Foreign News: De Gaulle’s Day

General Charles de Gaulle had won Parisian hearts. He had also won a practically unchallenged right to rule France. His hour of triumph, ticked off by snipers’ fire at him, was one for history. Eyewitnesses recorded it:

At 18 minutes past 3 on the afternoon of Saturday, August 26, General de Gaulle bent his tall, awkward body below the Arc de Triomphe and laid on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier two bunches of flame-colored gladioli. The flame at the tomb still burned. De Gaulle laid a Cross of Lorraine, fashioned of white roses, beside the gladioli, and stood at attention while a bugler sounded Aux Marts (taps).

As the General turned to start his march down the Champs Elysees, the person closest to him was a Negro in a dirty white shirt, his arm in a sling made of a dirty towel. He was one of the bravest fighters in Paris’ week-long battle for liberation, and there was something significant in the nearness of this symbol of a new, militant, common man’s France.

Not Since Bastille Day. De Gaulle stepped out on his long legs. Behind him were General Joseph-Pierre Koenig, commander of the French Forces of the Interior, and General Jacques Leclerc, the commander of France’s Second Armored Division. On each side rumbled Leclerc’s tanks. Behind the Generals marched leaders of the motley bands of the F.F.I., and behind them the most bizarre parade that ever trod this historic avenue.

There were cars of every kind but new ones, piled high with people. They waved flags and handkerchiefs, saluted, made the V sign. One girl sat on the hood of an old car, her arm aloft, her eyes burning with joy and pride. A captain sat on a tank, his hand held stiffly at attention, tears streaming down his face.

The crowd that packed the avenue from buildings to nearly midway of the road was a crowd of every kind of people. One woman, at least 70 years old, stood atop a ladder twelve feet above the sidewalk. Others climbed trees, peered out from windows and roofs. Perhaps not since Bastille Day had the people of France celebrated such a victory.

Then, the Shouting. Down the Champs Elysees into the Place de la Concorde went the procession, at the pace of De Gaulle’s brisk walk. There he and the dignitaries got into cars and the procession proceeded down Rue de Rivoli at 40 m.p.h. to the Hotel de Ville. There the Committee of Liberation received De Gaulle as head of the Provisional Government. Then the procession crossed the river to lie Saint-Louis and Notre Dame.

In front of the Hotel de Ville the shooting started. Dozens of cars and jeeps jamming the square were suddenly slowed by a narrow street. A machine gun let go from the top story of a high building across from the Hotel de Ville. Then other machine guns and rifles fired from above. Everything stopped. People dived under cars, trucks, jeeps, while every man who had a gun or a pistol—and hundreds had—started firing. The thousands of pedestrians in the square stampeded, scattered, fell flat, piled three or four deep in places.

The shooting spread. Soon there was shooting all over Paris.

Machine Gun in the Cathedral. It was plainly pre-arranged by the Vichy militia and other fifth columnists who, unlike the German soldiers, could not give themselves up. Apparently most of the fifth columnists had been planted at three places where the parade was known to have planned to stop. Whether the first shots were fired at Notre Dame, nobody could be sure. But the shooting started there just as the procession reached the cathedral. The time was 4:20. As the first shots rang out, Leclerc and Koenig tried to hustle De Gaulle through the door. De-Gaulle shook off their hands and never faltered. While the battle began outside, he walked slowly down the aisle. Before he had gone many paces a machine pistol fired down from above. At least two more joined in, and from below the F.F.I, and police fired back.

The BBC’s Robert Reid was just outside Notre Dame when the shooting started. He recorded the scene in a memorable broadcast. Cried Radioman Reid: “. . . The General is being presented to the people. He is being received. . . .” There was noise of shots, shouts, screams, a loud yell: “They have opened fire.” Then silence. Reid had been caught in a rush of Parisians. His microphone was temporarily disconnected. He went on: “That was one of the most dramatic scenes I have ever seen. . . . Firing started all over the place. . . . General de Gaulle was trying to control the crowds rushing into the cathedral. He walked straight ahead into what appeared to me to be a hail of fire. . . . But he went straight ahead without hesitation, his shoulders flung back, and walked right down the center aisle, even while the bullets were pouring about him. It was the most extraordinary example of courage I have ever seen. . . . There were bangs, flashes all about him, yet he seemed to have an absolutely charmed life.”

De Gaulle continued his slow walk up the aisle toward Cardinal Suhard and Monsignor Beaussart, who never faltered either. A Te Deum was playing from the organ where the machine pistolers were hidden.

The ceremony was brief. De Gaulle walked back down the aisle as slowly and as calmly as he had gone up it. Thus ended his first great public appearance in Paris. If there had been any doubt about his acceptance by the French people, this hour finished it.

We Will Not Rest. De Gaulle had France’s capital, and he was closer than ever before to ruling all France. On the day he entered Paris, Washington and London at long last had come to an agreement with his self-styled Provisional Government. Next day, General Ike Eisenhower gave at least de facto blessing. The Supreme Allied Commander appeared without public notice, drove to the Arc de Triomphe, waved and smiled his Kansas smile. The General had invited De Gaulle to accompany him, but other duties prevented. But with Ike Eisenhower were De Gaulle’s seconds in command: Generals Koenig and Leclerc. Again Paris roared its acclaim. There was no sniping. Said De Gaulle to the jubilant Parisians:

“We will not rest until we march, as we must, into enemy territory as conquerors. France has a right to be in the first line among the great nations who are going to organize the peace and the life of the world. She has a right to be heard in all four corners of the world. France is a great world power. She knows it and will act so that others may know it. . . .”