LJMU historian appears on French TV
23 June 2010
On 18 June 1940, as the French government signed a humiliating armistice with Hitler’s Germany, General Charles de Gaulle (later President of France) broadcast on BBC Radio in London - with the agreement of Sir Winston Churchill, Britain’s war time leader. De Gaulle ended his speech with words that have gone down in history ‘: ‘The flame of French resistance must not and cannot be extinguished.’
During 18 June, there were major celebrations In London and France to mark this historic event in the history of the Second World War. Dr Frank McDonough, Reader in International History, was invited by the two major French National Television channels- France 2 and France to act as the British historical expert on this occasion. He appeared on live programmes broadcast throughout France on 18 June - which recorded the day’s events, including the meeting in London between President Nicolas Sarkozy, the French President and David Cameron, the Prime Minister at 10 Downing Street then the unveiling of statues to the French resistance to Hitler in Paris and then a special documentary featuring surviving members of the Resistance and leading historians that was recorded in the Memorial Centre in Caen in Normandy and broadcast on France 3.
To read more about the documentary featuring Dr McDonough, 'Dawn of Historians' that went out on France 3, see http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://normandie.france3.fr/info/basse-normandie/18-juin-40--le-regard-des-historiens-63403063.html&prev=/search%3Fq%3DFrance%2B3%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1W1ADSA_en%26prmd%3Dn&rurl=translate.google.co.uk&usg=ALkJrhiNk2n71XskLr3Oxe7uGAh3u8ZWcg
