Charles de Gaulle and his attachment to Calais
Charles de Gaulle, the former President of the Republic and leader of Free France, had a special attachment to Calais. This was sentimental, as Yvonne Vendroux, the future Madame Charles de Gaulle (whom the French affectionately nicknamed Aunt Yvonne), was originally from the port city in the Hauts-de-France region.
Calais and the Appeal of June 18, 1940: History, Resistance and Memory
On the occasion of the 85th anniversary of the Appeal of June 18, 1940, Calais and its Memorial Museum 1939-1945 invite you to discover his discreet but essential role in the early stages of the Resistance. Long before Charles de Gaulle became the voice of Free France from London, he was linked to Calais by a personal event: his marriage in 1921 to Yvonne Vendroux, born in Calais into a notable family.
From the summer of 1940, as the war raged, Calais mobilized in the shadows, hiding Allied soldiers, saving British pilots, and structuring resistance networks. Today, this local memory is honored at the 1939-1945 Memory Museum, in certain streets, and in the stories of Calais heroes and heroines.
©nohcab Before London, there was Calais
In May 1940, Germany launched a lightning offensive that the Allies were unable to resist. Colonel Charles de Gaulle, married in Calais in 1921 to Yvonne Vendroux, attempted with the 4th Armored Division to retake the Somme from the Germans during the Battle of Abbeville. But as in the Battle of Calais (May 23-26, 1940), German forces prevailed after fierce fighting. Following the fighting on the Somme, de Gaulle was promoted to temporary brigadier general and joined Paul Reynaud's government. When Marshal Pétain succeeded Reynaud and considered an armistice with Germany, de Gaulle went to England. With Churchill's support, he issued a radio appeal on June 18, 1940, to continue the fight. This appeal, now considered the founding act of Free France, has become a symbol of the refusal of defeat and is commemorated every year.
Calais in Resistance: Heroes and Heroines of the Shadows
In Calais, the spirit of resistance was evident from the first days of the Occupation. The Appeal of June 18, 1940, launched by Charles de Gaulle—married in Calais in 1921—rekindled hope and inspired many residents to engage in the shadows. From June 1940, civilians welcomed and hid British soldiers who remained on French soil after the Battle of Calais and Operation Dynamo. During the Battle of Britain, networks were organized to rescue RAF pilots who had fallen in the region.
The 1939-1945 Memory Museum in Calais pays tribute to these local heroes: a room is dedicated to resistance networks, notably the Jean de Vienne network, but also the OCM, the OFCAM and the Pat O'Leary network, involved in rescue, intelligence and sabotage missions.
City streets, such as the Digue Gaston-Berthe, honor the memory of these resistance fighters decorated by several nations. The Calais 1939-1945 Memorial Museum also highlights the courageous commitment of many Calais women arrested for their actions.
Calais, the discreet cradle of the presidential couple de Gaulle
While Charles de Gaulle is well known for being from Lille, it is less well known that his wife, Yvonne Vendroux, was born in Calais on May 22, 1900, into a locally influential bourgeois family, particularly in the lace, port, and biscuit industries. The First World War disrupted her youth with exile in Great Britain. In 1920, she met Charles de Gaulle at a ball at Saint-Cyr and quickly decided to marry him. They became engaged on November 11, 1920, and married in Calais. Throughout their lives, the couple remained attached to Calais, returning regularly, both privately and during presidential visits in 1959 and 1966. Several sites in Calais bear the memory of Charles and Yvonne De Gaulle-Vendroux.
WHAT IS THE EMOTIONAL LINK BETWEEN CHARLES DE GAULLE AND THE CITY OF CALAIS?
Although it is known that Charles de Gaulle was a man from Hauts de France born on November 22, 1890 in Lille, it is less common in the collective memory that his future wife was born on May 22, 1900 in Calais. This young girl of the XNUMXth century comes from a family of notables, the Vendroux, who had long been established in Calais. Yvonne's parents were part of the local bourgeoisie. Moreover, the name Vendroux is often found in the major economic forces of Calais in the XNUMXth century, lace and the port. There was also the creation of the Vendroux Biscuit Factory at the end of the XNUMXth century, which reinforced the "weight" of the family in Calais.
The existence of the "young girl from a good family" according to the traditions of the time, was however disrupted by exile in Great Britain, the German threat hanging over Calais from the summer of 1914. At the end of the Great War, the young woman accepted the invitation to the Saint Cyr ball from a young officer who had distinguished himself during the conflict, Charles de Gaulle. Like the Vendroux, the de Gaulles had their summer habits in Wimereux. After this ball in October 1920, things moved very quickly: "It will be him or no one" she declared to her parents and the engagement took place on November 11, 1920. A few months later, they married in Calais, the birthplace of the now Madame Charles de Gaulle. This united couple would be caught up in the whirlwind of world events...but they would always keep an eye on Calais and the Calais area. They would return there often, either in the intimacy of a private trip or in the protocol and crowd of official presidential trips, in 1959 and 1966.