Handwritten manuscript in French by Charles de Gaulle, signed within the heading, "Gen. de Gaulle," one page, 8 x 10.75, July 14, 1941. A speech headed (translated): "Communique of Gen. de Gaulle to the Troops, 14.7.1941." In full (translated): "To the soldiers, to the sailors, to the airmen, to the people of France. July 14 is for us the anniversary of faith and national hope. Faith because never, despite the tears of France, we have no longer firmly believed in her and in her destiny. Hope because we see on the horizon all the data of Victory. Soldiers, sailors, airmen, Frenchmen, my dear companions, be firm, pure and faithful; because at the end of our troubles, there is the greatest glory in the world: that of men who have not yielded." In fine condition.
General de Gaulle gave this rousing message during a Bastille Day ceremony at Marchand Stadium in Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo (then the capital of French Equatorial Africa), during which he awarded three soldiers with the Cross of Liberation. During this period, de Gaulle was leading the Free France movement, a government-in-exile that continued to fight against the Axis powers after the fall of France. A superb wartime message from the exiled French leader.
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