While Alain waited in the forest, he started thinking about how to get the OSS money back to Paris. He couldn’t risk the possibility of capture and the dollars being confiscated – the money was essential to their operation. It would be safer for a woman to travel with the money; Andrée was the perfect candidate for the job.
Eventually Marie returned to collect him; as they walked the few kilometres back to the château, he saw the building’s lights in the distance and his confidence returned. He would be safe here.
Marie went ahead, leaving Alain to walk alone up the small drive to the manor house. He stopped outside the chapel and prayed that God would protect him, the Labbés and the Basque people who had helped him over the last twenty-four hours. On his arrival, Monsieur Flandé left to pick up the parachute. Alain asked him to destroy it immediately in case the château was searched.*
Alain was anxious to see Madame Labbé. He had wrestled with the question of how to tell her that her son Paul, his close friend, had been killed in Morocco. But the look on her face as she greeted him said it all; she knew already and she held him tightly without speaking, before abruptly changing her manner. Things were likely to turn dangerous in the morning as the Germans would surely come to ask questions about the plane. Alain was to stay in the attic until arrangements had been made to get him back to Paris.
Marie took Alain up into one of the main bedrooms. Behind a cupboard, a door led to a smaller room, which had once been used for ladies’ maids or mistresses. Alain was allowed a warm bath and a new set of clothes before he went into the smaller room. Inside, a panelled door in the wall pushed open to let him climb a cobweb-ridden staircase up to a dark attic room that no one had used for years. It was to be his home for the next week while plans were made to get him back to Paris.
Andrée was due to travel to Orthez shortly, bringing the latest batch of intelligence from Orion’s agents. Emile Flandé, the local town hall secretary, would arrange its transfer to Hendaye by Jean Elisalt and then on to Bilbao by Henri Etchepare – both reliable and patriotic locals. If Andrée missed her train connection she would bring the ‘post’ directly to Orion, although it was, everyone knew, safer for it to be left in Orthez.
Meanwhile there was the question of how to get Alain to Paris. In Algiers, OSS had supplied him with a new identity and matching ID card, but when Émile showed it to a local police officer, who was a member of the Resistance, the officer laughed and told him that the card had been so badly forged that it would barely get Alain beyond Salies-de-Béarn. A new ID card was made up. Alain adopted the identity of Adolphe Lambezat, the son of a local peasant, on the understanding that once in Paris he would destroy the card immediately and adopt a new name: Alain de Courcy de Brayance. He didn’t want to risk being connected to his family in case anything should happen to them if he were to be picked up. Gandy refers to Alain staying with friends on his return to Paris, as part of his plan to protect his family and ensure his own safety.
New card in hand, Alain prepared to leave Orion. He was taken in the château’s horse and cart to Salies-de-Béarn, where he caught the bus to Pau, then boarded a train for Toulouse and ultimately on to Bordeaux. There were lots of German soldiers milling around that morning but he stayed calm. His new ID card was credible and, as he later told me, his OSS training and the money he had gave him confidence that he could defend himself if needed.
Alain and Madame Labbé had discussed how best to transport their new funds back to the capital and had decided the safest plan was for Alain to meet Andrée in Bordeaux, where he could pass on to her some of the money. They did not want to risk either Alain or Andrée carrying the full amount at any one time. If either of them were to be stopped, they could lose everything. It would mean further trips and subsequently more danger, but Alain was confident his sister would not flinch at the task she was to be asked to take on.
* Louis d’or coins were minted around 1793, when Louis XVI of France was still alive. As such they went on to be collectors’ items. The French often referred to twenty-franc gold coins as Louis d’or, although technically they were not the same coins. Millions of twenty-franc gold coins were put into circulation between 1871 and 1940 and it is believed it was some of these that the OSS gave Alain to enable him to pay for intelligence, to bribe collaborators and for his expenses, rather than original Louis d’or coins as described by Andrée. Years later, in the 1970s, Yvonne Griotteray still kept a substantial part of her wealth in gold coins in her flat in Paris.
† The suit was Yves de Kermoal’s idea; his reasoning was that if Alain should be picked up by the Wehrmacht wearing an expensive Parisian suit, no one would think he had come from North Africa.
* In 2010, when I visited the Château d’Orion, the current Madame Labbé told me all about the suitcase lock snapping and Alain having to collect up the notes, which were scattered all over the ground.
† The name of the house was Tambouri d’Andrein.
‡ ‘Moun Diou! Moussu Alain!’ – in her native Basque.
* Forty-five years later, at a memorial reunion held at the château, Alain was shocked but amused to be formally presented with the parachute as a gift. Marie Flandé told him she had not obeyed his instructions because she wanted to keep it as a souvenir.
21
Gold
As the clock chimed six, Andrée left her office. She had had a difficult and tiring day and was eager to leave work on time. Pedalling home along the banks of the Seine, she passed the Louvre and thought how much she wanted to go in and enjoy some of the greatest paintings in the world. Sadly she was only too aware that its treasures, including ‘La Joconde’ (the Mona Lisa), had been packed up at the beginning of the war and sent out of Paris.*
Andrée carried on cycling and arrived home a little while later, storing her bicycle in the courtyard near the concierge’s office. She stopped to collect the post and recognised, to her surprise, a note addressed to her in handwriting she recognised. She hurried upstairs; it was safer to open it in the privacy of her home. In coded language, the letter asked her to come as soon as possible to the rue de Bourgogne.
Changing into a casual pair of trousers and a sweater, she told her mother that she had to go out immediately to meet friends who lived on the Left Bank. Yvonne had wanted a family dinner that evening and sensed that something was going on for Andrée to be rushing out so quickly. She was therefore not pleased but, before she could object, Andrée was out of the flat, making her way across the river and towards François de Rochefort’s flat.
Running up the stairs two at a time she was surprised to find the door to the flat slightly ajar. As she walked in, she found François de Rochefort sitting comfortably in an armchair and enjoying a bottle of 1926 Bordeaux. Andrée knew how angry her mother would be if she was not back in time for dinner and demanded to know what was so important that he had summoned her so openly. She was given a small envelope containing some money, indicating that she was to go a hotel in Bordeaux where she would receive instructions from someone who would know how to find her. After checking the money, Andrée left, telling him she would let him know the following day whether she could get permission to travel and, if so, when. A few days later, documents in hand, she was ready to go. She packed lightly, assuming she would be picking up reports to be brought back to the rue de Bourgogne.
With ad hoc Nazi searches on travelling civilians increasing daily, Edmond and Yvonne were not happy as they watched their daughter prepare for her trip to Bordeaux. Alain had been gone for almost a year without direct contact or confirmation of his safety, and they didn’t know the full reasons for Andrée’s trip. Edmond insisted on accompanying her to the station, early in the morning. As usual it was over an hour late in leaving and full of soldiers, but Andrée felt relatively safe, knowing she wasn’t carrying anything incriminating at this point. She never knew much about her trips to ensure that if she was picked up, she would not be able to disclose much sensitive information.
Once the train arrived at Bordeaux, Andrée moved with the other passengers down the platform, doing her utmost to blend in and avoid drawing attention to herself. She had spent some time examining a map of the town before leaving Paris, so that she would know where she was going once she left the station. She took a bus to the hotel, where a room had been booked in her name. The concierge greeted her formally, and after speaking to the reception clerk she was promptly shown to her room. Safely settled, she changed into a simple dress before returning downstairs to the main salon, where she ordered a glass of wine. For over an hour she waited, wondering who was going to meet her. The clock on the mantelpiece chimed every fifteen minutes. She knew she needed to look at ease and relaxed and had brought a Maigret story with her so that she could read while she waited, hopefully allowing her contact to find her without drawing attention to herself. Suddenly – unbelievably – she thought she heard the sound of her brother’s voice. She almost jumped up in shock, but managed to keep her composure. She sat for a few moments observing her surroundings, then got up and walked to the main desk of the hotel. There stood Alain, checking in at reception. She felt a rush of emotion; here was her brother whom she had not seen since February 1943. Neither she nor her parents had had any news about him in over a year, yet now he was here, safe and well and almost at touching distance.
She managed to stay in control of her emotions. Alain turned as she approached; formally and without a trace of emotion, he shook her by the hand and told her quietly that they should meet in his room as soon as she was ready. Using the name he was travelling under, Adolphe Lambezat, he was confident no one would identify them as brother and sister. Once they met in the safety of his room they hugged each other tightly and began to catch up on all that had happened over the last year.
Meeting up in public places was not without its risks but, as Alain explained, it was unavoidable this time. He told his sister about the money he had received from the OSS, and how he needed her help to get the funds to Paris safely. Most of the dollars were still at the château, but he had some of the coins with him now to pass on to her; she would need to make several later trips to Orion to collect the rest over time. Andrée was worried. She knew the risks involved and the responsibility for carrying Orion’s money felt like a big weight on her young shoulders, even though she always wanted to help her brother. She told Alain she needed some time to think. In the end, it was well past three o’clock in the morning before they finally went to bed.
The following day, after breakfast, they went for a walk, hoping a short stroll in the fresh air would do them good. As they wandered past a lingerie shop, Andrée stopped and stared at the window display, with its array of mannequins wearing girdles. Alain was restless but Andrée smiled to herself and told him she had the answer. ‘I will buy a girdle and sew the coins into it. No one will suspect that and unless someone had a very good reason, they would be very unlikely to strip-search me.’
Alain couldn’t understand how she could possibly manage to fit the coins into the girdle but he trusted his sister’s judgement and they went into the shop. Andrée tried one on for size and pronounced it a good fit, so they bought it. That afternoon she spent several hours in her hotel room, sewing the coins securely into her new piece of lingerie. It was laborious work but she enjoyed sewing and liked a challenge. She managed to fix twenty of the coins into the girdle but, try as she might, could not fit the last one in. Instead, she put it in her purse, figuring that if she was searched, it was not likely that suspicion would fall on her for possession of just one coin.
The following morning Andrée awoke to strong sunshine filtering through the shutters. There was no soap in the bathroom for her shower. Soap was a luxury item in France during the war – one of the things most missed by the majority of the population. Andrée had hoped that this symbol of luxury might be available in the hotel, but it was not to be. She picked up the girdle and began to wrap it around her body. The small hooks had been securely sewn on and as she attached them, one by one, she felt confident that it would remain in place. Even though the weight of the coins was minimal (each one weighed approximately 6.45 grams and so in total, it was 129 grams,* the girdle was heavy and uncomfortable and she was not looking forward to the constraints it would make on her movements. She wore a thick, woollen navy pin-striped suit, which would hopefully cover up any bumps the coins might make in the girdle material. Once she was ready she went down to the hotel’s dining room, where Alain was already eating breakfast.
The pair acknowledged each other formally. Andrée nodded to her brother to reassure him that all was well. Quietly she murmured as they sat at the table that her plan had worked, but that there was one coin left over. Both knew that the day ahead would be a challenging one. Keeping the conversation light, Andrée began talking about what she would buy if she had money of her own. ‘I would love to buy a new pair of shoes. I am so tired of walking around in wooden-soled shoes. If only I had some money I would buy the shoes I saw yesterday in the rue St Catherine.’
‘Well let’s go and have a look at them if you can walk that far in your girdle,’ answered Alain.
They found the shoe shop and Andrée gazed longingly into the window. ‘Let’s go in and buy them,’ said Alain, to her astonishment.
‘But I have no money.’
‘We can use the coin you couldn’t fit into the girdle.’
‘But it belongs to OSS and we need it to keep the group going.’
‘Andrée, I do not think the OSS will know or mind if we spend a small amount on shoes for you. Besides, I think you deserve them in view of the risks you are taking for us.’
Andrée was happy to be persuaded by her younger brother. The sales assistant approached the young pair with a smile and asked how she could help. Andrée pointed to the black suede shoes with a high, thick heel and straps, which she had seen the previous day. The sales assistant took them out of the window so that she could try them on. She walked across the shop floor and twirled back, smiling with pleasure. ‘They are simply wonderful, so elegant and so comfortable.’*
Alain paid the shop assistant in cash, muttering under his breath to Andrée that she could pay him back when she had converted one of the coins into hard currency. The pair then walked back to their hotel to pay their bill and collect their cases. They were to travel separately to Paris, as Alain was much more likely to be stopped at some point; Andrée would take the first train.
The girdle was heavy and uncomfortable and she was hoping to find a corner seat where she could settle down for the whole trip. The hotel had prepared a little food for her journey, so she went straight to the platform and onto the train.
It was late as the train arrived in Paris. Andrée moved swiftly and purposefully through the station and onto the métro. Spot checks on the street were increasingly common in Paris and she didn’t want to be accosted so close to the end of her journey.
She reached her apartment block just before curfew and climbed the stairs up to the flat. She phoned a colleague straight away to tell him she had bought some shoes in Bordeaux; she made no mention of who her mysterious visitor had been. He understood on hearing her words that she had returned safely from her trip.
Andrée was pleased to find she was alone in the flat that night. Her parents and sisters had gone to Mesnil-le-Roi for a few days and she was thankful she would not have to lie about where she had been. Alain had made her promise not to tell anyone about their meeting but she was allowed to tell their parents that he was safe, and she knew they would be desperately relieved to hear it.
She went into her bedroom and undressed. She unhooked the girdle carefully, knowing she would need it again. Her skin was very red where her body had been restricted. She unstitched the coins from their hiding place and put them one by one into a smart silver-laced purse. They would be safe in her room until the morning, when she could hide them in the apartment cellar until needed.
* The Louvre moved most of its paintings
out of Paris during the war. Safe storage proved challenging: they were transferred to a number of châteaux and museums. The ‘Mona Lisa’ was apparently moved five times – first to the Château de Chambord in the Loir-et-Cher, then to the Ingres Museum in Montauban to avoid damp, before being moved again later in the war.
* In 1944 gold was worth approximately US$33.85 an ounce; in 2013 gold was worth approximately US$1,250 an ounce. A twenty-franc gold coin would today be worth approximately US$272 in today’s rates.
* The shoes were still in Andrée’s belongings in London in 1996. As part of an interview for a school project, Andrée told her eleven year-old granddaughter: ‘I will never forget how comfortable those shoes were.’
22
The Cyanide Option
Back in Paris, Alain wanted to go home to his family but he remained concerned that to do so might jeopardise their safety; he decided it would be better if he stayed for the moment with one of his couriers, Marthe Dramez, from where he could get back into the swing of things with Orion. Alain’s ability to meet and endear himself to a wide range of contacts was already impressive (and only improved with age). One of his friends worked for Jean Bichelonne, whom Alain later described in his memoir as Vichy Minister for Communications and Industrial Production. Alain visited him regularly, and his friend passed on anything he had picked up, including data on the condition of the French road network, the number and location of blown-up bridges, the timetable of barges travelling the canals, up-to-date information on the condition of the railway network and details on the movement of German troops around France.
Andrée's War Page 17
