Radio Londres

Radio Londres

City	London
Broadcast area	France
Slogan	Ici Londres! Les Français parlent aux Français ! (This is London calling! The French speaking to the French!)
First air date	1940
Language(s)	French
Affiliations	French government in London, Special Operations Executive

Radio Londres (French for Radio London) was a radio station broadcast from 1940 to 1944 by the BBC in London to Nazi occupied France. It was entirely in French and was operated by the Free French who had escaped from occupied France. It served not only to counter the propaganda broadcasts of German-controlled Radio Paris and the Vichy government's , but also to appeal to the French to rise up, as well as being used to send coded messages to the French Resistance.

In 1940, the BBC opened its studio to the first members of the resistance who fled France's occupation by Germany. Radio Londres was born and would become the daily appointment of the French people for four years. It opened its transmission with : "Ici Londres ! Les Français parlent aux Français..." ("This is London! The French speaking to the French..."), now a very famous quote in France. It was the voice of Free French Forces under Charles de Gaulle, who, on 18 June 1940, made his famous Appeal of 18 June, inviting his compatriots to resist and rise against the occupation.

By means of broadcasts from Britain, the French Resistance found a voice that could be heard on the continent, serving to counter the Nazi propaganda broadcasts of Radio Paris and Radio Vichy. Realizing the negative effect that it had on their occupation, the Germans quickly prohibited listening to Radio Londres. Radio Londres also encouraged rising up against the occupation, including De Gaulle's calls to empty the streets of Paris for one hour, demonstrations, and the preparation of D-Day, or the V for Victory campaign, involving drawing a V sign on walls as an act of subversion. It also sent coded messages to the French resistance (see below).

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Wikipedia