when hettier de boislambert was captured in september 1940 many believed that hitler's germany would win the war. by the time of his escape from custody, just over two years later, the nazi-soviet pact had been upended in june 1941 and the german army had been haemorrhaging men and capability at stalingrad since the late summer of 1942. on the allied side, the us military had been lining up alongside the british since the attack on pearl harbor at the end of 1941. hettier de boislambert's return to de gaulle's side coincided the start of the casablanca conference at which, almost for the first time, western leaders were able to plan seriously for an end to the war on allied terms. général de gaulle's attendance was deemed essential by the us and british leaderships, and de gaulle was determined that if he attended he would do so on his own terms. he arrived accompanied by claude hettier de boislambert whose presence the general evidently thought would be useful. that was quickly followed by a succession of missions to the colonies in africa.