The forgotten French

It is assumed that those French in Britain during World War II - Dunkirk refugees; servicemen; Vichy consular officials; colonists - were supporters of De Gaulle. This study examines the hopes and fears of these communities: how they fitted into British life and how the British viewed them.

It is assumed that those French in Britain during World War II - Dunkirk refugees; servicemen; Vichy consular officials; colonists - were supporters of De Gaulle. This study examines the hopes and fears of these communities: how they fitted into British life and how the British viewed them.

This electronic version has been made available under a Creative Commons (BY-NC-ND) open access license. It is widely assumed that the French in the British Isles during the Second World War were fully fledged supporters of General de Gaulle, and that, across the channel at least, the French were a ‘nation of resisters’. This study reveals that most exiles were on British soil by chance rather than by design, and that many were not sure whether to stay. Overlooked by historians, who have concentrated on the ‘Free French’ of de Gaulle, these were the ‘Forgotten French’: refugees swept off the beaches of Dunkirk; servicemen held in camps after the Franco-German armistice; Vichy consular officials left to cater for their compatriots; and a sizeable colonist community based mainly in London. Drawing on little-known archival sources, this study examines the hopes and fears of those communities who were bitterly divided among themselves, some being attracted to Pétain as much as to de Gaulle.

The context of exile - communities, circumstances and choices; the misfortune of exile - refugees; the conflict of exile - servicemen; the surveillance of exile - the Vichy Consulates; the tradition of exile - "la colonie francaise".