It was not until June 23 that the British government agreed to Charles de Gaulle's request and set up a French "resistance center" in Britain. However, it will reserve the right to carefully examine the center before recognizing it, so as to avoid any institutions that look like the French government in exile, the French "National Committee" or even the "Liberation Committee". Nevertheless, in a later broadcast, Charles de Gaulle let people know that he set up a temporary "French National Committee" recognized by the British government. This broadcast caused a fierce protest in Bordeaux, but the British authorities did not publicly deny this statement. On the contrary, Charles de Gaulle got all the facilities to contact the garrison commanders in French colonies and territories. Among these generals, Miltel Osei of Syria and Nogai of North Africa refused to accept the armistice agreement, and the former also made a public declaration. In spite of this, Charles de Gaulle was neither supported by senior colleagues in the army nor given a satisfactory answer. These people later changed their tune and became loyal to Vichy.
On June 28th, Charles de Gaulle was once again told that the British government could not recognize any "French National Committee", or even the temporarily nonexistent "Resistance Committee". This means that if a sufficient number of celebrities representing French political life decide to join Charles de Gaulle in the future, or conversely, invite him to join them, then the situation may change. While refusing to recognize a nonexistent French National Committee, the British government did agree to regard Charles de Gaulle as "the leader of all the free French people who gathered around him to support the allied cause no matter where 438 was", and broadcast a formal statement to this effect on the evening of June 28th.
At the same time, Charles de Gaulle was authorized to try to win over the personnel of the French army, navy and air force and the crew of merchant ships, as well as civilian technicians who might be useful to the military industry. More than 100,000 French people retreated from Dunkirk to Britain, but many people returned to France. On the other hand, the French Expeditionary Force led by General Bedour who withdrew from Norway was in Britain at that time, and the number was about 1 10,000. About 9,000 French naval personnel were stationed in Antri, mainly those who took refuge in British ports and were detained by the British army after the armistice. Most of these French people are willing to return to France. As an individual or military unit, I am willing to unite around Charles de Gaulle. Was it only Magellan at first? A battalion of the foreign legion commanded by Colonel Veneer (the colonel himself changed his name and surname like many senior officers who are willing to continue fighting, and has been called Montclair ever since), a complete battalion of the Alpine Hunter Division and a company of the Marine Corps. These troops, together with hundreds of others, were all deployed by Charles de Gaulle. In fact, by the end of June 1940, the total number of troops of Free France in Britain had just exceeded 3,000, including 450 navy and marine corps personnel and 350 air force personnel. They are actually unarmed.
On June 30th, Miceli vice admiral flew to Britain from Gibraltar. He has been in charge of controlling the contraband of France in the Mediterranean and is headquartered in Marseille. As soon as the Admiral knew that the armistice agreement had been reached and could not be changed, he immediately put the most valuable goods he could find on the docks of several merchant ships, protected by two or three small French warships, and set sail for Gibraltar in order to put his small fleet, goods and himself at the disposal of the British navy. Before he arrived in England, he didn't know Charles de Gaulle, nor did he know the position taken by Charles de Gaulle. As a three-star vice admiral, strictly speaking, his position in the French hierarchy is much higher than that of Charles de Gaulle. However, after understanding the situation, he made an arrangement with Charles de Gaulle, although he himself did not sign any documents promising loyalty to Charles de Gaulle, because he felt that he had the right to represent the French navy when necessary, and Charles de Gaulle represented the army. Nevertheless, until they later had serious political differences, Miceli always acted as if he regarded Charles de Gaulle as his superior, although at the same time he also demanded that the command and judicial power of the free French navy be in his own hands.
On July 3, the British attack on the French Mills Kebil fleet was a severe test. De Gaulle was only told before the incident. He took an appropriate attitude towards the news, which greatly improved his position in the eyes of the British authorities. He made no secret of his deep sorrow. At best, this action will hinder his own actions. At worst, if the Bordeaux authorities take this opportunity to declare war on Britain, the situation of Charles de Gaulle and all his followers will be unimaginable. He would rather not judge the merits of this matter, but it needs to be clear that Britain has not consulted him in advance, so he has nothing to do with this action. In fact, there is no indication that this incident has any direct impact on the development of the Free France Movement. About 1000 sailors detained by Britain on the French warship in Portsmouth joined General Miceli's team. By the end of July, the fleet of Free France had 28 warships, all of which were small boats except a supply ship, but they were completely manipulated by the crew of Free France. Air force personnel are also slowly assembled to form bomber classes and fighter classes, while army troops are enough to form a complete brigade, with all weapons and auxiliary forces. Including the headquarters, administrative departments and recruits trained in Britain, by August 1940, the total number of troops in Free France was about 6,000.