On July 15, before boarding the "Colbert", de Gaulle told Xavier Deniau: "They will hear me over there, it will make waves!" He also confided to his son-in-law General Alain de Boissieu that: "I am going to strike a strong blow. Things are going to get hot. But it is necessary. It is the last chance to rectify the cowardice of France." De Gaulle was referring to what he viewed as France's abandonment of 70,000 French colonists after France was defeated in the North American theatre of the Seven Years' War in 1763.