FIRST IMPRESSIONS: 'A self-appointed Joan of Arc': F D Roosevelt on Charles de Gaulle

The Casablanca Conference, convened by Winston Churchill and Franklin D Roosevelt and supported by their respective aides and military chiefs, took place 12-23 January 1943 to determine global allied strategy, writes Catriona Luke. Stalin was invited but declined; De Gaulle, however, put in a fulsome appearance. At the final press conference Churchill and Roosevelt issued a joint statement for 'unconditional surrender' of Germany, Italy and Japan. De Gaulle gave his own version of the conference which infuriated Roosevelt: 'We have confirmed our complete agreement on the goal to be attained, which is the liberation of France . . . This goal will be attained by the union in the war of all Frenchmen, fighting side by side with all their allies.'