The resistance movement in France developed to provide the Allies with intelligence, attack the Germans when possible and to assist in the escape of Allied airmen.īy the end of 1942, de Gaulle became the head of the Comité Français de Libération Nationale which led all resistance movements in France. On 18 June 1940, Charles de Gaulle addressed the people of France from London and called on them to continue their fight against the Germans.įour days later, on 22 June, when France surrendered to Germany, the French people reacted by organising groups which were collectively called the French Resistance. They would write and print leaflets criticising the Nazis and distribute them secretly. The property was converted to a finishing school and convent in 1968 but most recently it has been made use of for St Dorothy’s Convent and student accommodation.įrognal House has a host of period features including cast iron balconies, sash windows, wood panelling, marble fireplaces and brown brick elevations.Ĭharles de Gaulle, the late President of France who formed France's current government system, also led his country against Nazi Germany in WWII His wife Yvonne kept chickens in the garden so they could have fresh eggs. Once the Blitz ended, his family rejoined de Gaulle and they moved into Frognal. He initially stayed in a friend's apartment and then kept rooms at the Connaught Hotel while his family spent time tucked away in rural locations during the Blitz. The mid-18th century house is in a sought-after part of Hampstead in north London and could now become a private family home again.īefore de Gaulle's time there, the property was a girls' orphanage and school after the Crimean War.ĭe Gaulle, a decorated officer of the First World War, fled to England in 1940 after refusing to accept his government's armistice with Germany and encouraged the French to resist occupation and continue to fight. The outside of the property from the back shows the cast-iron balconies on the bedrooms of the first floor

Second and charles