Gaston Palewski (20 March 1901 – 3 September 1984), a French politician, was a close associate of Charles de Gaulle during and after World War II.

[1][2] Gaston Palewski was educated at the Sorbonne, at the École Libre des Sciences Politiques and at Oxford University—he spoke excellent English and was a convinced Anglophile.

On the outbreak of war in 1939 Palewski was commissioned as a lieutenant in the French Air Force, and saw action following the German invasion of France in May 1940.

Refusing to accept France's defeat, he reached London at the end of August and joined de Gaulle's Free French Forces.

He then became a leading proponent of Gaullism and one of the founders of the first Gaullist party, the Rassemblement du Peuple Français (Rally of the French People, or RPF) in 1947.

The test shaft failed to contain the blast and he was exposed to radiation as result of a leak of radioactive lava and dust into the atmosphere.

In his personal life, Palewski was a notorious and reckless womaniser, and this earned him a reputation for frivolity that damaged his prospects for a serious political career.

During the war in London he met the English writer and society figure Nancy Mitford, and began with her a long, passionate but intermittent affair.