Author’s Note

Though many of the events described in this book actually took place, it is nevertheless a work of fiction. The Resistance in the Côte d’Or region of Burgundy managed to show its defiance of the Germans in its own way and without the personal assistance of members of the British forces. The Plateau de Langres is an actual place, but most of the names in the maps will not be found in the Guide Michelin.

I am indebted to Frenchmen who described to me what it was like to live under the Occupation, and to the writings of those British agents who operated in France – in particular to SOE in France, by M R D Foot (HMSO, 1966), for its coverage of the whole Resistance scene, to Maquis, by George Millar (Heinemann, 1945), for its view of the last days of the Occupation in Burgundy, and to Accidental Agent, by John Goldsmith (Leo Cooper, 1971), for its description of Resistance tactics.