Boulogne : bridgehead for the landing in England during the winter of 1745-46 ; In the context of the War of the Austrian Succession (1744-48), the rulers of France envisaged a ‘descent' upon England. The aim, at Versailles, was to threaten London by deploying a small French army in Kent. The year 1745 was marked by the French plan to set the Jacobite Pretender, James Stuart (putatively ‘King James IIF), ashore in England. On 12th June 1745 his son Charles Edward (‘the Young Pretender’), embarked on a frigate at St Nazaire, escorted by a French naval warship. Landing on the Scottish coast, Charles defeated an English army at Prestonpans, near Edinburgh. Moving south, he reached Derby, 30 leagues from London, on 4th December. Meanwhile the preparations at Boulogne for a landing in England were going well. A council of war met at Dunkirk, with the Count of Aunay, Francois Bart, the royal officers Lally and Walsh, and the councillor to the French king, Charron, in attendance, on 4th December. They decided to launch a new expedition, mounted from Boulogne, to support the landing in Scotland by Prince Charles Edward, now the replacement for James Edward, who was deemed too old for the adventure. The French authorities, it seemed, had decided on a serious effort, having concentrated 30,000 troops under command of the Duc de Richelieu between Dunkirk and Boulogne. Shipping was amassed in ports stretching from Blankenberge to St Valery - sur-Somme. A hundred vessels, requisitioned in Normandy, were directed to Boulogne. From December 1745 to March 1746 the French battle fleet sat in the port of Le Havre. The objective was to disembark a force of twelve battalions - some 6,000 soldiers -in southern England. In the end, however, the project was abandoned.