A few days after the Normandy landings, General Charles de Gaulle sought to symbolically meet the French people in one of the first towns liberated.

Churchill agreed, allowing De Gaulle to visit Bayeux, with a population of 15,000 the biggest French town liberated so far.

One of the most famous photographs of De Gaulle was taken aboard during the journey,[2] before he landed between Courseulles and Graye-sur-Mer.

He also appointed his Chef de Cabinet, François Coulet as a Commissioner of the Republic, who through being an efficient administrator who was useful to the allies.

His visit included meetings with French scientists working on the Manhattan Project as well as Franklin D. Roosevelt.