The armistice took effect from 00:35 on 25 June. Alexander Cadogan of the foreign office sent Gladwyn Jebb, then a fairly junior official, to ask de Gaulle to tone down his next broadcast on 26 June; de Gaulle backed down under protest when Jebb told him that he would otherwise be banned from broadcasting. He claimed erroneously that the French fleet was to be handed over to the Germans. On 26 June de Gaulle wrote to Churchill demanding recognition of his French Committee. On 28 June, after Churchill's envoys had failed to establish contact with the French leaders in North Africa, the British Government recognised de Gaulle as leader of the Free French, despite the reservations of Halifax and Cadogan at the foreign office. Cadogan later wrote that de Gaulle was "that c*** of a fellow", but other foreign office figures Robert Vansittart and Oliver Harvey were quite sympathetic, as was "The Times" which gave de Gaulle plenty of coverage.