Young, Brave and Beautiful

by Tania Szabô

  ‘Good,’ said Philippe. ‘This is just about the first time I’ve seen any kind of half-decent security and men with some training.’ Once the two Maquis had recognised Adrien, they had saluted smartly to Philippe, in British uniform as Major Charles Staunton. The Maquis present were wearing uniforms of a sort: crumpled khaki shirts and trousers held on their skinny frames by old belts or string, boots in need of repair and probably no socks.

  They went into the clearing where a dilapidated cabane de bûcheron132 was standing. A few metres away, forest vines were beginning to scramble over an old scierie or sawmill. A few men and two women were busily doing something. In the barn, three small storm lights were hanging from a rafter, shedding flickering light onto a long makeshift table.

  ‘Entrez, entrez mes chers co-conspirateurs!’ waved Colonel Rivier. ‘Bienvenue, Mademoiselle Louise! Bienvenu, Major Staunton! We have much to discuss and not much time to do it in.’

  They spent the next three hours going over plans and arranging scouting parties to look out for new fields for parachute drops. They also decided that the fields already in use were to be reconnoitred again. Philippe asked how many men were involved in each of the reception committees and what training they had had to date. He also asked for numbers of men in each Maquis group.

  As they talked, it emerged that, a few days before they had landed, Georges Guingouin had categorically refused to liberate Limoges so, on 5 June, an autonomous group of communist FTP decided to encircle and liberate Tulle instead. The small German garrison of 1115 Feldgendarmerietruppe,133 two companies of 95th Regiment plus the Maintien d’Ordre134 forces, consisting of the French Milice, Garde Civiles and Groupes mobiles de reserve135 had been blocked in, unable to flee the town. The next day, as news of the Allied landings filtered through, the FTP group was again galvanised into action. This prompted the Germans to order Préfet Trouillé to get the Maintien d’Ordre to co-operate with the Wehrmacht stationed there and fight their way out together. Monsieur Trouillé, a secret member of the Résistance, had refused and that night the Germans moved into the girls’ school while the Milice, Gardes mobiles and reserves put up ineffectual barricades at the town exits.

  On the evening of the 7th, the FTP group led by Godefroy known as Rivière136 and Jean-Jacques Chapou (Kléber) attacked the town. Frenchman against Frenchman. The Vichy MO group hid in various buildings, only for the FTP to send mortars in, killing and wounding some of them.

  Préfet Trouillé begged the FTP to let the ‘poor buggers go’ and they were allowed to flee. The Germans held out, incurring heavy casualties until a group of fifty tried to break out. There were some forty or fifty dead Germans and twenty-five wounded as their stronghold in the girls’ school fell. Monsieur Trouillé then had to protect them from the fury of the FTP who had seen a good many of their own civilian population shot against a wall by the Germans. The FTP celebrated their victory, but the Préfet warned that the Germans might come back.

  Jacques Poirier, SOE co-student and a friend of Violette, whom she had met so briefly in Paris at the Madeleine, had instructed his team and other Résistants to implement London’s Plan Vert (green plan), successfully causing chaos on the railway lines. However, no bridge along the Dordogne had been destroyed nor had been included in the Plan Tortue, so the SS-Das Reich Panzer Division, even while striking out in desperate skirmishes with the Maquis and SOE teams en route, was able to march into the Limousin.

  Under orders from Paul Guérin and Anthème Besson, Alliance network treasurer, the telecommunications group PTT in the Basses-Alpes had extended branches of its telephone line to Gap and Grenoble. Many Résistance telecommunication lines, especially in the centre and south of France, were funded by Banque de France, exiled in London. As the SS-Das Reich Division set off, a Cahors employee of the postal and telecommunication ‘repairs and faults’ service sent a warning signal by safe telephone line to Besson in Brive, warning that the division was approaching. The message was not passed on to the FFI of R5. Guingouin reports that none of the Gaullists, Giraudists, or communist leaders was informed. He goes on to say that faults had developed in the network, whether by design or accident is hard to say. On the other hand, a little later, the regional head of the Milicien in Limoges, Jean de Vaugelas, was warned of an imminent Maquis attack and decreed a state of siege, barricading the town. Units of SS-Das Reich, already with a bloody reputation for civilian massacres, readied themselves.

  On the morning of 8 June, as the Salesman II team were waking in Sussac, Monsieur Trouillé, the préfet of Tulle, had awakened to the stamp of Nazi boots above as units of the SS-Das Reich Panzer Division took over the Préfecture. The SS-Das Reich deported 149 men aged eighteen to sixty, of whom a mere forty-eight returned. To further exact their revenge, ninety-nine civilians and Résistants were executed by hanging; from lampposts and balconies. Friends and family could only watch as the victims were dragged to ropes casually thrown up along the streets.

  Tulle straddles the Corrèze river. It is a small picturesque town with a road following the course of the river on either bank and many small streets and lanes with historic buildings, and now a single monument to the ninety-nine citizens hanged by a revengeful German regiment.

  ‡

  Apprehension increased as news spread that the Panzer division was on the move. All motorised transport was forbidden to the civilian population, so news was sketchy. The German authorities went so far as to forbid bicycles, but the Vichy police and Feldgendarmerie did little to prevent cyclists who were needed to keep local production going. All other forms of transport required special permits from the German authorities. Papers were always thoroughly checked when holders were stopped and their vehicle searched for stowaways, weapons or contraband.

  As those present at the forest meeting considered the rumours and facts to hand, it was clear that the utmost discretion was required by everybody. Philippe uncharacteristically and rather starkly announced that he wanted little to do with hotheads like Anastasie. He was surprised by the lack of adverse reaction, which he rightly took as a good sign. He then turned to Violette and asked her to relate her visit to Madame Lazerat. She gave her impression of the elderly woman and what they might expect of her. She recounted that she had met two more Résistants, Robert and Raoul at the home of Madame Lazerat’s friend who lived a couple of hundred yards away. She was sure that they would perform and do so discreetly. She had passed on instructions and the explosives she carried on her bike to use on the railway line to Madame Lazerat, who immediately started to enlist the assistance of the cheminots on her part of the Toulouse–Paris line as well as gathering together the small groups of Maquis in her area – Magnac-Bourg to Viqc-Breuih and as far north as Pierre-Buffière. Colonel Charles was likewise engaged with his other Maquis groups through his main Bistrot group. Violette also reported her stop in Carzac and the fears of the people that the heavy tank division was approaching from the south.

  These two people from England impressed Roger Lescure. He warmly thanked them and London for all that they were doing to help bring an end to the horrors, atrocities and occupation.

  Maurice Rousselier,137 Colonel Rivier, was impressed by Philippe’s generally diplomatic manner, his insistence on tight security, training and discipline plus his desire to move things at a cracking pace. Annick had already reported on them and he had been eager to meet them. Rivier found Violette quiet and unobtrusive, and when she had something to say it was to the point and informative.

  Louis Godefroy, alias Rivière, directed his FTP138 to conduct operations from Eymoutiers in the Haute-Vienne, just a few kilometres away, from Egletons and from Tulle in the Corrèze, where he had previously dealt with Jacque Poirier, Captain Jack, in his Nestor/Digger territory. It had been Rivière’s rash operations against the Germans in Tulle that had roused the SS-Das Reich to inflict such terrible reprisals upon the population there. Philippe was aghast at such bad planning, insisting no more actions within townships should take place
against the enemy. Rivière agreed he would lead his group along London’s planned line of harassment and sabotage, and they discussed a series of plans in the Lot and Corrèze regions to continue this work.

  ‘Look,’ said Philippe, ‘I really want to get the FTP involved. Communist or not, we’re all here to get the Nazis out – once that job is done we can consider the politics. Meanwhile, it’s essential that everyone hunker down and abide by our rules.’ At this, he looked deliberately at Rivière.

  ‘Yes,’ said Violette, not too sure where Rousselier (Rivier) and his men stood. ‘We’re not in the least politically motivated. As far as we are concerned, there is plenty of time for that after liberation. We won’t achieve that liberation unless we all work together now and use the best people available.’

  ‘Absolutely,’ confirmed Philippe, ‘We’ll work with all parties, the more the better. But we must get some of these younger men trained and instil some discipline into them. Little training and too much bravado puts civilian lives in danger. I don’t give a bloody monkey’s balls for any of your politics. I insist on and expect bloody discipline. We’re planning on a large drop of munitions and SAS paratroopers very shortly – as soon as I can let London know that we not only have a suitable field for a large drop, but that we also have a bare minimum of Résistants capable of fighting and it is absolutely imperative that we keep up the sabotage.’

  ‡

  After discussing the activities for the following day, it was suggested that Violette should go to Figeac to establish just what condition the Maquis was in, how many groups and number of Maquisards in each group and their needs, along with estimates of civilian Résistants in the town and surrounding area. In the end, though, instead of Figeac, a shorter circular route east was decided so she could visit a number of villages. This was fortunate for her as the SS-Das Reich Panzer Division arrived in Figeac that day, taking reprisals.

  As the night drew on, they all relaxed a little more, having combined their intelligence, plans of action and instructions from de Gaulle’s men and SOE. Finally, after genial goodbyes and handshakes on all sides, Adrien drove them back to Sussac, arriving back at Madame Ribiéras’ in Sussac at about two in the morning.

  ‡

  * * *

  130 Région 5 for the FFI, comprising the Haute-Vienne, Creuze, Indre, Dordogne and Lot. From April 1944.

  131 Roger Lescure (Murat), was appointed lieutenant colonel alongside his colonel, Rousselier (Rivier) in the FTPF. He was colonel in the FFI, Compagnon de la Libération, Légion d’Honneur, Rosette de la Résistance. He ran the ‘école’ that continued to produce well-trained Résistants, well after the German attack.

  132 Cabane de bûcheron = woodcutter’s hut, ‘bûche’ is a ‘log’.

  133 Feldgendarmerie = German field gendarmes or field police localised in German-occupied towns.

  134 Vichy Maintien d’Ordre (MO) = Vichy Maintenance of Order.

  135 Groupes mobiles de réserves, known as the GMR, the Vichy reserve mobile security police.

  136 Rivière and Rivier are two separate cover names. The first is for Godefroy, the second for Rousselier who became a general on 28 June 1944.

  137 Colonel Rousselier (Rivier) cited Violette for the Croix de Guerre with Star reporting that she had killed at least one German at the site of the ambush. She had wounded many more.

  138 Rivière, that is Louis Godefroy, not to be confused with Rousselier, alias Rivier, became second-in-command with Roger Lescure from 11 June.

  31

  Domps, Le Clos, Michel, Dog

  Friday 9 June 1944

  Friday 9 June dawned as another beautiful day. Long lines of the SS-Das Reich Panzer Division were slowly mounting towards Normandy, as it spread out over a huge expanse of the Dordogne, Creuse and Haute-Vienne, crawling along the approaches to Tulle to the east and Brive to the west, with offshoots protecting the flanks. The convoys were a good two miles in length and terrifying to behold. The long rumble of their passing shook houses and distressed the inhabitants. March A of SS-Das Reich moved towards Tulle via Figeac, while March B, which included the SS-Der Führer battalions, pushed towards Limoges through Cahors and Brive. This latter route would prove particularly ill-fated and tragic for Violette.

  The task of the Panzer Division, in the first instance, was not a ‘forced march’ to the front. It was, as per Sperrle’s orders, to destroy resistance, to annihilate the key armed groups of Frenchmen in the zone, and Brigadeführer Heinz Lammerding had orders to deal with armed militants. Lammerding voluntarily admitted that the actions of the Résistance delayed the Panzer Division’s march to Normandy and one of its main sections was seriously strafed by Allied bombers, between June 7 and 11 when its various battalions reached the area between Angoulême and Poitiers. It was not until a few days after the invasion that Sperrle’s orders to annihilate the Résistance were retracted and the Panzer Division began its real race north. The Limousin Résistance, aided in every way by SOE agents, slowed the division’s progress by a good week, whereupon they were delayed yet another week to overcome their exhaustion.

  ‡

  Jean-Claude signalled London:

  All targets satisfactorily covered. All road, rail and phone traffic stopped since D-Day. Too, too easy. Country strictly yours. Bistrot Maquis growing fast. 1,000 strength with latest joined recruits 300 Corrèze gendarmes. Also up to 2,000 local men willing to join up. Pump deliveries in fastest.

  Jacques Poirier had been as worried as Philippe. Jacques knew his Nestor/Digger circuit group was convinced of final victory but if the Allies had delayed the invasion and the Germans launched a huge attack against the Résistance, he doubted his men could hold out against an efficient army. Although new recruits were flooding in, he remained apprehensive: these recruits were inexperienced, caused security problems and there was the maintenance of supplies to be considered by agents and Maquis leaders.

  ‡

  Violette set out on her bike at just after eleven o’clock on 9 June, accompanied by the young guard Michel and his dog. Michel was a healthy young lad ready to take on the world, but a bit bemused and bedazzled by his task to accompany this beautiful woman. They both had much to accomplish and many places to visit so Anna Ribiéras had given them a picnic basket each. Hidden at the bottom of the baskets were packs of explosives, grenades and detonators, and much-valued cigarettes to pass to the leaders they saw through the day.

  Around Violette’s waist, under her skirt and short-sleeved blouse, she carried a huge amount of money in 1000-franc notes and a map of the entire area. She had instructions to determine the needs of those she met: what their plans were, the numbers in each group, their specialities and whether sufficient training had taken place. The London instructions she gave were to be adapted to suit the conditions she found. The principal instruction was to cause as much damage to communications and rail links, petrol stores and any other enemy installation that was relatively easily reached. She was to instruct everyone she met to stay clear of towns to reduce reprisals, to take their time and not act rashly.

  General Marie-Pierre Koenig had instructed that the supply of weaponry and ammunition be restricted and that the Maquis should hold back, concentrating on sabotage. They were not, under any circumstances, to try liberating towns as had been so disastrously attempted in Tulle.

  Cycling to their first rendezvous, Violette and Michel talked about the rumours flying around that the most feared of the enemy’s forces were crawling all over the region. They had heard that splinter units had dropped out to roam the countryside – punishment corps, reconnaissance units and snipers as well as advance patrols and vanguards. And yet, not one rumour had been substantiated. Some thought it was no more than the Feldgendarmerie and bands of Milice prowling around.

  It would not do to take chances. They agreed on a brief and plausible cover story that Violette had come from up north and she wanted to stay a few weeks as she was too frightened to go back to the zone interdite. Mic
hel was her cousin twice removed and was taking her to meet relatives she had never met. He also wanted to introduce her to some of his mates. He looked innocent and young enough for this to be easily believed and the little dog, wagging his tail happily, just added to their tale.

  Violette went over with him the established routine for protecting one another’s retreat if they needed to run. He had had one training session in this strategy, in the woods, about a month previously, but that was all. Violette told him that she would introduce him to Robert Maloubier when they got back or leave a message for Bob to ensure Michel joined his sessions wherever practicable.

  They got off their bikes while she demonstrated exactly what she meant by protecting one another. She made him copy her. Agile and quick thinking, he mastered all she showed him. Now he felt more confident and somewhat more of a soldier. They practised the routine a few times. One of them aimed at the imagined enemy while the other raced behind for some sort of cover. A bush, a log, a hole, or small rise in the ground. The one under cover would then cover the other, running back for new cover. And so the relay would continue for as long as necessary, or until severe disablement, death or capture. There was much laughter in their practice while the little dog barked and chased and thought it was a wonderful game to play.

  Half an hour later and puffing from exertion, they set off again. After thirty more minutes, they were in Champs. Their tour was a circular one. Their next town would be Domps and on the return loop, Le Grand and Le Petit Bouchet, Reberol, Meillac, Murat and back to Sussac.

  ‡

  As they left Champs, a number of racing Feldgendarmerie vehicles passed and Violette made a note of the direction they were taking and how many vehicles. Michel took note of ranks from the German uniforms. The German soldiers did not even look at them, so intent were they on reaching their destination. A few minutes later Violette and Michel were in Domps. Michel guided her to the tiny estaminet139 where a few elderly men were playing cards in the corner. A large scowling woman came in, but her face lit up in a beatific smile when she saw Michel. She brought over two coffees and a snack, sat beside him while he whispered to her and then introduced Violette as his distant cousin from the north. She leant over to Violette and said she would do whatever she could to help. The local Maquis group was in the forest somewhere but she was seeing ‘le chef’ tonight. Violette asked a great many questions. Glancing sideways at the men, with suspicion at one or two, the woman answered her as best she could. She hesitated on just two questions and avoided giving the name of the man who commanded not only her ‘chef’ but also a good number of others. Violette was sure that this unnamed man was the ‘Préfet du Maquis’ – Georges Guingouin.