At the outbreak of World War II in 1939, he was in the "Chasseurs Alpins" unit; he volunteered for a Norwegian expedition in Narvik in the spring of 1940. On his return from Narvik that year, he took part in fighting in Brittany before he was evacuated to England on 18 June, just before the armistice with the Nazis. In the Free France forces, he was attached to General de Gaulle's office. Rejecting de Gaulle's offer to broadcast on the radio, he stated he wished to continue fighting and accepted de Gaulle's request to leave for France to make contact with the new resistance organizations.