to refuse the armistice, but the colony had chosen to rally itself to the Vichy régime. D'Estienne d'Orves then gathered a group of volunteer sailors and officers, took the "nom de guerre" "Châteauvieux" (name of one of his ancestors) and came into relations with the Free France authorities. He set sail on a cargo ship from Aden to London, sailing around Africa for two months, and rejoined General de Gaulle in London on 27 September 1940.