Churchill's Unsent Letter
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It is a letter that might have changed the course of European history- had it been sent.
In early June 1944, a vast armada was gathering on the south coast of England with the task of liberating France and, despite concerns about leaks from the French camp, the British prime minister, Winston Churchill, had invited Gen Charles de Gaulle to fly to London on his personal plane from Algiers.
On his arrival in Britain, De Gaulle, the leader of the free French, had been let in on the seismic events that would unfold within hours – the D-day landings on the beaches of Normandy which took place 80 years ago next week.
But things did not go to plan. An exasperated Churchill, fuming in his Downing Street study, put pen to paper, just hours before the invasion would be under way, to draft a letter that would surely end De Gaulle’s political career.
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De Gaulle was singularly disliked by virtually every Allied leader and General who had deal with him. Of anyone, Churchill was probably the most tolerant towards him.
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No question, Churchill was a Francophile but there was also considerable goodwill towards the French as a nation. De Gaulle stood out because he was, from the onset of the war, determined to fight the Nazis. That he was an unbearable and duplicitous narcissist was secondary.
