THREAD

"Eighty years ago – after the Battle of France, and before the Battle of Britain – two voices spoke out from London.

(…) On the same day, 18 June 1940, Churchill and De Gaulle uttered thundering words of resistance and hope". #18JuinUK

Winston Churchill personified the tenacity of a nation which refused to yield and which did not yield. He said he had nothing to offer but “blood, toil, tears and sweat.” Yet he offered something so much more important: determination, faith in victory, honour and pride. #18JuinUK

"Hope also took the form of King George VI, his wife and two daughters, and the calm determination of the Royal Family, who shared Londoners’ anxieties and helped forge national unity" #18JuinUK

"Because 80 years ago today, on 18 June 1940, the United Kingdom gave Free France its first weapon: a BBC microphone.

(…)That evening, De Gaulle became the voice and breath of Free France" #18JuinUK

"But London, capital of the free world,

resistant London, resilient London,

London was the cradle of Free France.

And it was Big Ben whose hourly chimes told of France’s renewed force of arms". #18JuinUK

I wanted to express ’s infinite gratitude to the city of London by awarding it, in a wholly exceptional capacity, the #Légiondhonneur. I present it to you, Your Royal Highness, in memory of, and as a testament to, our eternal gratitude, on behalf of the French people. #18JuinUK