Working in his office in London
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (* November 22nd 1890 in Lille) is a Brigade general in the Army of France in 1940, and leader of Free France.
In the World War[]
On May 17th, as commander of the 4e division cuirassée (4th tank division) he lead 200 tanks - without air support - into a counter-attack at Montcornet. After Luftwaffe attacks and a counter-attack of the German 10th Panzer Division, his Division had to retreat after heavy losses. During the German Invasion, he was the only French commander who succeeded in driving back the Wehrmacht. On May 23rd, he was promoted to Brigade general (at first, temporarily); until the end of his life, he'd wear the Uniform of a Brigade general.
At the end of May, he tried a counter-attack at Abbeville, to help the troops at Dunkirk, but to no avail. On June 3rd, when the German offensive ("Fall Rot") started again, he was appointed Under-Secretary of State for National Defence and War. On June 9th, he met Winston Churchill for the first time, suggesting to continue the war from French North Africa in the worst case. He also suggested at the Anglo-French Supreme War Council at Briare on June 11th to make Brittany a redoubt, which was met with amusement. On June 13th, he attended another Anglo-French conference at Tours, but also lost his office as Under-Secretary again.
On June 14th, he went to London, bringing 100,000 gold francs provided to him by Reynaud, where he proclaimed Free France, which was acknowledged by Churchill on June 25th.
Past[]
In the First World War, he fought under the command of Philippe Pétain, at Verdun among other places, became a German prisoner of war, tried to flee five times, but failed because of his conspicuous height (1.96 m). In this time, he met Michail Tukhachevski.
During the Polish-Soviet War, he was employed as an instructor of Polish Infantry and later chief of Staff, came as far as Kiev during this.
He wrote several books like Vers l’Armée de Métier („Towards a Professional Army“), in which he demanded the abolition of the French volunteer army, and mechanization of the infantry. Also, he was a Ghostwriter for Le Soldat (officially, by Philippe Pétain).
In April 1921, he married Yvonne Vendroux. They have three Kids: Philippe, Elisabeth, and Anne; the latter one suffers from Down Syndrome. He is a well-read Man (Bergson, Chateaubriand, Plato, Nietzsche, Kant, and Goethe) and speaks German since his time at the Elite Military school Saint-Cyr.
