"Mr. Churchill had left before the end, ousted from power by the English voters. The day after the Reich's surrender, the national unity that had lasted for six years was broken in Great Britain. Elections had taken place, and on July 25th, the counting of votes ensured the Labour Party a majority in the Commons. The Prime Minister, leader of the Conservative Party, therefore had to step down.
For those inclined to the illusions of sentiment, this disgrace, suddenly inflicted by the British nation on the great man who had gloriously led it to salvation and victory, might seem surprising. Yet, there was nothing here that was not in accordance with the order of human affairs. For, as soon as the war ceased, opinion and politics stripped away the psychology of unity, momentum, and sacrifice to listen to interests, prejudices, and antagonisms. Winston Churchill lost, not certainly his halo or his popularity, but the general adherence he had obtained as a guide and symbol of the homeland in danger. His nature, identified with a magnificent enterprise, his figure, chiseled by the fires and colds of great events, became inadequate in times of mediocrity.
This departure facilitated French affairs in some respects; in others, not. In any case, I witnessed it with melancholy. It is true that within the alliance, Churchill did not spare me. Most recently, regarding the Levant, his behavior had even been that of an adversary. In short, he had supported me as long as he took me for the leader of a French faction that was favorable to him and which he could use. Moreover, this great politician was convinced that France remained necessary, and this exceptional artist was certainly sensitive to the character of my dramatic enterprise. But, when he saw in me France as an ambitious state that seemed to want to recover its power in Europe and beyond the seas, Churchill naturally felt some stain of Pitt's soul pass through his own. Despite everything, this remained essential and indelible: without him, my attempt would have been vain from the start, and by lending me a strong and favorable hand, he had primarily helped the chance of France.
Having dealt with him extensively, I greatly admired him, but also often envied him. For, if his task was gigantic, at least he was invested by the regular authorities of the state, clothed with all the power and provided with all the levers of legal authority, placed at the head of a unanimous people, an intact territory, a vast Empire, formidable armies. But I, at the same time, condemned as I was by apparently official powers, reduced to using some remnants of forces and some scraps of national pride, had to answer, alone, for the fate of a country delivered to the enemy and torn to its very entrails. However, as different as the conditions were in which Churchill and de Gaulle had to accomplish their work, as lively as their quarrels were, they had nonetheless, for more than five years, navigated side by side, guiding themselves by the same stars, on the stormy sea of History.
The ship that Churchill steered was now moored. The one I held the helm of was coming into view of the port. Learning that England invited to leave its side the captain it had called upon when the storm was unleashed, I foresaw the moment when I would leave the helm of France, but of my own accord, as I had taken it."
And on his death
"Madam,
France deeply feels the mourning that strikes England. For everyone in my country, for myself, Sir Winston Churchill is and will always remain the one who, by leading the admirable British war effort to victory, powerfully contributed to the salvation of the French people and the freedom of the world. In this great drama, he was the greatest.
I pray Your Majesty to accept my very respectful and deeply saddened homage."
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