Charless DeGaulle Cross of Lorraine Memorial

In June 1944, the destroyer “la Combattante” of the Free French Naval Forces, commanded by André Patou, was charged with escorting Canadian troops. On June 14, it approached the Norman coast carrying Charles de Gaulle and a dozen of his closest assistants. For de Gaulle, this visit to the Norman bridgehead was of fundamental importance in imposing the authority of his temporary government in France. The British and Americans, lead by President Roosevelt, had denied him representation and refused to entrust the destiny of France to him. De Gaulle preferred to set-up an Allied Military Government of Occupied Territories. With the political imbroglio at its height, the country had been waiting for this June 14 for a long time. In the afternoon, the General set foot on French soil for the first time in four years in Courseulles-sur-Mer. A month later, in July, Roosevelt, who had learned of de Gaulle’s arrival in Bayeux, recognized his authority over the liberated regions of France.


Erected when the General was still alive, this monument commemorates his landing at Courseulles on June 14 1944.

Free France adopted the Cross of Lorraine as its symbol thanks to the initiative of Captain Thierry d’Argenlieu who wrote to General de Gaulle that it was necessary for the Free French to have a cross to fight against the swastika. For the French Forces under de Gaulle, the Vice Admiral Emile Muselier from Lorraine created a flag with the Cross of Lorraine at its centre and for aircraft, a rosette displaying the Cross of Lorraine. All branches would wear it on their uniform but also on the back of their jacket. The Cross of Lorraine is also represented on numerous monuments as well as on the stamps produced under de Gaulle’s government. Furthermore, the pennant decorating General de Gaulle’s official car was three-coloured with the Cross of Lorraine. In 1990, a Cross of Lorraine was erected in Courseulles-sur-Mer to commemorate de Gaulle’s return to France on June 14 1944. It was inaugurated in the presence of Admiral Philippe de Gaulle.

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