ABSTRACT
The French translation bears the title L'heure tragique. Churchill's advent to power marked in itself a transformation in British relations with France. Churchill, in contrast to his predecessor Neville Chamberlain, held France and its people in deep affection. On 13 May German armoured forces crossed the Meuse at Sedan, and moved at astonishing speed towards the Channel, reaching the sea at the mouth of the Somme on the 21st. The Dutch Army had already surrendered, though Queen Wilhelmina and her government had not. The British War Cabinet thus discussed and rejected the idea of a negotiated peace, and decided instead that it would be possible to continue the war alone. On 14 June the Secretary-General of the Foreign Ministry, Charles-Roux, gathered together such officials as he could find and told them that the chefs de service were going to Bordeaux. Herve Alphand, who was present, commented in his diary: 'France no longer has an administration'.
