General Charles de Gaulle - Carlton Gardens, London, UK
N 51° 30.339 W 000° 08.052
30U E 698879 N 5709951
This statue of General Charles de Gaulle is located in Carlton Gardens opposite the building that he set-up as the Free French Forces Headquarters, in London, during the Second World War.
Waymark Code: WME6YR
Location: London, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 04/11/2012
Views: 4
The bronze statue, by the sculptor Angela Conner, shows
de Gaulle defiant in the uniform of a General de Brigade, with one palm
curiously raised, almost as though in supplication. The life-size statue stands
on top of a plinth that is equal in height to the figure. The inscription,
carved into the plinth and picked out in gold reads:
"Charles / De Gaulle / 1890 - 1970".
At the base of the plinth is a bronze plaque that reads:
"This statue was unveilled by / Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth / The Queen
Mother / on 23 June 1993 / Sculptor Angela Connor / Architect Bernard Wiehahn".
The Spartacus Schoolnet website (visit
link) has the following to say about de Gaulle:
"Charles de Gaulle was born in Lille, France, on 22nd
November, 1890. The son of a headmaster of a Jesuit school, he was educated in
Paris. He was a good student and at the Military Academy St. Cyr, he graduated
13th in the class of 1912.
Commissioned as a second lieutenant, the 6 feet 5 tall de Gaulle joined an
infantry regiment commanded by Colonel Henri-Philippe Petain in 1913.
In the First World War de Gaulle was wounded twice in the first few months of
the conflict. Promoted to the rank of captain in February, 1915, de Gaulle
fought at Verdun where he was wounded again and on 2nd March, 1916 was captured
by the German Army. Over the next 32 months he was held in several prisoner of
war camps and made five unsuccessful attempts to escape.
After the Armistice de Gaulle was assigned to a Polish division being formed in
France where he served under Maxime Weygand. He fought against the Red Army
during the Civil War and won Poland's highest military decoration, Virtuti
Militari.
De Gaulle lectured at the French War College where he worked closely with
Henri-Philippe Petain. Over the next few years the two men demanding a small,
mobile, highly mechanized army of professionals.
De Gaulle's military ideas appeared in his book, The Army of the Future (1934).
In the book he also criticized the static theories of war that was exemplified
by the Maginot Line. The book was unpopular with the politicians and the
military who favoured the idea of a mass army of conscripts during war. In 1936
de Gaulle was punished for his views by having his name taken of the promotion
list.
In 1938 de Gaulle published France and Her Army. This book caused a disagreement
with Henri-Philippe Petain who accused de Gaulle of taking credit for work done
by the staff of the French War College.
On the outbreak of the Second World War de Gaulle took over command of the 5th
Army's tank force in Alsace. He soon became frustrated with the military
hierarchy who had failed to grasp the importance of using tanks in mass-attacks
with air support.
When the German Army broke through at Sedan he was given command of the recently
formed 4th Armoured Division. With 200 tanks, de Gaulle attacked the German
panzers at Montcornet on 17th May, 1940. Lacking air support, de Gaulle made
little impact on halting the German advance.
De Gaulle was more successful at Caumont (28th May) when he became the only
French commanding officer to force the Germans to retreat during the German
Invasion of France.
On the 5th June, 1940, the French prime minister, Paul Reynaud, sacked Edouard
Daladier and appointed de Gaulle as his minister of war. De Gaulle also visited
London but when he returned to France on 16th June he discovered the
Henri-Philippe Petain had ousted Paul Reynaud as premier and was forming a
government that would seek an armistice with Germany. In danger of being
arrested by the new French government, de Gaulle returned to England. The
following day he made a radio broadcast calling for French people to continue
fighting against the German Army.
Whereas as President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the USA recognized Vichy France
Winston Churchill refused and backed de Gaulle as leader of the "Free French".
Henri-Philippe Petain responded by denouncing de Gaulle. On 4th July, 1940, a
court-martial in Toulouse sentenced him in absentia to four years in prison. At
a second court-martial on 2nd August, 1940, sentenced him to death.
De Gaulle made attempts to unify the resistance movements in France. In March
1943 Jean Moulin, Charles Delestraint and Andre Dewavrin managed to unite eight
major resistance movements under de Gaulle's leadership. However, this good work
was undermined when in June, 1943, both Delestraint and Moulin were both
arrested by the Gestapo.
On 30th May 1943, de Gaulle moved to Algeria. The following month the French
Committee of National Liberation (FCNL) was established with de Gaulle and Henri
Giraud as co-presidents. De Gaulle had difficulty working with his co-president
and by July, 1943, had limited Giraud's power to command of the armed forces.
Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill were furious when de Gaulle's
announced on 26 May, 1944, that the FCNL will now be known as the Provisional
Government of the French Republic. Roosevelt and Churchill refused to recognize
de Gaulle's action and decided to exclude him from the planning of Operation
Overlord.
Despite objections from Britain and the USA, De Gaulle's Provisional Government
was recognized by Czechoslovakia, Poland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Yugoslavia and
Norway. On 13th July, 1944, the governments of Britain and the USA also agreed
that de Gaulle could help administer the liberated portions of France.
De Gaulle reached France from Algiers on 20th August 1944. De Gaulle and his 2nd
Armoured Division was allowed to join the USA Army when it entered Paris on 25th
August. At a public speech later that day he announced that the French Forces of
the Interior (FFI) would be integrated into the French Army and the militia
would be dissolved. He also offered posts in his government to leaders of the
resistance. Those who took office included Georges Bidault, Henry Frenay and
Charles Tillon.
De Gaulle was upset by not being invited to the Yalta Conference but he was
allowed to represent France as one of the four countries to sign the final
instrument of surrender with Germany. France was also given one of the four
occupation zones in Germany.
On 13th November, 1945, the first Constituent Assembly unanimously elected de
Gaulle as head of the French government. He held the post until resigning on
20th January, 1946. He then formed the right-wing group, the Rally of the French
People (RFP). After initial success it declined in popularity and de Gaulle left
it in 1953 and it was disbanded two years later.
After his retirement from politics de Gaulle wrote the first three volumes of
his memoirs. He returned to politics in 1958 when he was elected president
during the Algerian crisis. He granted independence to all 13 French African
colonies but the Algerian War continued until 1962.
De Gaulle decided that France should have its own atom bomb and repeatedly
blocked Britain's attempts to join the European Economic Community. In 1966 de
Gaulle withdrew France from the integrated military command of NATO.
Following student riots against his government and negative results in a
referendum, de Gaulle resigned from office in April, 1969. In retirement he
completed his memoirs. Charles De Gaulle died on 9th November, 1970."