Today marks the 80th anniversary of the French armistice of 1940, infamously signed in the same railroad car where. Germany signed the Treaty of Versailles in 1919. In honour of the crazy times that followed, I present to you a wild story of Saint Pierre et Miquelon. (Thread)

In the period that followed the 1940 armistice, there were three different types of French citizen in the eyes of the allies: the good, the bad, and the unknown.

The good were those who refused to pay any attention to the armistice: the Free French and the Resistance. Typically, we think of the French soldiers, sailors, and pilots who were able to escape to the UK with Charles de Gaulle in 1940.

The bad were the collaborators: those who not only supported the armistice, but who welcomed Nazi Germany occupation. These were the Vichy French, so named for the new French capital of Vichy (Paris and the north of France were under German occupation)

Then, there were the unknown, which was the bulk of the French military and civilian population still in France and abroad immediately following the armistice. These individuals accepted the outcome of the Battle of France and the end of the war.

This posed a problem for the remaining allies. Although some French colonies (particularly in West Africa) pledged allegiance to de Gaulle, many did not - but did this make them collaborators, or simply indifferent? Were French military forces in these areas threats or neutral?

During this confusing time, Newfoundland's Governor, Admiral Walwyn, was briefed on a situation on the Burin Peninsula: three fishermen from St Pierre et Miquelon presented themselves to the local Ranger stating their desire to join de Gaulle in England.

The problem was that the SPM government pledged its allegiance to Vichy and not de Gaulle. At best, the fishermen were illegal entrants to NL; at worse, they were enemy agents and could be thrown in prison. Ultimately, it was decided to send them back to St Pierre.

Fast forward a few weeks, and Walwyn relays the occurrence as an FYI to the Dominions Office in London, where it eventually finds its way to Winston Churchill, who not only orders NL to accept these men but to get word into SPM that Free French recruits can make their way to NL.

How do you get word into St Pierre that NL is open for French military recruitment? Again, it's technically a neutral colony.

Simple: you get someone who knows the waters to sneak in and meet the fishermen.

Someone like a Burin Peninsula rum runner.

Word does make it into St Pierre that all potential recruits will be processed in Newfoundland. The exact number is yet unknown, but so many French are making their way to NL that de Gaulle sets up a French military recruiting office in downtown St. John's just to manage it all!

Those wishing to join the Free French Air Force are sent to Britain; Navy and Army to Senegal (one of the loyal colonies). And, by 1944, it is certain that many of these recruits are amongst the Free French Forces that liberate their homeland after four years of occupation.

It's a wild story that I don't believe is commemorated anywhere in St. John's. I only became aware of it because of a small folder titled 'de Gaulle recruiting' in the Governor's Fonds at the Provincial Archives.