Eclipse in the Dark Years: Pick-up Flights, Routes of Resistance and the Free French

Smith, A. W. M. (2018) Eclipse in the Dark Years: Pick-up Flights, Routes of Resistance and the Free French. European Review of History: Revue européenne d'histoire, 25 (2). pp. 392-414. ISSN 1350-7486

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Abstract

This article charts the importance of clandestine flights from Britain into occupied France during the Second World War as a route of resistance. These pick-up flights were coordinated from London and were an example of the inter-allied cooperation and Franco-British negotiation that took place between the BCRA, SIS, and SOE. The flights allowed General Charles de Gaulle to hold court with the leaders of resistance networks, smoothing problems on the route to a unified resistance council. Likewise, they allowed him to build bridges between vying factions in France and in London, drawing together the movements under his command and personalising the narrative of resistance. From busy London restaurants and family homes via secret flights to darkened fields in Occupied France, the route of these transfers shaped the character of resistance. This article draws out the personal interactions and connections that underpinned these networks and describes the enduring connections of this route of resistance, starting with the commemoration of Jean Moulin's crash landing at RAF Tangmere, the forward station for many of these flights.

Publication Type: Articles
Uncontrolled Keywords: History, France, London, Moulin, RAF, Resistance, Second World War
Subjects: D History General and Old World > D History (General) > D731 World War II
D History General and Old World > DA Great Britain
D History General and Old World > DC France, Andorra, and Monaco
Divisions: Academic Areas > Institute of Arts and Humanities > History
Related URLs:
Depositing User: Andrew Smith
Date Deposited: 23 Nov 2017 15:18
Last Modified: 29 Mar 2021 10:15
URI: https://eprints.chi.ac.uk/id/eprint/3129

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