part0016

Aubrac, Lucie — After persuading Klaus Barbie to allow her husband Raymond out of Fort Montluc prison for a marriage ceremony (she was heavily pregnant), she succeeded with members of her network to kill his guards and free him. The couple escaped to London in a 161 Squadron Hudson operation in February 1944.

Bacque, Robert — Head radio man for CND and professional tennis player, whose treachery led to the final downfall of Renault’s network. He is reported to have died in Ebensee, Austria, in May 1945.

Barbie, Klaus — ‘The butcher of Lyons’, responsible for the torture and death of some 4,000 French citizens while regional head of the Gestapo. Soon after the war, he was recruited as an agent of the US intelligence services and, with their assistance, escaped first to Argentina, then Bolivia. He lived there until 1983, when he was finally arrested and extradited to France to be tried for his war crimes. He was given a sentence of life imprisonment in July 1987 and died four years later of leukemia at the age of 77.

Bardonnie, Louis de la — Renault’s earliest recruit, playing a central role in the early days of his network. Released from his arrest by the Vichy police in the spring of 1942 for lack of evidence, he spent the rest of the war on the run from the Gestapo, his wife filing for divorce to save her and her large family from deportation. All survived the war and the family resumed their wine-growing existence on the slopes of the Dordogne.

Bathgate, Flying Officer Jimmy — Lysander pilot of 161 Squadron who was shot down over France and killed on 10 December 1943.

Beaufils, Georges — Representative of the communist underground movement who struck up a friendship with Gibert Renault, which led to communist involvement in de Gaulle’s Free French. He served in the French army after the war, but never severed his contacts with the Soviet Union. In 1977, now a civilian, he was arrested for passing secrets to Russia and was imprisoned for four years. He died in 2002.

Bernard, Paul — Banker and economist friend of Marie-Madeleine Fourcade whom she appointed to lead the Alliance network during her year in London. One of the very few of the network’s agents to survive capture by the Gestapo. The Germans had mistakenly implicated him in the July 1944 plot to assassinate Hitler and he had been taken to Berlin to face interrogation. He escaped during allied bombing of the city. After the war, he established and ran an air navigation company.

Bertram, Anthony — Conducting officer for the SIS. He was awarded the Légion d’Honneur and the Croix de Guerre avec palme immediately after the war, such was the regard in which he was held by the French. He continued to write, especially about art, including books on Paul Nash (1955) and Michelangelo (1964). He died in August 1978.

Bertram, Barbara — Hostess to the French at Bignor Manor. After the liberation of France when her duties at Bignor were over, Barbara was invited to a lunch in London, where the head of the Free French intelligence service presented her with a silver cigarette case with the Cross of Lorraine inlaid in gold. In June 1945, Barbara went to live in Paris, Tony having been given a job there with the British Council. There, sometimes by pre-arrangement but others through chance meetings in the street, in cafés or the Metro, they became reunited with many of the surviving agents who had passed through Bignor Manor. After the tragic death of their son, Nicky, in 1947 when they had returned to Bignor, Barbara converted to her husband’s Roman Catholic faith and they both began a devout observance of its doctrines. Their third son, Jerome, now a Catholic priest, was born in 1950. After Tony died in 1978, she toured the USA on an open Greyhound bus ticket, exhibiting her embroidery. Based back in Sussex, she delivered more than 500 talks about her war experience to Women’s Institutes up and down the country. She died aged 97 on 24 January 2004.

Bell, Flying Officer Duggie — Lysander pilot who survived a crash in France in March 1944. After the war, he went on to fly V-bombers for the RAF’s strategic nuclear strike force .

Bla — see Davies, Arthur Bradley

Bonamour du Tartre, Tristan — Father-in-law of Christian Pineau and deputy leader of the Phalanx network. He survived deportation to Buchenwald concentration camp along with his son-in-law.

Bontinck, Hermine — Courier and assistant to Marie-Madeleine Fourcade, who escaped her arrest in Lyon and who would marry the network’s radio supremo, Ferdinand Rodriguez, after the war.

Bouryschkine, Vladimir — MI9 agent whose attempts to get to France by Lysander were twice thwarted in December 1942. Finally parachuted into France in March 1943, he was arrested on a train to Pau three months later while attempting to smuggle American airmen out of France across the Pyrenees.

Boutron, Commandant Jean — Survivor of Mers-el-Kebir who smuggled Marie-Madeleine Fourcade across the Spanish border to Madrid. He escaped France aboard a British submarine in November 1942 and joined de Gaulle’s Free French navy in London.

Bridger, Flight Lieutenant John — Lysander pilot who went on to fly Halifax bombers. In April 1959, he was flying an Avro Super Trader IV cargo plane, carrying top-secret rocket components from the UK to Woomera rocket range in Australia when the plane crashed into Mt Süphan in Turkey. Everyone on board was killed.

Bridou, Jacques — Marie-Madeleine’s brother who eventually made it back to London via the Pyrenees and Spain after his escape alongside his sister from their arrest in Marseilles. Fighting with the French army in the Italian campaign, he was badly injured by a mine in July 1944.

Brossolette, Pierre — Hero of the resistance movement, instrumental in uniting different political factions under de Gaulle, who jumped to his death from the fifth floor of Gestapo Paris headquarters at 84 Avenue Foch.

Carré, Mathilde — Double agent involved with the Franco-Polish espionage network Interallié . Tried in Paris and sentenced to death in January 1949, her sentence was commuted to twenty years in prison three months later. She was released from prison in 1954 and died in 1970.

Cartaud, Pierre — Traitorous member of CND who was responsible for the network’s devastation in 1942. According to Miannay (see bibliography), he was accidentally killed by the Germans in May 1944.

Carudel, André — Agent trained in Lysander reception who was a professional jockey in peacetime. He became a good friend of the Bertrams and, in one of their postwar reunions, challenged Tony to join him on the gallops the next morning. In the sobriety of dawn, both saw better than to carry through the experiment.

Cavaillès, Jean — Christian Pineau’s right-hand man in his Libération Nord resistance movement. After his escape from internment in December 1942, he was flown by Lysander to London, where he was tasked by the BCRA to set up an action-oriented network in northern France alongside his intelligence-gathering organization, Cohors . Becoming increasingly occupied with his action group, he was eventually betrayed and arrested August 1943. Condemned to death by a German military tribunal, he was executed by firing squad in February 1944 .

Cholet, André — Paris radio operator for the CND , arrested in the round-up caused by ‘Phoebus’s’ betrayal in March 1942. He was executed along with a number of other fellow radio operators on 13 May 1942.

Cohen, Kenneth — Co-ordinator of much of the SIS’s intelligence work in France. He became chief controller of Europe and director of production for the SIS after the war and was appointed CMG (Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George) in 1946. He retired in 1953 and was created CB (Companion of the Most Honourable Order of Bath). For the next thirteen years, he served as European adviser to United Steel Companies. He died in September 1984.

Courtaud, Olivier — Renault’s radio operator parachuted into France in May 1942. He was arrested in June 1943, deported and eventually freed in June 1945.

Coustenoble, Maurice — One of Marie-Madeleine’s earliest recruits and mainstay of her network in the northern occupied zone. Escaped capture by the Gestapo but died of cancer in November 1943.

Crémailh, André — Paris radio operator in Renault’s network, arrested with several others in March 1942. He would eventually be released from Fresnes prison through lack of evidence, partly due to the courage of his fellow agent, André Cholet, who swore under torture to Crémailh’s lack of involvement.

Dallas, Pierre — Leader of the Lysander reception of Avia section of the Alliance . Captured along with Léon Faye in September 1943 and shot on the rifle range attached to Heilbronn barracks in Germany in August 1944.

Dansey, Sir Claude — Head of the French sector of the SIS. He retired from the service at the end of the war and died in June 1947.

Davies, Arthur Bradley — Fascist traitor who infiltrated the SIS and who caused havoc to the Alliance network. Two conflicting versions of his eventual fate exist: either he was executed at the hands of Léon Faye in 1942 or he escaped to Algeria with his wife and children to live out the war in safety.

Decker, Jean — Gilbert Renault’s uncle who ran a letter box in his photographic shop in Saumur for his nephew’s network. He was arrested in November 1941, deported and died in a concentration camp.

Delattre, Robert — Renault’s aerial operations specialist and radio operator, arrested in Paris in May 1942, imprisoned in Fresnes and died there from his mistreatment.

Delaye, Pierre — Barbara Bertram’s ‘Pierre-le-paysan’ and highly effective agent for Christian Pineau’s network. He was gunned down and killed by a radio detection squad at Loyettes on the Rhône in May 1943.

Delestraint, General Charles — Sent to France by de Gaulle in March 1943 to take control of all undercover military operations. He was captured, along with Jean Moulin, on 9 June 1943, interrogated by Klaus Barbie and eventually sent to Dachau concentration camp where he was executed in April 1945, days before the camp was liberated.

Déricourt, Henri — Enigmatic agent of the SOE who was tried but acquitted for working for the Germans and who might even have been a triple agent for the SIS. Even the circumstances of his death have unanswered questions attached, but it seems he was killed in an aircraft accident over Laos in November 1962.

Dewavrin, André (Passy) — After his return from his dangerous mission in France in the spring of 1943, Passy was awarded the Croix de la Libération by General de Gaulle and then sent to Algeria to take command of the combined secret services of General Giraud and the BCRA . In February 1944, he returned to London as chief of staff to the general commanding the French army in England and the undercover forces in France. In August that year, he was parachuted into Brittany and took command of 2,500 French troops engaged in the liberation of the north coast port of Paimpol. In May 1945, he was again in charge of France’s secret services but, with de Gaulle’s departure from power, he left his post in February 1946. He was then accused by the government of embezzlement of state funds and imprisoned for 200 days before his eventual release without trial. In 1953, he began a life in commerce, first in the banking sector, then in the textile industry. He died in Paris in December 1998.

Duclos, Maurice — Following the destruction of his intelligence network and his escape to England in March 1942, he took charge of the sabotage section of the BCRA . He took part in a number of missions into France, destroying dams on the River Saône, railway lines and enemy telecommunications prior to D-Day. He then fought alongside General Montgomery’s Special Forces after the allied landing, seeing action in Normandy, Belgium, Holland and Germany. Among his decorations were Compagnon de la Libération and the Croix de Guerre , as well as the OBE and Military Cross conferred by the British. After the war, he settled in Argentina and died in Buenos Aires in 1981.

Farley, Flight Lt Wally — Killed in April 1942, when the Halifax he was flying on an operation to Austria with two agents aboard flew into Blauberg Mountain in Bavaria.

Faure, François — Spent fourteen months in Fresnes prison after his arrest in Paris in May 1942. He then spent the next twenty-one months in concentration camps, first at Natzweiler-Struthof in Alsace, then in Dachau. He survived and was freed on 29 April 1945. After the war, he returned to his family furniture business and died in June 1982.

Faye, Commandant Léon — As a prized prisoner of the Nazis, he was taken to Gestapo headquarters at 84 Avenue Foch in Paris after his arrest in September 1943. From there, he, the SOE heroine Noor Inayat Khan and another British agent, John Starr, nearly succeeded in escaping together across the roofs of surrounding buildings, but were eventually trapped in a cul-de-sac as they reached street level. He was later among 800 massacred at Sonnenburg concentration camp.

Fleuret, Jean — Sector head and abundant source of intelligence for Renault’s network, based in Bordeaux. He survived deportation, but his wife and son did not.

Fourcade, Marie-Madeleine — After the war, she became secretary-general, then president of the Resistance Action Committee, putting herself at the service of the families of those from her network who were killed. With her second husband, Hubert Fourcade, she had three more children and, also with his help, worked as a fervent Gaullist to bring the General back to power in May 1958. She became a member of the European Parliament with a keen interest in the cause of the Afghan resistance movement. She died in 1989.

Fourcaud, Pierre — Pioneer intelligence agent for the Free French, he spent a year in prison after his arrest by the Vichy police in August 1941. He then managed to escape and after an epic 1,245-kilometre bicycle ride across France, he found his way back to London via Cassis, the Balearics and Gibraltar. He was sent back out to France in February 1944 to co-ordinate the efforts of the maquis in the Savoie region. Arrested three months later, he was seriously wounded when he was shot at whilst trying to escape. The Germans brought him back to health in order to interrogate him, but he escaped from Chambéry prison in August 1944 and was back in London three weeks later. He continued to work as a colonel in the French intelligence service until 1956. He died in 1998.

Hankey, Flight Lt Stephen — Killed attempting to land his Lysander in fog on his return from a mission in December 1943 .

Hodges, Wing Commander Lewis (Bob ) — Continued a successful career in the RAF after the war, becoming Air Chief Marshal in 1971, and was Air Aide-de-Camp to the Queen until his retirement in 1976.

Hooper, Flight Lieutenant Robin — Returned to his career in the Foreign Office after the war and served as Ambassador to Greece from 1971 to 1974.

Lamarque, Georges — Captured by the SS during the parachuting of supplies to his intelligence-gathering group behind the retreating enemy lines in eastern France on 8 September 1944. He had refused to escape, knowing that the Germans would carry out reprisal killings among local inhabitants. He and an assistant were taken immediately to a nearby field and shot.

Lien, Jean-Paul — He was tried and executed for his treachery in October 1946. With the liberation of France, he had joined the French army and it was only because, in March 1945, Ferdinand Rodriguez happened to recognize him in a bar on the Champs Elysées in an officer’s uniform that he was eventually arrested and brought to justice.

Lockhart, Flying Officer Guy — Died on the night of 26/27 April 1944 when, as captain of a Lancaster bomber, he was shot down over Friedrichshafen.

Loustaunau-Lacau, Commandant Georges — Survived his captivity at Mauthausen concentration camp. On his return to France, he shocked public opinion by sharply criticizing what he saw as victimization of Marshal Pétain by those trying him. Loustaunau-Lacau then found the state prosecutors turning on him for his pre-war involvement with the ultra right-wing organization, la Cagoule . He was imprisoned in 1947, but was released when the case against him was withdrawn six months later. Undaunted, he continued a political career and was elected member of the National Assembly for the Basses-Pyrénées in 1951. He died in Paris in February 1955.

McBride, Flying Officer Jim — Died on the same night as Stephen Hankey, attempting to land his Lysander in fog at Tangmere in December 1943.

McCairns, Flying Officer James (‘Mac’) — Was killed in 1946 on a training flight at RAF Finningley when his Mosquito lost hydraulic power.

Méric, Marie-Madeleine — see Fourcade, Marie-Madeleine

Moulin, Jean — De Gaulle’s envoy and arch co-ordinator of the resistance movements in France. Arrested in Lyons in June 1943, he died less than a month later from the brutal and fruitless attempts of Klaus Barbie and Gestapo interrogators in Paris to extract information from him.

Murphy, Squadron Leader Alan (‘Sticky’) — Pioneer special duties Lysander pilot, killed in 1944 after his Mosquito was hit by flak over the Netherlands.

Navarre — see Loustaunau-Lacau, Commandant Georges

Nesbitt-Dufort, Flight Lieutenant John — Pioneer special duties Lysander pilot who survived further wartime postings which included test-flying, night-fighters, and commanding a mixed Spitfire and Mosquito wing in Norway. After the war, he was involved in the Berlin Airlift of 1948-9, and later flew air freighters in the Middle East. He died in 1975.

Passy, Colonel — see Dewavrin, André

Phoebus — Head of CND ’s Paris radio operation who denounced all members of his team when captured by the Gestapo in March 1942. In spite of this, he was executed two months later alongside the men he had betrayed.

Pickard, Wing Commander Percy (‘Pick’) — Commander of the special duties squadron, who was later killed during the celebrated air raid on Amiens prison in February 1944.

Pineau, Christian — Having survived sixteen months at Buchenwald concentration camp, he returned to France and, after only a month of recuperation, was appointed by Genral de Gaulle as Minister of Supply in May 1945. He became an elected member of the National Assembly in 1946 and served the French government continually in a number of senior posts, including Minister of Public Works and Transport, Finance Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs when he signed the Treaty of Rome on behalf of France in 1957. He left politics in 1958 and pursued a career in business until 1970. He died in Paris in April 1995.

Robert, Jacques — One of Gilbert Renault’s key agents who went on to form his own Lyons-based network, Phratrie , after the disintegration of the CND . The Vichy police arrested him in April 1943, but he escaped four days later and returned to London by Lysander in June. There, he helped to train agents of the Jedburgh contingent, who were to be parachuted behind the enemy lines at the same time as the D-Day invasion in teams of three (one French, one English and one American in each team) to harness the help of the maquis. Robert himself was parachuted into France on 27 June 1944 and took command of a guerrilla group that fought for two months in the Corrèze and Creuse regions. After the war, he became commercial director of Mercier champagne until, in 1956, moving onto a series of other industrial directorships. He died in February 1998.

Rodriguez, Ferdinand — The only Alliance agent to escape with his life among all those arrested in September 1943 following Lien’s betrayal. A prisoner at Sonnenburg concentration camp along with Léon Faye, he was saved from execution at the eleventh hour thanks to his British citizenship and to an exchange with a German spy held by the British in Iran, negotiated by War Office administrative captain Gareth Maufe. Rodriquez married Hermine Bontinck, Marie-Madeleine Fourcade’s assistant and liaison agent after his release.

Rymills, Flying Officer Frank (‘Bunny’) — Special duties Lysander pilot who went on to command a Halifax squadron, dropping supplies to the Resistance and towing gliders during the Normandy invasion in 1944. He retired from the RAF in 1963 and became a successful pig farmer in Suffolk.

Vaughan-Fowler, Flight Lieutenant Peter — After leaving 161 Squadron, he went to fly Mosquitoes before being called back to special Lysander duties, flying from bases in Italy and Corsica to southern France just before the allied landings in 1944. He continued a career in the RAF after the war and retired in 1975. He died in 1997.

Verity, Squadron Leader Hugh — He worked in the air operations branch of the SOE after 161 Squadron, involved, in 1944, in deception measures for the Normandy invasion, which included flying large numbers of sorties over the northernmost beaches of France to give the impression the landings would take place there. He continued with a career in the RAF until his retirement in 1965. He died in November 2001.