vol. 3 january, february, march 11144 ivestern europe
TRANSCRIPT
VOL. 3 JANUARY, FEBRUARY, MARCH 11144 iVESTERN EUROPE
F-Seotlon (Cont'd)
On 20 !.larc h 1 94 4, Hen r i Lauasucq (:.ramis),
civilian, left f or the t'iel d by aea to or ga nize th e :;a i nt
circui t in the area south of Paris. ','11t h h i m went 'll r g i n i a
Hall ( Diane) ( Il ~ ; , hi s 'N/ T operator. The ope r a ti on waB a
c ompl ete s u c c es s , t he l anding b ein~ mad e o n t he coas t or
Br i t t any without i ncident. ( 1Wo )
Operational Br i e t' i ng
I'he object of s e t t i ng up th e Sa i nt c ircui t i" set ou t
in detail in th e operati on al briefing ot' Aram i 5 , wh i ch
follows ; i t will be o bserved t hat no targets w.er 'J a s s Ig ne d
to this mi ssion.
(88 ) Sig 1..2017/22 8 Mar 44(8 11) Sig 1..2178/33 10 Mar 44(110 ) Sig A.2774/5 21 Mar 44( Ill ) Sig 1..21147/8 24 Mar 44( Il ~ ) War Diary Vol 11 p , 78(113 ) War Piary Vol 11 p.71l(114) F-Sec Prog Rpt 24 Mar 44
VOL. 3 JAliUARY, nBRU.-RY, V.ARCH 1944 'KEST~: EUROPE
F-3ection (Cont'd)
"Operation: SaintChristian name in the field: Aramisllame on identity papers: Henri Laurent Lassot
Informetion
"'Nith the approach of D-day our activities inFrance will be developing rapidly an~ ,it will probablybe r.ecessary to send organizers and 'li l T o peratorato the field at very short notice. Furthermore, Germanrepressive measures are increasing in intensity andagents already in the tield will probably be i n urgentneed of sare houses in dep endent of their own circuits,where t hey c oulc take refuge in th e event o f troubleand at t h e same t i me r eaa In in contact with London.
I ntention
"You wi ll p r oc e ed to t he fiel d as so on as pos s i bJ.eduri ne t he l: a r ch moon 'Je r i od , accompanied by Diane,who wil l act as your assistant and 'lil~ op er-a t or-,
"your miss io n can be divided i n to t h r p.e separatestages as follows:
1. You wi l l es t abl i sh your s e l f i n an accessible-place no t mor-e t h an 10 0 kilome te rs to t hes outh or southeast o f Po rb end will es t abli s h ':IITcommunLo at.Lcn wit h us es so on a s poss i bl e .
2. Yon will t hen p roc e ed vt.o fin d th r e e safehouses, one in Paris, th e second in a s=ll townwi thin eadY reach of Paris. and th e t hi rd somewhere in the country, either 0 farm or a countryhouse.
It is neadless to emphasize tile n e ce s s i t yfor nhes e hous e s t o hav e mor-e th 811 on e exit and,in t.be case of the s eco nd and third, the poss i bility or wat.ching the approaches . Th ey shouldeach be capable of housing up to three ar four menor women, who might either be sant frun thiscountry or directed t o your organizat ion from otherparts of France. You wi l l be advised of thearrival of such pe r s ons , by t he fOllowing BBCme s se geu : (j :ot c ommi t t ed to pa pe r . Ed.)
3. The third stage of y our mi s s i on wouldco nsIst of setting up i n e a ch of t hese three housesone large an d one s mall 'lilT set . ready to operateas qu ickly as possible mould a ",V/T operator a r r i v et he r e with the appropriat e crystals.
The tJoird house should also contain anS-phone and the followin e BBC me s s a ge ..... ould be put
VOL. 3 JANUARY, !KBRUARY, MARCH 1944 WESTERN EUROPE
P'-SecUon (Cont'd)
out to warn you when a section officer is comingto talk to you: (Not committed to paper. Ed.)
Finance
"You wi).l take with you the sum of 1,000,000 francsand Diane will take 500,000 francs. You will inform usas soon as possible of your needs.
"',Vith the llell agreement between the BritishGovernment and the French Committee in Algiers, therate of 300 no longer applies to sterling-franctransactions, which will from now on be handled at therate or 200 francs to the pound."
No wiT contact was made with this circuit until after
1 lprll 1944.
497
VOL. 3 JULY, AUGUST, SEPl'EMBER 1944 WESTERN EUROPE
F-Section (Cont'd)
SAINT (115 6)
DEVELOPMENTS
During the early part of July the Saint circuit beoame
very "hot" and Diane, WiT operator, left the area and pro-
ceeded, after orders from London, to the Cosne area, leaving
Aramis without a WiT operator. Here she organized a group
of 100 men and officers, using the WiT nama of Licensee.
On 16 July Loincloth, an SOE organizer, was dispatched to
the field to take over this group . ( 1 ~57 ) Diane then went
to Le Puy in the Haute Loire department and organized the
Heckler (1158 ) circuit, details of which are given later in
this quarter.
After the departure of Diane, this circuit was over
run by tile Allied Armies and Aramie was given an important
mission as chief of military information. Aramis was 62
years of age and the oldest ageat sent to the field by OSS.
He completed his mission skillfully and accidentally ran
into Lieutenant-Colonel van der stricht in Paris who brought
him back to London by plane on 11 September 1944. The
detailed report made by Aramis upon his return substantiates
hie record. (115 9 )
ACTIVITY REPORT OF UEt{RI L. LAUSSUCQ" (CIVILIAN), (Aramis)0Q1§l
Time Spent in Field
Date of arrival in iteld - .21 March 1944
Date of departure from field - (Paris) by air - 11
september 1944.
(115 6)(11 57)(11 5E)(11 59)(1160)
War Diary Vo~ 3 p.42p. 1226 this Quarterp , 1158 this QuarterRpt Barber to Millett 15 Sept 44 II.f R- 13 F-547/ 51War Diary Vol 11 p.78
VOL. :3 JULY, AUGUST, SEPTID~ER 1944 "H"ESTERN EUROPE
498
F-Sec tion , Sa i nt ICont'd)
Activities in the Field
Arrived in Pa r i s 22 Ma r ch , lived f or t wo day s at 57
Rue de Babyl one in a "pens i on de f amille" (Home Pa s teur ),
whi ch I used as "pied -a-terre " un til 15 Ma y .
On 25 March I went wi th Dl ane t o ~a i s o n s -s ous - C roz a nt
(Cr eus e l t o es tabl ish Diana wi th her r ad io equi pmen t .
Travel l ed eve r y week from Pa r is to · Cr oza nt t o keep in
li ei son with Di ane .
Ind isc r et io~~ from th e pe as an t f olks in Cr ozant where
our ec t i v i t i e s were br oa dca s t pr OUdl y by th e net i ve s obl l -
ged us to chan ge qua r t e rs by t h e end of Il.ay . Took Diane t o
Cosne (Nievre) wher e we es tablish ed 11 e i s on th ro ugh e
"Cepiteine de Genda rme r i e Ret r e i t e " named Ves s ereux. Dia ne
s t eyed t he r e a whil e end then went to e f e rm e f ew Id l e s
from t here bu t d i d not di s cl os e her ad dr ess to me .
Up t o th i s t ime end accordi nc to ins tru c t i ons re cei ve d ,
I had es t abl i s hed :
A Boi t e eux l ett r es t h rou~h A. Car on , 8 Ruede Ri che l i eu , Pe r i s le r Arr.
A hi de- ou t f or two o r th r ee people a t 46, Ruede Denzig chaz Mr. Pierre Rabut - t h is pl a ce wouldheve been e lso a pe r f e ct mee t i ng gro und f o r agen t s .
I nfo rmet i on conc e r n i ng t ha se t wo pl e ces hav e bee n t r ans -
mi t t ad to London.
The es t ab l is hmant of a s econd and th i rd hi de - out was
a l ittle mor e d i f f icul t . I n o rd e r t o secur e a ple c e in t he
sout hwes t of Pa r is , I ha d t o buy a house , wh I ch t ook me a
very l ong t i me (until t he end o f J une ) . Thi s house Wti8 bOUght
in the name of M~. Pierre Rabut a 8 8 pr e f ec to ra l pe rmi t was
neca 8sary an d g i ven onl y af t e r Inquiry whi ch I coul dn ' t
VOL. 3 JULY, AUGUST, SEPl'EMBER 1944 WESTERli WROPE
499
l-Section, Sa i nt ( Cont ' d )
ea sily face. The hous e is s i t uat ed at Thoury - Fe r r ot e , a
littl e village 10 ki l omet e r s s outh of ~ont e reau (Seine et
Marne).
I establi shed a third hi de-out at Chi che r y , 15 ki l o
me t e r s nor t h of Auxerre , e t Mr . Pi e r r e Cheva l ier .
All t h is was comple ted by t he en d o f June. It was
about t hi s t i me t ha t Diane wro te our cut-out t hat ahe wea
leaVing for part s unknOWn foll owing orders, s llyi ng gOOd- bye
to me and addin g that I woul d sur e l y h ear from somebody
somehow, which I never did.
I then l ook ed a round f or connect io ns with t he resis t
ance from which I had been warned to keap away as much aa
pos s i ble .
I established cont a ct wi t h SI peopl e (Br i t i s h ) , who
decli ned t o pass any mes aag e from me , declaring th~ wer e
forbi dde n t o pass anyt hi ng f o r t he SO pe ople. I tri ed ot he r
channela who e ss ur ed me t he y had paas ed my mes s age a sk i ng
for liai son; I never received an a ns wer .
I had r eceived or der s v ia r a dio from London to es t ab
li sh fiv e hide-outs for p ianists in the triangle Pa r i s ,
Sedan, Dijon.
One of my men who had a f amily in thi s region s t a r t ed
from Pa r i s t o acc omplish thi s mi ss i on ; h e gave me hi s first
cont a ct as the "Soua Chef de Gar e" of Di j on - I em s t i l l
waiting for hi s return.
After waiting three weeks I went t o Di j on a nd di scov ered
that the "Sou a Chef da Gare" had van ished after being infor
med the Ges t apo was on his trail .
Thi s is B S far a s this misa ion went e xc ep t t hat a t
VOL. :3 JULY, AUGUS'l', SKPl'E1I.BER 1944 "olEST ERN lroROPK
:l00
r-Seotion, Saint (Cont'd)
Ch i chery , (15 kilometers north or Auxerre), I had poss i b i l i t y
or harboring e radio man, with e l ect r i ca l faciltties, etc.
To understand the dirficulty or these undertakinge,
you must realize that the resistance was organized more or
les s as sonll cells, rather water-tight organizations and
it was very hard ror an outsider without references to
break in.
Luckily, t hrough the meeting of e former combatant of
my old outrit to whom I couldn't poss i bl y hi de t h e reasons
or my pr es ence in Paris and who was himselr very active in
the resistance, I was able to pen et r a t e a group of peop l e
whose s pe ciality wea to rescue and collect rallen airmen
and send them back to England through underground channels.
The name or my rormer rellow-combatant i s:
Mr. Alfred Caron, 6, Rue de Ri cheliau,Paris (ler A.)
I must equally ment ion an admirable lady, widow of a
French major or Infanterie of 1916. This Indy: l~e. Heraux,
5 Avenue d'Orleans, Paris XIV. harbored seven airmen, (five of
them Americans), in the last few months. Her house was a
headquarters for clandestine traffic. Her activities were
multiple and she gsve me contacts with elements of resistance
which made it pos s i bl e for ma t o do so met h i ng useful.
It i s through her that I s ent two messages telling
London of my pl i gh t and asking for instructions.
At Thoury-Ferrote where I bou ght a house to s er ve as
hide-out, I got in t ouch with the local resistance formed
with headquarters at Ln Brosse Monceaux five mi l es from
Montereau (Selne et Olse) nt the ~Grand Seml na l r e " of the
monks of the Order of Oblats (missionaries). These Oblats
VOL. :3 JULY, AUGUST, 9EP1'EMBKR 1944 WESTERN EUROPE
501
r-gection, Saint (Gont'd)
were in the resistance, every one of them, their activities
have been multiple (sabotage, derailment, etc.) Unhappily
they were denounced to the Gestapo and were arrested by a
troop of 100 59 men.
rive of them were sho t and the rest, 60, were taken
away, God knows where, aftar 35 tons of arma and ammunition,
which had been saved since 1940, were diacovered in the
grounds of the Semi na ry . Incidentally, seven tons were
stolen from the Germans when the peas an t s requested to load
t he loot on German trucks were able to send some of it to
unknown deatinations.
Nevertheless, the Semi na r y (a big castle) has been
occupied ever slnce; my arrival t here the day after the
fray was a tragic-co~edy in itself, as I was taken unaware.
I never rode so fast on a bike as I did that day. These
events prevented a reception of arma, ammunition and radio
equipment which I was pr epa r i ng with the help of the monks .
We do not know from whom came the denunciation. Only
one monk remained with the occupying forces, he was an old
man and t h e only collaborationist according to the other
monks, (which is not s uf f i c i ent to conv i ct him, but enough
to set t he tongues going).
French Civilians Eligibla for Awards
I was helped in my liaison with Diane by Mr . Pierre
Rabut, 46, Rue de Danzig, Paris XV. He helped me carry
radio equipment allover. His mother, Mme. Veuve Rabut
tra~elled equally to do liaison work with Diane. She has
the s ame address as her son. Mme. Heraux, 5, Avenue
d'Orleans, Paris XIV.
VOL. 3 JULY, AUGUST, SEPl'EtlBER 1944 'NESTERN EUROPE
502
1-Section, Saint (Cont'd)
I must mention specially Mr . Maur i ce Charbonnier, 16 ,
Rue de Paris at Chevreuse (Seine et Oise). This man used
to comb the woods and the neighborhood every day looking
for fallen airmen, whom he would then dress, feed and take
to safe places. I know of 23 cases. The man has given all
his clothing, shoes, etc., to fallen airmen and is now
greatly in need of these things.
Just as important was the work of : Anne-Marie De
DUdzeele, Mouli n de Clayes, St. Remy-les-Chevreuse (Seine
et Oi s e ) . This young lady, daughter of a Belgian consul,
did the same as Mr . Charbonnier with whoe she worked and
escorted fallen aviators from place to place, in the trains,
in the Paris Metro, and did wonderful work. Aviat or s used
to worship her.
Equally interesting was ~r . Jean Thi a i s , (I am not sure
of the orthograp!:IY of the name). This young man, whose
address in Par i s was 3, Rue Denis Poisson, (3rd floor,
Etoile), was a cousin of the Superior of the Oblats and
helped me in liaison with them. He was equally at the Hotel
de Ville in Par i s during the insurrection.
I have to mention Mr . Laffont, 9, Boulevard Port Royal,
who helped me 1n the "ravitaillement" of the FFI of Paris
and banl Leue ,
Also ~tt. Pierre Allard, one of the heads of the CNR
(3, Rue Denis poisson, 3rd Floor, Etoile) - He occupied and
held the Hotel de Ville of Par i e during the insurrection.
Mr. Ridinger, 19, Rue Francois ler (Etoile), who was
the head of the group known as "Les Cent" - responsible for
some of the bes~ street fighting in Paris. Finally, Mr.
VOL. 3 JULY , AUGUST, SEPI'EMBER 19 44 WESTERN EUROPE
503
F-6ection, S aint ( Cont' d)
Me j ea n , 10, Boulevard Bar ber, a "Chet de Servic e" at t he
Sec retary ot t he Inter i or , who pr eve nt ed t he f i les ot the
Vi chy pol i ce t o be moved f rom the "mini s t er e" when t he
Ges t apo an d mi l i ce p r ep a r ed t o l eave Paris . Mr . Me jean
acted under my instructions wi t h the help of the FYI , who
placed t h ems elves under my gui dence .
Info rmation on the Enemy
I was able to es tablish,wit h t he help of a Paris
"agent de po lice" , Mr. Louis Trouil l a rd (now with the
Leclerc] Army), t he plan of a l l s t rong po i nts forti f ied by
t h e enemy on th e left bank o f the Sei ne . Addr es s, Rue
Doguerre , Par i s XIV.
This plan i n t he hand s of Mr . Pie r re Allard alr ea dy
ment ioned , (and t hen hea d of t h e or gan i za t i on known as
" Ceux de l a Resi s tance " ), has been qui t e useful in t he
liberat i on of Pa ris .
Loca tion of German headqua r ters i n t he nor thwes t ot
France ha s been obta i ne d by our l it tle gr oup (Mr. A. Car on
in pa r t i cul a r ) and f or wa r ded to the i nt el l i genc e s e r v i ce ,
(as well as V.l r ampe s de lancement ) .
Res ul t s Achi eved
Rav itai l lement of FFI has be en gr eat l y helped t owards
t he end t hr ough my ef f orts , as we estob lished a s or t of pa ct
between the Pa r is " r avitaill ement" and t he FFI , so they
could s t op ce r t ain trucks an d take them ba ck l~t er af t er
unloading them at the i r conv enience .
Mr. Lafton t, i n char ge of · the t r uck i ng to r Pa r is , made
i t poss i ble and ea sy fo r me to fult i l thi s s e l f - app oi nt e d
t ask.
VOL. 3 JULY. AUGUST, SEPl'EIlBER 1944
504
'-Section, saint ( Cont'd)
Actions in Which Agent Took Part
I took psrt in the Paris liberation, was at the Hotal
de-Ville on 24 ~ugust. I was on a jeep. Rue St . Jacques
on 25 August as we were saluted by the Gam an tanks and
snipers - and was ha ppy t o help stop Ger.nan truck s - we
took pr isoners and killed many G en~ns .
People Who Wor ked Ageinst our Men
I hav e no knowl edge of any men o r woman haVi ng wo rke d
aga i ns t our men in the field who i s s till al i ve an d abl e t o
do us any harm.
VOL. 3 APRD., MAY, JUNE 1944 WESTERn EUROPE
18!!
Accomplishments
:'he first. "H/;: contact with this circuit was on '\ Aprl1
1944 when Diane signalled that they were teclporarlly
installed and that "rllJllis was at Paris. ?~ The same day
she reported the address or t.he safe house in Paris, the
establ1shment of which was part or the mission. (-t<~;
On 10 Aprl1 she reported, in response to a query from
headquarters, that the safe house in Fari s could take 3
persons. i·~
On 18 April she gave the prearranged password for that
house. \~q Diane again reported on 18 Aprll that: "Due
daily cutting electric current and traveling difficulties,
behooves me to go. May I go just north of 'demarcation'
SFH~ si tRap 25 June 44Sig A.62/2 25 Apr 44Sig A.865/8 3 May 44Sig A.1672/2 12 May 44Sig A.1090 24 June 44Sig A.3555/34 4 Apr 44Sig A.3557/53 4 Apr 44Sig A.3980/20 10 Apr 44Sig A.4490/l8 18 Apr 44
VOL. 3 APRIL, MAY, JUNE 1944
F-Seotion (Cont'dJ
i~..n· SP'H ~ agreed to Diane's working in the new e r-ea ,
a dv i s i ng her t hat it was very ho t and pl ease to be careful.
On 8 June Di a ne s Lgn nl ked t ha t Ar-am.ls was n ot an d n ever
had be e n with her; t ha t he lived in Pa r i s an d ma i n ta i ne d
co u r i e r cont a c t . ~
SFH~ a dv i s e d Di ane on 8 June of their interest in a
s mall a nd reliable g r oup of well di sciplined men ready to
take l:lilitary or oere , \' " ...)
On 17 June Di a ne r eported t ha t there was a g r oup a t
Chambon co nsisting of 200 excellent men, well-led, which i~
was ho ped would soon be increased to 500 ; that i t wo u ld b e
wo rth s end Lns; 2 of f i ce r s , a 1I/T op era tor and a rms t o t h i s
:,~a qu i s . 1~ "1
On 18 ,Tun e s he r e qu o s ted arm s, ammun i t.Lon , b i cy cle tires
a nd s u rg i ca l s upp l ies . ..w ~)
On 19 Jun e h ee dq ue r t e r-e th a nke d Di an e f e r he r excellent
wor.k a t Chambc n , sta t in g t h e y wou ld like her t o a c t as
op e r a t o r f or t hat ci r cui t in t he !la ut e - Lo i r e .
On 30 J une '1i a n e ga ve pa r t i c u l a r s o f ano t her sa f e hous e
in PRris. , " J
Durin g thi s pe r iod numerou s o e.l I v e r-Le s of su ,'p l ies were
ma de t o g r ounds s i r, n!il le d by Di a ne .
Sig A.4491/9 l~ Apr 44Sig A.4450 18 Apr 44Sig ,\..4205/16 8 June 44Sig A.488 8 June 44Sig ".44£/71 17 June 44Sig A.451/43 18 June 44S i g A.I021 19 June 44Sig A.2251/68 30 June 44
VOL. 3 JULY, AUGUST, SEPrEMBER 1944 I'/ESTERN EUROPE
F-Section (Cont'd)
HECKLER
PRELDlINARY E:G'I.ANATIOIl
On 16 July Virginia Hall, (Diane). (1531) was given a
contact with sroups in the Haute Loire under a certain
Jacques L:onnier. On 21 JUly she cet Monnier and through
him contacted a r.:aquis chief operating in the Le Puy who
had a 1.:aquis cons isting of 500 men poorly armed. This
group was later reported to have moved to the area st.
Julien du Pilet, St. Paulien and Loudes. Diane sent a
larga number of grounds for deliveries of stores and
personnel. As the area had up to that time been out of
range for deliveries from England. and Masaingham had too
many other cocmitcents to be able to cope, none of the
grounds ~ere servad, but it was hoped that some large scale
daylight del i ve r i es could be cade.
DEVELOPl·Sh~S
T:: e follo" 'Jir:~ s ignals r r oc t he field during the
~unrter under revi ew, end r eports of t he American members
of this ci r cui t conclude the activities thereof:
19 July. Diane's group in the Haute Loire was
instructed by London to organize sabotage against the main
railway lines converging on Le Puy and on the telephone
cables in the area. (1532)
23 JulZ' Diane reported that the 400 MaQlis in her
area were divided into five groups as follows:
At St. ClecantNear VillelongueNear TenceNear RetournacNear Le Che.mbon (1533)
(1531) War Diary Vol 11 p.79, ... =~,." ... ~ ... , .,,"r:: '1" - •• '~" ••
VOL . 3 JULY . AUGUST , SEPl'El/.BER 1944 WESTERN EUROPE
F-Section, Heckler (Cont'dl
29 JulZ' Eight een cen ettacked a convoy of .even
lorries and 135 ~en neer Le Voute sur Loire; 14 Gercans
were ki l l ed; there wer e no FFI losses. The Germans
r eturned t o Le Puy. (1534 )
4 Augus t. The follow i ng s abotsge on 1 and 3 August
was r e ported:
A bridge blown at Mont agna c and road cut Langogne _
Le Puy ; four cuts in the railroa d Langogne - Brassac;
Brassac f reight train der ai l ed i n a t unnel ; Brioude
Brassac fr ei ght t rain derai l ed i n tunnel ; Br i oude - Le Puy
r ailway br idge blown; L!oni s t r ol 0' Allier freight train
der ai l ed in tunnel end 15 ceters of track blown in; tunnel
blown at Solignac; r eilway bridge blown at Lavoute; rail
way bridge wrecked et Chemelieres and a locomotive driven
into the gulf below . (1535)
8 August. Le ?uy and Yssingeaux were in a state of
se i ge and all northeast and west approaches to Le Puy were
cut. !.lost or the "a r t ar t rooos in the area deserted to the
!.!aquls. (1 530)
16 ~~3us t. 9i~c r eport ed tha t 5CO ~en ha d al ready
been tor~ed into c o~p~nl e s . (: ~j7 )
19 AUfius t. Le ?uy was captured by the FFI . Fifty
Ge~an lorries with 800 sol diers wer e trapped bet ween
Ohoineli~ and ?igeres nor t h of Le Puy by des t r oyed bridges
but insufficient a~s pr event ed Diane f r om attacking them.
(153C )
20 August . Diane signalled that t he Haut e Loire was
cleared of Gernans and requested further instructions. She
(153q(1535 )(15361(1537 )(1538 )
Sig 01..1972/51 29 July 44Sig 01..2922/50 4 Aug 44Sig 01..3742/20 8 Aug 44Sig 01..59/77 16 Aug 44Sigs 01..844/32 0\;741/44 19 Aug 44
VOL. 3 JULY, AUGUST, SEPrEMBER 1944 VIESTERN EUROPE
F-Section, Heckler (Cont'dl
stated that the landing field Loudes west of Le Puy was
ready f or use if F-Section was interested. (1539)
21 August. A signal stated t hat upon the capture of
Le Puy 147 prisoners wer e taken, of whi ch 45 were German
and the rest Rus s i an . Thi r t y one Germans were killed and
six wounded; the FFI had five ki l l ed and four wounded.
(1540)
23 August. The re~ins of a Geroan convoy surrendered
at Estivareilles . Five hundred prisoners wer e taken and
all we re being t reated in accordance wi th the Geneve
Conventi on . (1541)
2nd Lieutenant Henry D. Riley, INF, (Raf a el ) , (1542 )
and 2nd Lieutenant Paul Goillot, AUS, (Heman), (1543) were
dispatched to t he field on 4 September 1944 to serve as
lieutenant and a~ instructor, respectively, to Diane,
organizer of t he Heckler circuit located at Le Puy in the
Haute Loi r e . ( i5 ~4) Their safe arrival was reported.
17 Sep tember . Diane reported t ha t she was leeving
t he depertment with Br it ish and French pe r sonnel for the
Jure. and V·05665 . ( 1 545 )
Due to t he fact t het t he wo rk of t his circuit wes
fini s hed, the ~ecbers thereof were ordered t o return to
London.
D1~ne e nd Ratael returne d to London o n 2 6 Septe:ber,
whi l e He:on returned on 1 Oct ober. end ma de th e following
r eport s of t heir activi t i es whi l e in the f ield.
(1539)(1540)(1541)(1542)(1543 )(1544)(1545 )
Si g A.890/50 20 Aug 44Sig A.935/79 21 Aug 44Sig A.353/17 23 Aug 44War Diary Vol 11 p.285'liar Diary Vol 11 p.272See map following p.1364EMFFI Dly smry 17 Sept 44
VOL. 3
1161
JULY, AUGUST. SEPrEMllER 1944 WESTERN EllROPE
F-5ection, Heckler (Cont'dt
ACTIVITY REPORT OF VIRGDUA HALL (Diane!.
T1ce Spent in the Field
Arrived in the field .- 21 uarch 1944.
Left field - 26 Septe~ber 1944.
Returned to London - 26 September 1944.
Activities in the Field
We errived on the Brittany coest on 21 March 1944.
Aramis end I went straight to Paris by rail where 1lad""'e
Long, an old friend of mine. found a room for Aram1a in a
nearby pension where the landlady was Gaulliate and he
did not need to make out any registration forms and would
be in the greatest comparative security. Madame Long placed
her own flat co~pletely at my disposal but. after talking
to dramis for a while, she considered him too talkative and
indiscreet and ssid that he should not come to her flat
again.
7ha next day dr~is acccmpanied me to the Creuse, in
spite of a ~ery pa i nf ul knee which he had sprained during
hi s landing on t he coast. At Uaisons near Crozant in the
Creuse I saw a fa~er who found a little house with one
room, no wat er or electricity, by the roadside for me and
arranged to have me ~~rk and eat at his own house in the fer
end ot t he village. Aramis returned to Paris to start his
own ~~ rk and arrange couriers to come to ce at ua1S0DS.
I did the cooking for the farmer, his old mother and
his hired hand on an open tire as there was no stove in the
house. and also took the cows to pasture.
Charles uont agne arrived on 8 April to tell me that
he, Louis and Pierre had arrived safely and that Louis had
' /- .
, .
-
Q)/IiNc I
~UJlll·IO~
VOL. 3 JULY, AUGUST, SEPTEl.:BER 1944 WESTERN EUROPE
1163
F-Section, Heckler (Cont'd)
feared he ~ight be arrested. I packed my things and lett
t he Cr euse the ~ext day with Aracis for Paris where I
went to ~ad~e Long again . I let t no address behind. or
course.
In Pari s I had the bood f ortune t o meet a man I had
;~own long bdto r e in ~arsei ll e s , who specialized in
arrangi ng evasions tor pris on . He ha d COme to Peris the
week be fore and was teel i ng hi s way about. I did not tell
him that I ~ight ~e e d him, but erranged to see him again.
About 4 1.:ay I went t o cos ne accompani ed by Ma dame
3.a.but. Are.:!l1s I who bec~e a very devoted and usetul
fri end to ~e . I nev~r t ravel ed al one 1n France but always
with a French chaper on . I~ Cosne I went to see the tather
i~-law or Louis ' s i ster . ~e and hi s wi r e had been told
abou~ ~c by ~ouis c:.d they l~edlately of f ered ~e a home
and p e~::i gt':i .;::m : 0 ',';o ::-k in the at t ic . r.~ad e=J.e !l.abut proc.lsed
to kee n ~y auu=ess u s ecret ~s I had by ~ow becoce rather
,,·;o :.-r l e d b:,r ;.. r-:l..::-.is I t e.~k:l t i V i; t ea.l encf.e s . 1.!adame Rabut
sfi i ~ ~~at e i ~~cr ~ te c:, her son ~ould serv~ as l1a1son
bat',iee:1 . ~=~-:. l s and :.:.e. r ask s :' tha t ~ra..::lls should no t cone
to Cos ne .
cwo days later I received t he news t hat my nephews
were "r" asted and in pr ison at Cherche l:i di in Paris. Sophie,
~y courier , t old ~e that Louis hed been put in touch with
one Robert, othe:":li s e Y...nown as Dr. Lane, who in turn
i~tro duced ~i~ to Filias. Fi1ias po.ed as an SOE agent and
he cert~lnly knew nll about SOE officors, addresses, etc.
Louis, convi nced th"t he was bona ride, told hi: what his
~isslon was and hi s des i r e to have a sate house and one or
VOL. :3 JULY, AUGUST, SEPrEMBER 1944 WESTERN EUROPE
1164
F-Section, Heckler (Cont'd)
two contacts in the Tours district. Filias said "can do"
and sent him of f by car to collect the other two with the
radio equipment.
They collec t ed Pier r e and l.:ontagne and then went on
t o Tours 1 en d f roI:l Tour s to Cher che ;.~ldl. Louis managed
t o s"u.~;;le e not e out of Cherche IHdi, with the aid or a
fri endly Guard.
I asked t hat Sophi e ';0 to a safe house in the country.
Sophie, however , was great l y excited and dramatic and 1n
t~vor of go i ng and shaki ng the gat e s of Cherche ~l d l . I
was r at her cold abou" suc h matters and finslly persuaded
her t hot she ·..,ouB onl y make trouble and get everybody
else in trouole if she di d not leave =tters alone - having
e l r ead)p cone enouGh da::l.:lg e . Sophie insisted on going to
?e.ri3 aoweve r 1" 0 .... • fe',v day s , efter whi ch she returned and.... ... ... • • -·...errt to a neus e 1:1 the count ry r eco:::::-:ended by her Paris
conz.a ces . :: .::J ;:;l i e ';:8,S :'00 euo t Lone L snd too no t i ceabl e to
be useful i~ cny other capacity.
I . , en " " ~n' • 0 -o r 's · · c·.. ~. .. .. .... .. "" r .... _ ...... s aw oy :.:srsei11es friend agsin.
• •~ e "0 uad l-l :- erma n.I. ... 'oJ ... ....... . suc r d at Cher che 1.:i di who passed a message
to t he bo ys. The ans wer I got was "we are eight not three".
Five 'others had epyurently been arrested in the same coup,
and as ei;ht could not try a break as I had envisaged, I
think that the ot he r s , considering the~selves responsible,
did not want t o svsil themselves of a chance to get away
and leave t he others in. I went to Paris every week until
the first of ;une an d then :.:ontagne was transferred to
Fresne. Pierre and Louis were sent on a couple ot weeks
later. Then Louis wss sent oft to Weimar and a tew weeks
VOL. 3 JULY, AUGUST, SEPTRi.:BEll 1944 ','/ESTERN EUROPE
1165
F-seotion, Heokler (Cont'dl
leter Uont agne and Pierre were sent to the same plaoe. I
do not know what happ ens t o such prisoners after they
arrive at Weimar .
All this ti:e I had l i t t l e or no news rroa Aramis
who s ee:ed to have ~de no pr ogr ess with his aission, so I
said to ::Iyself "7:hat the hell " and s t arted to get on wi t h
i t in =y part of the count r y . I had a s:all , very olos e
=outhed oroup ~or reception work and three or four safe
houses . I contacted ~ons i eur Col omb , who was h ead of a
res i s t anoe group i~ the Cher , but who had no arms.
Antoine appeared on the scene j ust at t hi s time and told
me t hat Colo::lb was a good friend or his and asked if I oould
hel p him. Col o::lb 's gr oup 7:as £ood and it was for them that
I re~ue s t e d e~~ . Anto i~e t hen t ook the: under his super
vision when ! le t t .
:.:ea:lw!lile Col onel Vess er eeu , who was of the Gendarmerie
~nd w~o h~d ~~en c~ef de Frotocol i~ the Dalad l er cabinet,
was doinG his oast as o:r SOCO :ld 1:1 :.~c 1;1evr e , and ha d
£otten the con~ l d enc e o~ ~he 6endaI~es 1n Cosne and about a
hundr e d unattn.ched = C::l ....i l li1::5 to Via: }: 1n t he i:l evr e . Ue
decided to ro~~ 0 haqui s slit in tour groups or 25 each.
I 3ad , or course , s one to t he Haut e Loi r e at t he
re~uest or he~dquort ers in the middle or June . I sent a
~es sase stating tbat I t hought t hey deserved a team t here,
havi oo 150 cen alr eady , but no a~ and no di r eot i on .
Then headquarter s came back at ::Ie and told ae to go to tha
3aute Loi re . r was doi ng radio work for Antoine et t he
tiae, he having been so unfortunate as to have one or his
WiT operators di e and the other epparently quite incapable.
VOL. :3 JULY, AUGUST, SEPrEl.lBER 1944 WESTERN EUROPE
1166
F-3ection, Heckler (Cont'dl
I received Felix for Antoine the first week of July and
then Leon was sent to take over the group in the Nievre
with Colonel Vess er eau about 9 July. Leon got the colonel,
all possible radio equipment, couriers and several safe
houses right off the bat, along with an approximate 100
men to train and organize. He should have done a nice job.
AS, during all this time I had had no news from
Ara~is, and no reply from n message I had sent to him, when
heedquerters asked me if I could use him in the Haute Loire
I replied i n the negative. I never gave him my address in
the Cher as I cons ider him indiscreet and his wo~ing
capacity is much =ore in t he line of 51 work than SO.
I arrived : :1 t he :rnute Loire on 14 July and found that
alth ouGh t hey hed received my letter to say that I would
be comi~s , not h ing had been a r :'ansed about a pl ace tor me
t o l ive e.nc •..0 ·,. .:.. . I t was a bed begi nni ng . I might axplain
t · . ..n u . ."0' ...., ,.... "" ...._.. - '"c '' '.. .." :' 0 :J.6 · ;:e.ute Loire in June t he man I was
t o have s een was no looser there, but I ~as introduced to
h ~s repluc e~ent , one ?ayolle. r he s e t up ~as sound, the
men - the se con d class pa r t - were very good. ;1hen I
returned in July. t hey had gone ahead with. the money I had
left them to set up their 1.:aqui s and had quarreled among
themselves ove r f i nences . I found then that there were
five ~en who had, on account of more experience in this
world and worldly ability, gotten control of the l.:aquis in
the Haute Loire.
rhe men, or bOYS, who were in the Maquis despised
these men but they could do nothing about it because they
could not return to civil life and because they did want to
•
• ••
ACCESS RESTRICTED
Item No. 19754 Date _
w(J-~oZ..J<C~<Ca:cJ:~-~
Now filed in CIA Jot! No. 79-00332A
has been withdrawn from this file :
Jot! No. _
Box No.
Folder No.
The item has been withd rawn because it contains security classified
information or otherwise restricted information.
'0_ 08"0,. 4 4 ·
National Security Act 01 1947
Author ity
1947
Dale
VOL. 3 JULY. AUGUST. SEPTEI.lBER 1944 WESTERN EllIlOPI
1168
F-6ection, Heckler (Cont'dl
It had three bedrooms and a very large barn which was
excellent as a work room. In this way I had a couple ot
extra rooms for incoming personnel. Madame Lebrat supplied
me with tood end sent me a hot meal every day when I oould
not go down to the tarm. I bought bicycles tor myselt,
Dede, and tor the outside courier I picked up, as well as
a couple for Lieutenant Bob's Maquis so that they could keep
in constant touch with me. I lived three kilometers trom
Uadame Lebret on one side and about an equal distance trom
Vlllonge on the other side·.
I tried to work, using Fayolle and company as hommes
de contiance in charge ot the ;!aquis, it having been under
stood betore I came there that I would tinance them and
give them arms and that they should take orders trom me.
Rowever, tee tive ~en ~ho had been in control ot the Maquis
were very Jealous ot their prerogatives and prestige and
wanted to take everything and give nothing. It was Bob's
company and uede who r:tS.de it possible tor ae to live and
\';,Jrk in
~he a~~ recelv~d went to the ~aquls and I !lnanced
them, tor there were a couple thousand men already in the
mountains end I had hoped to be able to arm them and to
"do in" most ot the several thousand Cereens then in Le Puy.
~s long as the leaders ot the Uaquis were willing to do
sabotage and guerrilla work I did not care about the tact
that they would not cooperate with me in the matter ot my
own existence. The coopany at Villonge looked atter me
and my betteries, my security and the receptions. The tact
that I did not receive otticers or materials. as promised,
VOL. 3 JULY, AUGUST, SEPl'D.:BER 1944 WESTERN EUROPE
1169
F-Section, Heckler (Cont'd).
put me in a very diff i cult position. The three plane loads
that ceme at t he end of July helped trecendously and
enabled the Uaqui s t o do a lot of bridge and tunnel wr ecking
and eventually to force t he Germens out of Le Puy by shear
bluff and finally to cake them surrender in conjunction with
t he FFI fo rces of the Lo i r e - so:e five or six hundred of
them surrendering .
The middle of August a Jedburgh teem, Jeremy (1546) ,
a r r ived f rom Africa , but t his was after the Germens had
been l i quidated in the department of t he Haut e Loire and
Le Puy l i ber a t ed. I WaS told that in reply to my rapeated
cle~nering I would be sent a team from Africa, so when the
Jeds came I as suced t hat they had come to work with me and
for me . I told th em what I wanted done and which was
i mpossible to do myself . They did an excellent j ob. How
ever, the French member of the party had definite prej Udi ces
against the ?T? , when I very ~uch wanted amalgamated with
the ot hers and incor:orat ed as a pe r t of t he FFI ragardless
of t hei r own pa r t y leader s . I visi t ed the FTP Uaqui s with
this end in view, financed t hem and agreed wit h t heir leaders
on t he SUbject end I asked t he Jeds to do the actual work
of incorporation . ~owever , the French member of the Jed
teem said t hey could not accept.
~eenwhile , the Jedburghs had done a very nice organi
zat i on j ob at Le PUy and had formed, under their own
offi cers , t hree battal i ons, 1,500 men , and I continued to
finance t he: and s i ve t hem What arms I could get. I got
t hree surprise pl anes from Algiers which helped a lot.
However , whe~ ~he bat~allons were rormed and I WAS told they
were going off to the Belfort Gap, I raised a howl and
VOL. 3 J11LY. AUGUST. SEPl'E1lBER 1944 WESTERN EUROPE
1170
F-Section, Heckler (Cont'dl
de~anded t hat they get t he epproval of the delegue militeire
r egional. The Frenc~n's reaction was "who the hell are
you to gi ve me order s . " That I ~y say was the fault of
the homa offi ce. People wer e s ent out ostensibly to work
wi t h me and for :e but I was not gi ven the neces s ary
euthor i t y . I thought going to t he Belfort Gap with 1,500
i ll-trained ~n was a stupid a ct a~d I refused responsi
bi l ity f or the se=e .
Fro~ 1 ~ugust I had been aski~ permiss ion to go to
Als ace whe re ~ had ever ythi ng s et up but t hi s request was
re f us ed. ~end~uarters pro~s ed t o revert and asked me to
wait ~or ~en and :at erial who c~e onl y at t he last cinute.
On 4 Sept~ber Rafael and Eemon were dropped 30 kilo
~eters away f~cn t he fiel d where I wa s waiting tor them
and celling the plane on ~y Eureka . I do not know whether
.~~e~ican pla~es ere equi ppe d wi th e Rebecca, if so such
e p e ~for~ence is icexcusabl e - but t ~e~ I find koerlcan
planes u~o~inaole , ~o~che~ent e~c careless 1n t heir ~ork.
On 5 3epte~ber ~efael a~c ~e~on ccntected :e thro ugh
=y ; os~ bo%. I ~e d ~~nelly received tte t~o of f i cers I
needed so badly when e~e=ythlng wss over . I int roduced
them to the Jeds who had al ready sawad up a l l the caterial
and =en available except Lieutenant Bob and hi s Uaquis, who
remained steadtastly mine. The Jeds were l eaving with t he
bat t al i ons. ~e dec ided to leave with a corps francs for
1!ontluco n . During the we ek t hat ensued, while we were
waiting t~e arr i va l of ~or e =steriel and a French officer,
Rafael and :'e=on traine d the 1& boys we had decided to take
with us as corps francs and gava thee fire practice. Tha
men liked the officers and had immediate confidence in them.
VOL. 3 JULY, AUGUST, SEPl'ElI.BER 1944 WESTERN EUROPE
U7l
F-Section, Heckler (Cont'dl
Finally we r eceived another load of material. The seven
ton truck wss adapted to receive a ~chine gun trained
over the cab. The invent or y was made, the truck packed,
the cars pa ck ed and we departed for Clermont Ferrand to
see Isothe~e. The rest of the Uaqui s and another Maqui s
in t he neighbo rhood wer e sent into Le Puy much against their
wi l l and wanting urgent l y to go with us.
At Cler=ont Ferrand, Isotherme advised me not to go
to 1.1ont lucon b....t to he ad east and see what the Seventh Army
at Bourg ~ieht ~ant us to do. rie went to Bourg and from
Bourg to Arly ~here we contacted SFU-4 and proposed our
corps franc fo r a=bush and intelligence work in the Vosges ••
The reaction t o this proposal was i~ediate end keen end
we were told to return in a few days. Rafael and Bemon
found an abando ned chateau of s=all size near Bourg where
we took up t~por a ry quarters. They had the boys clean
t he pla ce up a~d =nke it habitable. The s e two officers are
extreo~e i ne~i l 1 e f f ic ient at get tins things done - just tbe
sort ! ::ll£h:. ha ve wi s hed for fro::!. the bebinnlng.
A colonel of SFU- 4 deci ded against our going into the
Vosges so ~c dissol ved t he group. l,one deci ded to go back
t o t heir ho=e s bef or e eventually Joi ni ng the regular arcy
and s even ~ent straight into the 9th Colonial Division. We
took t hei r r i f l es away frcm the boys going home - but gave
each =an 3 , 000 francs as something to start on as most of
them had been i n t he mountains for over a year.
Lieutenant Bob and Rafael took the other boys up to
the recruiting center of the 9th Colonial Division in
Lons le Saunier and at the same time gave the 9th as a gift
from the boys all the arms, munitions and explosives we had
VOL. 3
with us.
1172
JULY, ,,00UST, SEPrEl.lBER 1944 WESTERN EUROPE
F-Section, Heckler (Cont'dl.
When the Jed teem arrived all the local "officers"
added a stripe or two to their sleeves. The Jeds were
captains and although they found it rather difficult at
times di r e ct i ng ma jors and colonels, they made a very good
tactful job Of it. ;Yhen Rafael and Hemon arrived, however,
the situation was not so good. They were second lieutenants
and as such it wa~, or would have been, impossible for them
to direct any guerrilla warfare or sabotage activities in
the district. Fortunately the Jeds had taken over the bulk
of the :en in the Haute Loire and were doing, as I say, a
nice job, so Rafael and Hemon took over the corps' francs
for me and whipped them into shape and i~adiately developed
a fine ~sll body of very loyal men. However, they were
terribly at a disadvantage in their dealings, both with the .
Jed t eem and the local officers. Even on the road, our trip
was mad e ui f f i cult by the fact t ~at the officers did not have
h~£her renk. ~ he :rench ~'~iI anc regular ~111tary authori-
ties pl e ce a gr ee t deal of e:phasis - ond rightly so - on
rank and it is hardly normal t hat a lieutenant should direct
the activities of superior officers, and it is doubtful that
when traveling hi s requasts be always honored.
During t he days when everyone was in civilian clothes,
rank did ~ot motter, except to cast a halo around the head
of the agent who could honestly say he was a captain.
Later, when everyone was 1n uniform, it was distinctly un-
fair to send men into the field in responsible positions
without giving them the rank necessary to enable them to
work efficiently, for by not d6ing sO they were given great
VOL. 3 J1lLY, AUGUST, SEPI'ElJBER 1944 WESTERN EUROPE
ll73
F-Section, Heckler (Contldl
responsibility without sUfficient authority. Rafael end
Hemon have done excellent work for me and if I go out again
I want them end no one else to go with me.
Sabotage Activities
The following sabotage activities took place batween
27 July and 12 August:
Bridge blown at Uontagnac, cutting roadLengogne - Le Puy.
Four cuts mada on railroad Langogne Brassac.
Freight train derailed in tunnel atBrassac.
Briege blown on railway between Brioude Le Puy.
Freight train derailed in tunnel at~onistrel d'Allier and 15 meters Of trackblown up behind wrecking train end crew afterit had gone into tunnel to clear up the wreckage.
Tu~el ut Sel i enac rendered impassable byblowing up rails.
Laveute-sur-Loire - railway bridge blown.
'ln1lway bridge wrecked at Cha::lnl1eres andlocomotives driven into gulf below.
Telephone lines Brioude - Le Fuy rendereduseless - lines cut and wires rolled up andtelephone posts cut dovm.
Between Le Fuy and Langeac one auto=dtrailleuse and one lorry of Germen soldiersdestroyed by baZOOka.
Nineteen miliciens arrested and valuabledoc~~ents seized.
German convoy of 12 lorries attacked nearSt. Paulieu last part of July - FFI lost 20killed.
Five German lorries destroyed around 12August near Retournac.
Prisoners Captured
A convoy from Le Puy was trapped between Chamelix and
VOL. :5 JULY, AUGU:3T, SEPrEl.IBER 1944 ~YESTER.'" EUROPE
1174
F-Sec~ion, Heckler (Con~'dl
Pigeyre by bridges blown af~er five days struggle ~o
advance. The convoy. which had los~ ten per cen~ of i~s
effec~ive, su~~endered ~o the FFI of the Loire and Haute
Loire at Estius~eilles in the ~ire. Approximately SOO
wer e ~aken p~isone r - 150 killed - FYI losses negligible.
Le Puy wes occupi e d on 19 August wi t h :50 Germeos
killed, six wounded - FFI, five killed, four wounded.
Decorstions
I was not deco~ated while in the field.
ACTIVITY :lS?ORT OF 2nd LIEUTEXA!;T E3:NRY D. RILEY. !NY.JRlitaeIT
Briefing end Tice S?en~ in the Field
I was bri efed by Ge.p~ain :lrell and ;·:r . Barbor and
given o~ders to harass Ger~6ns at ell opportunities; went
to join Diane in the ~eckler circuit in the Haute Loire.
I lef~ 4 Sep~e~ber 1944 and =y ~ission consisted of
E;uerrills '·; D.~rare e.nd s abot age work in t he Haute Loire.
De~e or e~~ivel in the field - 5 Sept~ber 1944.
Dat e of dep e. ~tur. froe the field - 26 Septenber 1944.
De~e of erriv61 in London - 26 Septeeber 1944.
Ac~ivities in the Field
I wes dropped blind in civilian clo~hes 50 kiloaeters
off the pi n poi nt . I failed to understand this as the
recep~ion co~ittee was on ~he right field as specified by
telegra=s f~o= Di an e to London with Eureka and S-phone.
This ~stake =ust have been cade either by Ur . Barber. who
briefed ee concerning the loca~ion of ~he field, or by a
jumbled telegr~ froe Diane. ~y feeling is that American
crewe do not take ~heir Job seriously enough, or have not
been instructed sufficiently in ~he use of Rebecca-Eureka
VOL. 3 JULY, AUGUST, SEPTEi.lBER 1944 WESTERN EUROPE
U75
F-Section, Heckler (Cont'dt
combination and S-phone. I feel strongly that this should
be taken up in detail with air authorities at Harrington
field as an sgent will have no future confidence 1n
operations carried out in such a careless manner. I think
steel stati c lines should be abolished as they have caused
death and n~erous accidents to · agents.
Upon reachi ng earth ~emon, my partner, and myself
spent the rest of the night picking up personal packages,
three out of five of which we found. As our briefing had
not told us whether Ge~ans wer e about or not, although
Diane had wired some weeks before that the Haute Loire had
been cOmpletely liberated and some 800 Germans taken•
pr i soner , we spent two hours trying to figure out how to
approach farms that we thought were inhabited by Gercens,
f or t he purpos e of seeking infor~ation as to where we were
and w~e re Ger~~u concentration was loc ated. We finally
di s cover ed t het we ~ere i n f riend l y territory and proceeded
by road to our rendezvous in La Ch~bon- sur-Ll gnon . We
c ca t e c t ed :. : ud~e ~uss l e r o r."' t he b l cycLe s hop who s en t f or
Dade , Dis :::l6 ' 5 co u:-i e r . Da de gav e us the inforlJation that
Diane was on 0. t ouc cr inspe cti on but "'Jo ul d be at her house
that a fternoon. Dede arrsnged transportation to the point
where we were dropped in order to try and find the two
packeges which we had lost the night before, but to no avail.
Upon returning with the three packages which we had
hidden the night before, I was introduced to Lieutenant Bob,
and Lieutenant Payot, FTP lieutenant who hed Joined forces
with Lieutenant Bob, who took us to Diane's residence.
Diane was occupied at this point with a sked and we did not
have a chance to talk to her until supper t~e. whereupon
VOL. 3 JULY, AUGUST, SEPrEl.!BER 1944 WESTERN EUROPE
117&
F-Section, Heckler (Cont'dl
we turned over two million francs and messages entrusted
to me. Diane had arranged a meeting between the Jedburgh
team, ~emon and myself the next day. I was rather sur
prised to find that this Jed team consisted of a French and
English captain, as in my briefing Captain Grell specifically
told me that this Jed team was to consist Of non-commissioned
officers and work under my order. Thus Hemon and myself were
distinctly at a disadvantage, not only in dealing with the
Jed team, but with al l contacts during our stay in France,
for in all our meetings we dealt with nothing lower than
captains. I ac not saying this for Hemon and myself as we
got everything that was required of us although it took
unnecessary time as we had to keep hammering at majors and
colonels for anything we wanted, but for agents operating
in the field in the future in other countries who may be
put in a similar disadvantageous position for the accomp
lishcent of t heir mission.
~fte~ ' s uyper t he nisht of our arrival, Diane gave us
a cl ear picture o f the situation us it stood 1n the Haute
Loire, whi ch ~as i~ e very few words: Everything was over.
When I s ay ov er ) I mean that there were no Germans in the•
district. Three battalions had been completely armed by
Diane and under the tactical supervision of the Jed team,
and reception fields had been chosen and reception com-
mittses fully organized. It was clear to Hemon and myself
that we were too late, but we decided on the spot that we
would help Diane in any way possible.
At the meeting with the Jed team the next morning, we
discussed the fact that as tbe Jed team had arrived three
VOL. 3 JULY. AUGUST. SEPI'El.:BER 1944 WESTERN EUROPE
1177
F-Section, Heckler (Cont'd)
weeks earlier than we had and in the meantime had tully
organized three battalions at Le Puy, it was ot little use
for Hemon and myself to intertere.
In order to substantiate this, Hemon and I proceeded
to Le Puy, where we met the r.laQ.uis leader or the Haute
Loire, who, in my opinion, knew nothing ot army tactics.
not even the fundrunental laws governing small unit tighting.
Rather disgusted with the political situation in the Etat
~aj o r at Le Puy, we returned to Le Chembon.
The following dey we went to Lyon in order to obtain
gas for the three battalions that were to :nove up to
~ontlucon. At Lyon I contacted the 540th Engineer Battalion.
the only A~rican detachment in Lyon, but to no avail as the
big gas duop we hed been told was in Lyon was in reality at
Grenoble and el l gas had to be transported by trucks from
Grenoble for the engineers. I then contacted the Maquis
chief of Lyon. who said he didn't have a drop for the
A-ericens, yet the day before 6,000 liters had been used up
by the ??I end ?TP in a street perade t~rough Lyon. I told
hi~ I thought it was a dirty way ~o treat ~~ericans who were
working for his country and the war eftort, to which he
egreed, but he said the trouble was that he didn't have
control over the FFI and seid thet things were getting out
of hand.
Fed up we returned to Le Chambon (near Lignon) via St.
Etienne, where we picked up 40 liters trom patriotic
militia men (not to be confused with "milice"). In the
meantime Diane had mentioned the tact ot going to Alsace,
which idea we fully appreciated and set about planning and
VOL. 3 JULY , AUGUST, SEPl'El.lBl!:R 1944 ,/ESTERN EUROPE
1178
F-Section, Heckl er (Cont'dt
putting this operation into ettect. We deci ded to take a
group ot 16 ~en , chosen trom t he Vi l l onge Uaqu i s who wer e
under Lieutenant Bob, one of Diane's l i eut enan t e . In order
to acco~plis~ th i s mission , I thought that his men s hould
undergo as much smell arms fir i ng and guerrill a tactics as
possible . ",Ie i=ediat e l y set about r iggi ng up targets,
grenade pits , browning machi ne gun t argets and bren pits.
The knowledge of t hese men in regard t o weepons end t heir
use was deplorable, but due to t he fact t hat t hey were
intelli~ent, willing and full ot fight , t hey l ear ned
'l.'!i ckly and soon fo = ed a well kn i t group of fighting men .
~:uch of the credit or th i s goes to Hemon , whos e instruction
in weapons end pa t i ence was a great factor in developing
thes e ~en i n such 0 short ti~e.
',Ie de ci ded to t ake the s even ton gazogene truck and
three pet ro l b~::" ni no cars a s transport. ,,,fter an inventory
~ad been =ade of t he a r=s and f oodstuffs, we found that we
hod 0 co~pletely ~o b il e an d sel f -conta i ned unit. Our heaT,
weapons cocr. is ted 0: a o::"ownlns t hirt y cal i ber ~achlne gun
which I de cided t o ~ount on the cabof the truck . This was
mounted in such n tashion t hat it protected t he front of
the car with a swinG of 180 degrees. It was ins t al l ed in
such a fas hion as to be s t abl e whi l e on the mar ch yet
e a s 1 1y r~oYad rro~ t he ca b or the truck 1n CQs e or nead.
Cur other heavy weapons cons i sted or two brans, one ot
which ,rotected t he back of the truCk , end the other was
placed t hroueh the ''ilndshl el d or cur reconnaissance car.
All seall weapons ~ere pr es ent s uch as springfield rifles,
forty-five s, s t ens , carbines, and grenades, plus 50 pounds
of explosives and co~plete demolition kit.
VOL. 3 JULY, AUGUST. SEPrEl.lBER 1944 ;\"ESTERN EUROPE
1179
a?peared to have no kpowledge of ~ro cedu=e and failed to
contact ~e clecr;y, ~erely saying t uat he could not see our
liGhts , ~hich c on~isted o~ t~re e hU56 euto~obile headlights
ziount. ed on o !::. tteri e s J .f l e x l bl a and e.rrc.nged in the .r i gh t
pos i t i on .
In orde r :'or t he operat i on to be su c c e s s f ul , I ordered
bonfires t o be lit, and caterial was droppad in good
condition except for one containar. The body was dropped
sl~ulteneouslv with the containers instead or on a separate•
run. Again I feel that there is no excuse for this care-
lessness, es the plene had plenty of time to make a second
run for there was no interference in the area. The next
morning Diunc and :lyself made an inventory of the cant'ants
of the drop. a procedure-which Diane had evidently done in
the past for she seemed to know the types, amount and
VOL. 3 JULY, AUGUST, SEPrEMBER 1944 WESTERN EUROPE
1180
F-Section. Heckler (Cont'd),
condition at ell a~ in her possession. We lett the
morning at 13 Septel!lber tor :!ont l ucon vie. Clermont Ferrand,
in accordance wi th inst r uct i ons tram headquarters. We
stopped at Le Fuy i n order to pick up toad that belonged
to our group and sO t hat Diane could make a tiDal settle
cent wi th her treas urer. As we were not in eneoy territory,
we had no tear ot attack in travel and used the tollowing
ro~tion: r na car s in tront, the truck and one car bring
ing up the r ear. As we wished to proceed as tast as possible
we spent the ni~~t in a hot el at Clermont Ferrand. arranga
cents tor wh i ch had been cade by the Delegue Militaire
Regional and I sother.ne, who were contactad aarly in the
evening by Diana and Hemon. Diane had also arranged a
rendezvous between Isotharme, the Delegue L:11itaire
Ragional and me the next morning.
During the journey I traveled in the truck aa I talt
that I would lear n to ,~ow the men better. The purpose ot
ttl s =ee t : n~ ~i~h Isothe.~e t ~e followinG ~ornlns was to
secure wood fo r the truck and oi l eca bas to r t he cars.
whlch ! had tried t o se cur e at Le ruy.
At t he c eetlng wi th rsotherce at C1a~ont-Ferrand.
he t ole us t~at t~ere was no use 1n going to ~ontlucon
and advi s ed that we go to Bourg to contact SFU-4. Isotherl!le
gave us all suppl l es needad to conginua t o Bourg, whereupon
we proceeded t o Bourg via Roanne whara wa spent tha night.
On the way . at ::ol r et abl e , we >:ar e told that a band at
0111clens were sl t uat ed ln the hl11s on tha 'road to Roanne,
Whereupon all ar--s wer e loaded end a plan evolved in case
at attack. The reconnaissance car armed with brens and
stens precedsd the trucks at a distance at helt a mile, the
VOL. 3 JULY, AUGUST, SEPTEL:BER 1944 WESTERN EUROPE
1181
F-Section, Heckler (Cont'dJ.
other two cars ~~re spaced at intervals between the truck
end the reconnaissance car end the plan of attack for the
truck was as follows: Under no circumstances was the
truck to stop unles s forced to do so by a road barricade.
As I was with the dr i ver of the truck he would have been
able to follow ~y orders. As the truck was fully loaded
to 12 tons and of gi gant i c proportion, I felt sure we
could break through any barricade unless made of steel or
stone. If the truck was forced to stop and I got out,
this was the signal for riflemen on the right side of the
truck t o take cover on the right side of the road, pro
tected by the 30 caliber machine gun. These riflemen
would in turn protect the machine gun crew until it reached
safety of cover on the right side of the road. The pro
cedure wes the s~e with the left s i de of the truck which
was prot e ct ed by t h e bren gun . :.:uch to our regret, we
pull ed i :1t o ~o~:.~e ..·..1 ~hout !levin; me t any enemy - and in
t:l'7C f or dinn er.
',Ie proc eeded t he fallowins zaor n Lng to Bourg and
arrived ther e a t lunch time I ','JI:ereupon, after securing a
building f or the -e"...... , we proceeded to contact Colonel
Kincaid or the CBS in order to find out the exact situation
concerning the Ger man pockets in the neighborhood. Colonel
Kincaid edvised us to contact Seventh Army headquarters at
Lons-la-Saunier. Diane, Hemon and myself proceeded to
Seventh ~~y head~uarters, where we were informed that we
should contact Colonel Gamble at Demblans. He informed
us that he dealt merely with the SI branch and that we
should go over to Arly end see his friend Colonel William
w(J-I-oZ-'0(
~0(a:c:z:I--~
ACCESS RESTRICTED
Item No. 277 1 Date _
Now filed in CIA Job No. 79-00332A
has been withdrawn from this file:
Job No.
Box No. _
Folder No.
The item has been withdrawn because it contains- security classified
information or otherwise restricted informalion.
National Security Act ot 19~7
Authority
1947
Date
,/j 3 ~ () I • I ' ~ 1) / , I,{' Y;, ,, · Z.
. . ", 1, . ;..... jj //t
/~::-" C
..., -,OF {3oc "<
I /~' !:J t' .( H I /( t;IJ ,<c
' 011. ... 4084I ' .11
VOL. 3 .roLY, AUGUST, SEPTEMBER 1944 WESTERN EUROPE
1183
..-Section, Heckler (Gont'dl.
protection on the way home. The men entering the 9th
Colonial Division were given rifles, fighting knite, torty
five, and all personal equipment needed for army lite, plus
the required ~~cunt of ammunition per weapon. As for the
brans and t he ~chlne ·suns. grenades, explosives and
demolition kit, they were handed over to the 9th Colonial
Division along with the boys. A receipt for all these
weapons was turr.ed ov er to Diane.
On 21 September Lieutenant Bob and I conducted to Lons
le-Saunier the boys who wished to enter the 9th Colonial
Division s~d hended them over; the others left for the
Foaute Loire, while the rest of us headed for Paris and
arrived there the night of 22 September.
Diane end I returned to London on 26 September 1944.
ACTIVITY REFORT OF 2nd LIEUTSllAl·rr PAUL GOILLOT, AUS. (Hemonl.
Briefing and ?i~e S~ent in the Field
" e wer e very sket chi l y briefed and departed f or the
field on 4: .3 ept e::~b e r . Cur mi ss i on consisted o f guerrilla
\';erfare and ~erassln(; the Ger:aans z.n ~he Haute Loire. ~'/e
were r.ot t o l d t hat the F.aute Loire had bean complately
liber~ted before our departure.
Date of arrival in the field - ~orning of 5 September.
Departure fr om the field - 1 October 1944.
Arrivel in London - 1 October 1944.
Reoort of Activities•
We wer e dro?ped blind, some 30 kilometers oft the real
field and I was told that we were dropping in an eight mils
wind. In reality we dropped in a 25 mile wind which carried
us smartly right over the field into the woods. We dropped,
VOL. :5 JULY , AUGUST, 5EPru:BER 1944 ','/ESTERN EUROPE
1164
F-Sect ion , Heckler (Cont ' d l
Rata! and ~yselt and three packages, wi t h the understanding
that it we arri ved sately we would t l a sh a signal to the
pi l ot and he would dr op out the rest ot the packages. Both
ot us were hung up i n trees ~d took about 15 minutes
un t angling oursel ves . ;;e tound the three packages dropped
wi th us but did not l ook tor any core, t or the signal which
WQS to scknowledge our saf e arrival WQS never given.
In the ear l y corning we ~de our way through supposed
~e~en o c c u~ l ed country to Le Ch~~bon sur Llgnon where we
had a post box tor Di ane . " 'e,. cont a ct ed Diane i n the atter-
~oon J ~f : e~ ~l ~e edy ~av lnG f ound out that there were no
Ger:nns in the ;:eut. e Lo l =e ! ~'{ e saw t he Jeds the next day.
I ~!1d u.."l..ie rs too c. t 11e.t t he Jed tea.":1 consisted or non-
cc~~ lss 1onec. off icers ',';no 'aere t o work under Rafael and
wa s very ~uc h s ur~r is ed t o fi~d a British Bnd a French
captain. In f ece, t~e s i tuat ion WQ S not at all as pictured
to us in ~cr:.::!c:l .
' " "' Co l "of' ~ ...fe .. _ ..e ... .. 0 t he :ec t ~~ end f ound that it would be
!1L~o ~ t ~ro ~ si b: e t or U~ t o ~o rk togethe r 1n any way .
~o~evo~, ~~ey as~ed :f ~e ned e~y.way or get t i ng gasol i ne
as t hey ~nd ~o~ed ~ hrae battal ions of 1,500 men and as
t hey wio hed this group t o ~ e hi ghl y ~obile they were sorely
in need of fuel f or the i r cars. ae said t hat we had no
way ot ge ~ti~g oas but t hat we wer e wi l l i ng to try, and at
t heir ougg es t i on end request lett the next day tor Lyon by
car ~o ~ee i f we could contact the ~~eric8ns t here and
obtain s oce gas. In ot he r words we were taken in1 OUr trip
was not successful. Upon arriving at Lyon we round that
the gas depot was i n Gre~oble l 50 we returned to Haute
Loire atter a cost cocplicated and ditticult trip , obtaining
VOL. 3 JULY, AUGUST, SEPT:'::.:BER 1944 WESTERN EOROPB
1185
F-Sect1on, Heckler (Cont'dl.
a little gas in St. Etienne froe the eilice patriotique.
On arriving we heard froe Diane that another officer - a
:rench:an - was coeing out and that she should wait for
hi~. 3he had also been told to report either to Paris or
to Eubert at ~ontlucon. ~hile waitL~g for the Frenchman
we spent the deys trainin~ the ~en and giving thee fire
?ractice and =aking co~plete inventory of arons, explosives
and food stuffs, as t he plan had been cade to proceed to
:.=ontlucon w1t h t :'e co rps fre.:lcs or sene 16 :en. The
del i very was del ayed several days. ~he cen had tactical
training in case of ~bush and successful fire practice.
TO t he best ot ou= belle~ and kn~~ledge. these men were
well trained and could have given good account of the~-
selves on any occasion. "e departed, fully equipped as to
e.r~, =~~1t~ons ~~C e~plos1vesJ and ~1th rstlons enough to
carry us on ~O~ o~e~ a wee~.
·,/e ·e- c-- ~ ·: ~ ~ - ~ e -op~ ~_·- ~ - ~ ~ ~ ~ .~ ~.. - -.._..~ of 13 3e;te=be~, passed
", 0 ," e -- - e--o"'d'-' - ..- -: -- .......
,.- t~··_..~ ...._.. ~ e hOu1 ~ t~r to ~~renge slee?in; ;uarters for the
=on. ~t Cle~ont -Ferrand we :et Isothe~e and Colonel
~07en~e w~o ~ecelved us ~ost cordially aod =ado all arrange-
=ents for sleeping quar t er s for officers and troops in the
s~e hotel wi t h the~, and even arranged for police pro
tection f or our cars and equipcent. The next corning
Rafael, Diane and I saw Colonel ~oyenne and Isotherme in
his office. They advised us not to go to ~ontlucon but to
Bourg to contact t he Seventh Army. They gave us gas and
wood for the car to facilitate our Journey. We proceeded
VOL. 3 JULY , .W:JUST . SEPrEl.lBER 1944 WESTERN EUROPE
1186
"'eof
F-5ection, Heckler (Conttd!.
to Bourg via ~ORnne where we had to spend the night. At
Bourg we went to the FFI headquar t er s f or billets for tha
~en . The FFI wer e very uncooperative end almost ho st ile .
final ly fo~~e .. do~itory i n a convent for the men.
Then J iane , ~afael and I left for Lons-le-Saunier
t o contect the Sevent h A~y headquarters. There we were
tole to contact Col onel Ga~bl e at Domblans 1n the Jura.
:1e went to Colo!:el Genbl e and he s ent us t o 5FU-4. 5FU- 4
seemed very int erested in our pr opos al t o go into the
Vosges as a 5~oUP for ~bush work and intelligence. but
final l y the ~ission was t urned down .
~e the~ h~d a ~~etln5 of the offi cer s and Diane and
decided to disbend t he br ouP we ha d end give them the
c~oice of ~ oi~i~C t~e re~uler Fren ch A~y or returning
ho rae to t h e ;-':aute :"oi~e. ~he o!"f'1cers woul d t hen p r oceed
t o ? er i s ~nu r e~or~ : 0 OS$ tecdquarters ther e . ~e dis banded
' h.:o - •." ..."" .- - . ~:o~~ ~~ l~ of t~ a~ : oi~e d t h e 9t h Col on i al
D1\'isio" - ;" I'!: ... - .. "' .. .. .. "" ... -- ... ... '- n ' ~ •.,,,, ", ' ba ck "0......._. " ,...... .. .. the "aut e Loire .
',;a t ook (\_r.::.s , ~- .., e .nP:l - e u l - to the !'!au te Loire_ ,: - •.... _. .. "6
e nd gave el l ~he ~~~unlt lon ~nd a~s J brow nings and brans
~o the ' t h J1vision with the boys who were Joi ni ng up.
The four of f icers and ~1ane dep a rted fo r Paris a nd I
ret urned ~o Loneon on 1 Octobe r 1944