French assistance to U.S. independence

I'm still dazed about Churchill supporting deGaulle.

I know he preferred him as the head of the Free Frecnh, but 'supported'!
They got on like a house on fire. And if you've ever seen a house burning down you'll know what I mean...

Churchill once famously said:
"I have but one cross to bear; the Cross of Lorraine"

(The cross of Lorraine was the symbol of the Free French, and deGaulle was from Lorraine.)

 

Who could Churchill have supported instead of de Gaulle as head of the Free French? There really aren't that many serious options.

 

Well...
It was just the word 'supported' - it seemed to imply that Churchill liked him!

 

See, we do like the French...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3892819.stm

 

"De Gaulle is a great man....He's arrogant,.... he's egoist....But yes, he's a great man!"
(Winston Spencer Churchill)

 

True, but it doesn't mean he liked him!

I'm not making a serious point or anything here, so feel free to ignore my statements.

 

But his First French Army was part of the American 6th Army Group, which fell under the command of Jacob Devers and overall command of SHAEF - Eisenhower. So over his armed forces he actually had two American superiors.

 

But was de Gaulle the actual field commander of the First French Army?

 

No, not directly. He was however the commander-in-chief of all French forces, which at that time was 1st Army, so technically he was under the command of Devers and Eisenhower. I don't know if this is the right way to describe the command structure at play here but it seems logical to me that even though de Gaulle had command of the French he was still an Ally.

 

Hmmm...that does seem to be an unusual chain of command situation there.

 

the french acted in self intrest?
of couse they did.all nations always act in self intrest almost always.[humanitarian aid is a new and western concept]all euro colonies paid a bounty on enemie heads,cheap compared to sending redcoats.scalps are just a better way to carrie a head as heads are heavy and not pleasant after a week of humpin them through the woods. degaul did not have one bullet, bean or gallon of gas that did not come curtesy of anglo or yank taxpayers not to mention the tanks and trucks .eisenhower let degaul lead the way into paris to build him up in the eyes of his countrymen,much of the french resistence was communist and we didnt want them getting too much credit.ike and winsten endured degaul because because he was really their only choice if they wanted to include the french nation in the war against hitler.