Three and a half tonnes of flour destined for German Army taken from broken-down lorry at Crup: flour distributed to friendly bakers to provide bread for hungry population. Training and live shooting for recruits organised by English Corporal Owen Williams and CSM Leslie Jones of SAS. Coast protection sloop belonging to German Customs at Royan attacked by grenades while patrolling off Pauillac: six Germans killed; sloop sunk. German lorry attacked near Pas des Fenêtres: two Germans killed, four wounded. Another German convoy attacked near Mirambeau: four Germans, including an officer, lulled – several wounded. German convoy attacked on RN 137 near Plaine Selve: one lorry destroyed, two Germans killed. German truck attacked on RN 730 near St Cier du Taillon: seven Germans killed, two wounded. Telephone communications destroyed over 400 yards between Paris and Pons. (D 32 road). All telephone wires cut over 330 yards on RN 137. Two-hour attack at Murettes Fonceaux on RN 137 near Bellore: German car destroyed; one German killed, two wounded in first attack; one German killed, two wounded in second attack; one side-car destroyed in third attack; two lorries destroyed, four Germans killed, several wounded in fourth attack. Telephone communications and posts destroyed between Plassac and Pons. HT pylon destroyed at St Cier du Taillon. Bordeaux–Saintes railway line cut for twenty-four hours. On RN 10 near Haut-Lieu, four Germans killed. One of our men wounded. On D 30 all telephone communications destroyed over 300 yards. Todt organisation material captured, including railway trucks, levellers and rails. On D 32 telephone communications destroyed over 200 yards: posts cut down. On RN 137, four attacks on German convoys, seven Germans killed, over ten wounded. Communications completely severed between Plassac and Pons. HT pylon destroyed at St Cier du Taillon. Bordeaux–Saintes railway cut at Carignac: traffic stopped for twenty-four hours. RN 10. German car attacked near Montlieu; four Germans killed, one member of our group wounded. A traitor P, who was responsible for the death by torture of two French men, was executed. Seven men and two cars patrolling road attacked strongly armoured German lorry. Patrols on RN 130 stopped vehicles going to Saintes in compliance with German requisition orders. Attack on watch-post at Coux. Telephone lines between Jonzac, Mirambeau, St Genes, St Fort and Mortange–viz all German circuits in the area destroyed by 4men. Telephone lines at St Thomas de Cognac, cutting all contact with Lorignac watch-post (repeated twice after repairs), two watch-posts destroyed by ten men at St Thomas de Cognac. German convoy attacked on D 2: two Germans killed, two wounded, German car made unserviceable. No French loss. German refuelling and munition truck attacked on D 2: five Germans killed, one wounded; no French loss.
Town of Montendre occupied: field gun and shells captured. Patrols made in forests of Bussac, Bédenac and Chatenet. Search for fleeing Germans in the forests: twenty-seven men captured. On Royan–Paris line 100 yards of rail destroyed: traffic stopped for twenty-four hours. Telephone wires cut on RN 137 on Jonzac road: German signs obliterated. Sabotage of track between Royan and Pons: results unknown. Telephone lines at watch-post at Souban-Mirambeau destroyed by three men.
Dédé le Basque (André Bouillard) with thirteen men attacked German convoy consisting of armoured cars, tracked vehicles and trucks. German force consisted of 435 men: action took place near Montendre, and lasted four hours; two armoured cars, sixteen trucks destroyed; Germans lost more than sixty men. André Bouillard, the head of the group, was killed and three men wounded. Germans were prevented from reinforcing their positions.
‘FERNAND’ GROUP
Two German lorries attacked: six Germans killed, five wounded. No French loss.
‘PIERRE DE MÉRIGNAC’ GROUP
Railway line blown at Arlac, and electric cables destroyed.
‘GEORGE’ GROUP
Round Bordeaux sixteen HT pylons blown up. Transformer in St Jean railway station destroyed. Three transformers at Pessac power-station blown up. Ten ammunition trucks sabotaged north of Bordeaux: five Germans killed. Six ammunition trucks sabotaged in Pessac station. German train attacked and sabotaged at Béliet; engine made unserviceable. Four 90,000 volt pylons blown up at Hosteins.
German car attacked on Bayonne road: officer killed: we lost one man killed. Unsuccessful attempt to sabotage Medoquine power-house. HT pylon sabotaged near Léognan: road blocked for two hours. German lorry blown up in front of Bordeaux Stock Exchange. Two Germans killed at Gravières. German lorry containing requisitioned bicycles blown up at Carbon Blanc: German guard killed.
Lorry trailer containing two aircraft engines, propellers and 100 litres of petrol set on fire. Tracked vehicle containing two machine-guns and petrol blown up in front of German HQ at Bordeaux. Two Germans killed at level crossing at Marcheprime: unfortunately the crossing-keeper was shot accidentally. Ammunition seized from German depot: one German soldier taken prisoner.
‘ARCACHON’ GROUP
German stores seized at Ychoux. Six pylons sabotaged between Ychoux and Lugos. German train derailed between Labouheyre and Ychoux. Numerous Germans killed and wounded. Track blown up during passage of train near Ychoux. Engine and five trucks derailed.
‘LEON DES LANDES’ GROUP
Three pylons blown up at St Paul les Dax near main transformer.
HT line blown up near Sauveterre de Béarn: three pylons brought down. Four pylons brought down at St Paul les Dax: traffic stopped completely. Near Mauléon, two pylons toppled into a ravine.
At Rivehaute three pylons, at Chéraute two, at Rivehaute two destroyed by explosives.
Underground cables Dax–Bordeaux blown up at St Paul les Dax, cutting telephone communication with Iberian Peninsula. German train blown up between Orthez and Baigts de Béarn: electric loco rendered unserviceable; five trucks derailed across track, traffic stopped. Train carrying heavy artillery blown up at Buglose: engine unserviceable, train stopped; traffic interrupted. Alas, trains don’t go more than 12 miles per hour and it is difficult to bust everything up.
German military train blown up at Caudos; traffic paralysed. Train heavily laden with artillery blown up at Tarnos: engine overturned, numerous trucks blown to smithereens, traffic stopped for several days. A fifth train blown up. Sabotage of small metal bridge on Bayonne–Dax only partially successful at first attempt, completed at second.
Underground cables between Dax and Bordeaux, Toulouse and Bayonne blown up. All telephone communications in south-western France suspended. All HT cables in south-western France out of action: only steam trains can run. Sabotage kept on permanent twenty-four hour round the clock basis. All trains are blown up and traffic on railways is at a standstill. German troops are confined and requisition bicycles, horse-carts, wheelbarrows and try to flee: road attacks cost them dear: morale is very low; there is confusion in the ranks. Indescribable disorder reigns. The retreat resembles a rout of a band of gypsies rather than a withdrawal of troops.
Train towing 50 tonne crane, sent to lift previously sabotaged supply train, blown up: crane brought down across the track with numerous trucks; service completely stopped. On Bordeaux–Dax line a trainload of German railwaymen trying to escape and to get through despite the cost was blown up with great loss of life to the Germans (between Dax and Laluque). Military train blown up on Dax–Bayonne line. Pylons destroyed with result that traffic stopped for ten days. Underground cable cut as far as La Rochelle, in one direction, Spain in the other. All overhead circuits in south-west cut on 14 August and again on 18 August, as well as all HT lines: more than fifty pylons destroyed. No rail traffic in whole of south-western France. A German attempt to send an armoured train resulted in the latter being blown up with a record amount of PE. On 16 August another German attempt proved vain and contents of supply train were seized.
Group passes to open warfare in uniform on 20 August; 700 French attack German garrison at Mont-de-Marsan. The enemy, believing a full attack to be imminent retires precipitately without ‘scorching the earth’: much petrol abandoned: a seven hour fight with German reinforcements ensued; Germans had 1000 men engaged: they withdrew, leaving behind two f
ield-guns, ten cars and a tanker containing 36,000 litres of petrol and a repair-shop lorry. One of our mortar shells scored a direct hit on a German ammunition truck which blew up, causing Germans heavy losses. Five Frenchmen and British Captain Mellows were assassinated by the Germans.
23 August. We attack Dax: violent fighting; fifteen German vehicles destroyed, fifty German prisoners taken. At the same time, we attack Germans at Soustens, St Vincent de Tirosse and Bayonne, inflicting heavy losses and capturing ten tanks, twenty tracked vehicles, many field-guns and stores. Enemy in complete confusion – Germans at Bayonne, Hendaye and St Jean de Luz surrender without a fight.
ALL GROUPS
The Germans, having abandoned the whole of south-western France to the south of Bordeaux, withdrew on Bordeaux. I decided, in agreement with the Commissaire de la République, Monsieur Cusin, to give them an ultimatum, in order to save the port installations of Bordeaux. The Germans with thirty to 35,000 men are confined within the town, surrounded on all sides. They occupy the submarine base, guns are trained on the town from the heights round it. The ultimatum signed by the Commissaire de la République and the British Military Delegate, postulates unconditional surrender. On 17 August Germans announced provisional acceptance and promised not to ‘scorch the earth’. French and British order population to remain calm (signed Triangle and Aristide (Major Landes)). Germans evacuate Bordeaux towards Libourne. They are attacked north of Bordeaux and lose many prisoners. Those at Soulhac and Royan are blockaded and retire to fortifications, whence we are not strong enough in arms to dislodge them. On 1–2 September 1,500 Germans armed with mortars attack near Lesparre, but after French counter-attack retire to Soulhac. A German sloop bombards Bordeaux. Our groups clean up the area of Blayes. On 6–7 September 600 Germans attack Mortange but are dislodged by French. Germans are still holding Gironde estuary.†
† NB: They held this territory until opening of 1945. – Ed.
Appendix 2
This list of all the agents known to have worked under Buckmaster has been compiled by David Harrison, who is a researcher specialising in the SOE French section. The list only includes those working under F Section direction who received SOE training in the UK before being sent into France or, if recruited locally in the field, were granted a commission. It should be noted that the names and details are not necessarily complete and that other names may yet emerge as new files are added to the National Archives at Kew.
Index
Agazarian, Jack Charles Stanmore (Marcel) 1
Aimé, Jean 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Alexandre 1
Anjou, Madame 1
Antelme, Joseph (Antoine) 1
Arpiège, Monsieur 1
Atkins, Vera 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Audubon de Charbonnier, Monsieur 1
de St Genies, Marie Joseph Gonzagues (Lucien) 1
Schwartz, Colonel 1
Second World War (1939–45) 1 20 July Plot (1944) 1
Battle of Dakar (1940) 1
Battle of Dunkirk (1940) 1, 2
belligerents of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Fall of France (1940) 1, 2
Normandy landings (D-Day) (1944) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15
Ravensbrück 1
Secret Intelligence Service 1, 2, 3
Smee, Colonel 1
Socialist Party 1
Southgate, Maurice (Hector) 1, 2
Soviet Union (USSR) 1, 2, 3, 4
Spain 1, 2, 3 Barcelona 1
borders of 1, 2, 3
Civil War (1936–9) 1, 2, 3
Figueras 1
government of 1
Madrid 1
Portbou 1
Special Operations Executive (SOE) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 Belgian Section 1
French Section 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Head Office 1
Starr, George (Hilaire) 1, 2, 3, 4
Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) 1, 2, 3, 4
Suttill, Major Francis (Prosper) 1, 2, 3
Switzerland 1 borders of 1
Sainte-Croix 1
Szabo, Violette 1, 2, 3
Cambridge University St Peter’s College 1
Cammaerts, Francis (Colonel Roger) 1
Canada 1
Canaris, Admiral Wilhelm 1
Carre, Monsieur 1
Chaperon, Martial 1
Churchill, Peter (Raoul) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11
Churchill, Winston 1, 2, 3
Clément 1, 2, 3, 4
Corbin, Charles 1, 2
Cornioley, Pearl 1
Cowburn, Ben (Benoit) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Culioli, Pierre 1
Eisenhower, Dwight 1, 2, 3
Farmer, John (Hubert) 1
First World War (1914–18) 1
Foot, M. R. D. SOE in France 1
Ford Motor Company 1, 2, 3
Fragonard (Le Chef) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
France 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 Ain 1, 2
Annecy 1
Antibes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Ardennes 1
Belin 1
Bergerac 1, 2
Besançon 1, 2, 3, 4
Blois 1
Bordeaux 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13
Calais 1
Cambrai 1, 2, 3
Chartres 1
Chateauroux 1
Clermont-Ferrand 1, 2, 3, 4
Corrèze 1
Côte d’Azur (Riviera) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Creuse 1
Dijon 1
Dordogne 1, 2
Douai 1
Dunkirk 1
Gironde 1
government of 1
Grenoble 1
Jura 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Le Havre 1, 2
Le Mans 1, 2
Lille 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
Loire 1
Lyons 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Marseilles 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
Massif Central 1, 2, 3
Meaux 1, 2, 3
Moret 1
Narbonne 1
Nevers 1
Nice 1
Normandy 1
Orléans 1
Paris 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22
Pau 1
Perpignan 1
Provence 1
Pyrénées 1, 2
Rennes 1
Roquefort 1
Rouen 1, 2
St Jean de Losne 1
St Tropez 1
St Quentin 1, 2
Saone et Loire 1
Seine, River 1, 2
Toulon 1
Tours 1
Troyes 1, 2, 3
Franck, Thomas 1
Frédéric 1
Free French 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
French Foreign Legion 1
French Resistance 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 Maquis/Maquisards 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14
members of 1
Réseaux 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26
Fuller, Jean Overton 1
Hambro, Sir Charles 1, 2
Harrison, David 1
Herbisse, Monsieur 1
Hervé 1
Heslop, Richard (Xavier) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
Hitler, Adolf 1, 2
Hoare, Sir Samuel 1
Huot, Major 1
Igor, Monsieur 1
Intelligence Corps 1, 2
Inayat Khan, Noor (Madeline) 1, 2, 3
Italy Turin 1
Jouas, Colonel 1
Judaism 1
Jules 1
Juller, George (Maxime) 1
Landes, Roger (Aristide) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13
Legros, Monsieur 1, 2
Leroux, Max 1, 2, 3, 4
Lév
y, Doctor 1, 2, 3
Libya 1
Liewer, Philippe 1
Low, Nigel 1, 2
Maingard, Amédée 1, 2
Malin, Monsieur 1
Maloubier 1
Maquis 1
Marc 1
Marks, Leo 1 From Silk to Cyanide 1
Morel 1
Morgan, Harry 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15
Nearne, Eileen 1
Nearne, Jacqueline 1, 2
Netherlands Holland 1
Newton, Henry George Rodolfo (Auguste) 1
Nicholas, Elizabeth 1
Noble, George 1
Norman, Gilbert (Archambaud) 1, 2, 3, 4
Nornable, Gordon 1
Nulli, Monsieur 1, 2
Palestine Express 1
Parker, Dr Geoffrey (Parsifal) 1
Paul 1
Peugeot, Robert 1, 2
Peulevé, Harry 1, 2, 3, 4
Poirier, Gustave 1
Portugal Lisbon 1
Poulain, Jacques 1
Raczynski, Stanislaw 1
Rake, Denis 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
Raymond 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
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