Churchill's White Rabbit

by Sophie Jackson

  2. Persistent headache confined to right side of head.

  This officer is referred for the E.N.T. specialist’s opinion to exclude nasal cause for his persistent headaches.

  He appears to have a deflected septum with a reduced airway on the right side. I should be grateful for your opinion about his nasal condition and possible presence of a chronic infected antrum or sinuses.4

  After a more thorough examination the ENT specialist felt there was no reason to suspect that Forest’s nose problems were the cause of his headaches. He remarked that the reduced airway was probably due to an allergy problem. There are no further medical documents in the file, but it would later become apparent that they had missed something vital.

  On the other hand, Forest’s psychological evaluation was much more intense. Post-traumatic stress was not a term bandied around, but the war office had learned enough from the First World War to realise that they couldn’t expect badly war-damaged individuals to just walk back into a normal life. At least not without first cataloguing their condition.

  In August 1945 SOE was advised that Forest’s ‘psychological condition is, naturally enough, very bad indeed’ and they should not allow him to be interviewed about his war experiences for the Nuremburg trials until he was more recovered. Forest, however, had other ideas. Moves were afoot in SOE to track down missing agents and to make contact with former resistance colleagues. Forest wanted to be part of it, but for his own reasons: he wanted to see if he could find the traitor who had sent him to the Gestapo and the two men who had earned his greatest hate, ‘Rudi’ and ‘Ernst’. They would be hard to find, as he had no knowledge if those were their actual names, and even if they were, there were plenty of Rudis and Ernsts in Germany. But Forest never let low odds defeat him and now the thought of bringing his torturers to justice absorbed his thoughts.

  He began to pressure SOE to let him go to Germany and conduct his own, personal, investigations. His superiors were naturally reluctant, but agreed to submit him to another psych exam to see if he was mentally fit. This was conducted in September.

  I interviewed [Yeo-Thomas] again this morning. He certainly has made very good progress during the past ten days. His physical condition is now practically back to normal. Mentally he states that he feels much more settled and that he has regained some of his former confidence.

  He is very anxious to take the proposed trip to Germany. In view of the improvement of his general condition I think it would be alright from a medical point of view for him to proceed for a few days. However, I think it advisable that someone should accompany him on this trip.5

  In light of modern thinking the above seems debatably optimistic. Forest was ‘practically back to normal’ despite his blazing headaches and the potential brain damage he had suffered. As for what he stated about his mental condition, Forest was always good at bending the truth to suit himself. His ardent desire to get to Germany and seek out his enemies should have been enough to raise warning flags about how he was feeling. But this was 1945, and psychology, especially within the military, was a very different thing. Besides, there were lots of cases to be dealt with and, in comparison to some, Forest did appear to be quite normal.

  SOE was also feeling some consternation as to what to do with Forest. To be blunt, they didn’t need him anymore, and nor did the RAF, and to clear their books, they ideally would have liked to demobilise him and send him back to civilian life. The only thing holding them back was the Air Ministry neuropsychiatrist, who insisted that Forest remain on their books until he had finished his treatment, though he optimistically predicted this would only take about six weeks.

  The problem was that SOE was not going to exist for much longer. There was talk of handing Forest’s case over to the French services completely, but that was not ideal, and then there was this German mission they had agreed to. What was to be done with Forest? Should he be invalided out of the service? Offered a position with the Home Office (if his medical reports felt him fit)? In the end it was felt that his best option was to be demobbed from SOE and, considering the suffering he had endured in his work for the service, he should receive terminal benefits and gratuity suitable to his rank as a wing commander, and a pension.

  Forest’s first post-war mission was codenamed Outhaul, but it was a failure from the start. The War Office had grave concerns about the mission, not least because of Forest’s precarious mental balance (on 5 September 1945 he had been declared ‘unstable’) and that the amount of weapons he chose to take on his trip suggested that his proposed endeavours to find and take into custody the men who had tortured him were slightly misleading. It was felt he was out for blood and he was hastily recalled.

  Outhaul II got the go ahead because its criteria were less controversial. Its main aims were to:

  1. Wrap up his personal réseau.

  2. To clarify the circumstances of his and Brossolette’s arrest.

  3. To track down a stool pigeon who had been at Compiègne and was thought to report to the Gestapo.

  4. To trace war criminals in Fresnes.

  5. To find any documents or accounts relating to the late Hubble.

  The mission only lasted a week when Forest was forced to return to Britain, probably due to failing health. At the end of 1945 Forest was having an operation on his nose that, it was hoped, might alleviate some of his symptoms. In December his demob was announced: from 1 January 1946 he would officially be back in civilian life. In February he received the George Cross and now all he had to do was adapt to normal life.

  In The White Rabbit, written by Bruce Marshal a few years after the war, but largely based on Forest’s own work, Forest’s mental and physical problems are carefully brushed aside. In Marshal’s book Forest is the fictional hero who comes out of the worst situations unscathed. He is equivalent to Fleming’s James Bond, who brushes off psychological harm and bodily abuse ready to start his next adventure. The reality for Forest though, was not so clear-cut.

  The months of abuse he had suffered left scars. Regular nightmares and overreactions to war stories were just two symptoms. Forest, like so many victims of starvation, now found himself eating to excess and gaining weight. He savoured food in a way he had never done before and couldn’t face the thought of empty cupboards.

  Returning to his old line of work with Molyneux quickly proved unsatisfactory. He resented the customers, some of whom he suspected of being collaborators or successful black market operators. There was something wrong about selling fine clothes when he could still picture those poor souls at Gleina stripped of their rags to be buried. A brief appearance at Nuremburg to testify about his experiences only brought a small amount of satisfaction. So many had escaped the Allied noose and were now free to continue their lives, and no punishment could truly compensate for what they had done.

  Then there was Dr Ding. Forest was having his doubts about keeping his promise to him, while his old friend Peulevé was far more tolerant: ‘A doctor Von Schuler, known by the inmates … as Dr Ding, gave very great assistance to Wing Commander Yeo-Thomas … and to Major H.L.T. Peulevé. Peulevé is anxious to implement the bargain that he made.’6

  On the other hand he remained moved by the risky aid that Dietzech had provided him. Dietzech recognised a friend and wrote to him when life in post-war Germany became hard:

  After the entry of the Soviet Army … the general conditions of life were of such a nature [that I] faced the future full of apprehension … I cannot turn to the German authorities who, by the way, are far from being cleansed of Nazis. Unwilling as I am, dear Mr Yeo-Thomas, to worry you with personal matters, I can think of no other course then to ask whether you can somehow help me out of my present predicament. You may rest assured that I will never cease to be grateful to you for the rest of my life. Yours very truly, Arthur Dietzech.7

  Was this the same thug who had tortured thousands of patients? Forest responded by doing what he could to assist him and ensuring necessary correspondence was t
ranslated into English and reached the relevant departments.8

  Even so, Forest returned to Molyneux a troubled man. Whatever the military doctors had said about his problems being a minor fractured nose and nothing else, there was something far worse going on with Forest. In 1948 he started to have blackouts, and his health was clearly deteriorating; the headaches were still a feature of his life. A job as a country estate manager in Ireland seemed like the ideal change Forest needed to restore himself, but it was not to be and he was soon back in France.

  In the meantime Barbara had accepted her role as Forest’s common-law wife, his first wife Lillian was still refusing a divorce so there was no other option. Barbara went to France with Forest. Then in late 1949 it seemed things were on the up, as Forest was offered the role of Paris representative of the Federation of British Industry (the former representative had been found murdered, which cannot have comforted Barbara, but suggested an element of danger Forest missed from the war).

  For a time life settled into a normalcy that was appealing. Forest and Barbara’s relationship (always a little stormy) grew stronger. They resided in his father’s old apartment and Forest started to relish his work for the Federation of British Industry. The memoirs of his adventures in France, partly encouraged by Barbara to try and exorcise wartime ghosts, appeared in 1952 and there was talk of a movie or TV series. But it was only a brief reprieve.

  In 1960 a decrease in his manual dexterity and occasional losses of balance suggested that Forest’s condition was worsening. Whatever damage he had sustained at Nazi hands was now taking its toll. He started to struggle to drive; he hit a set of gates when with Barbara and within a short space of time had given up driving altogether. He also began to have kidney problems. During his time in the camps he had suffered from kidney stones, which had gone untreated and thus damaged his kidneys permanently. He was admitted to hospital and found to have high blood pressure. Before long he was living on a daily cocktail of eighteen different drugs.

  In 1963 Forest was presented with the Commandeur of the Légion d’honneur. At the ceremony he wept, had to be helped to stand and struggled to remember his time in the war. His friends were struck by how much thinner he looked and by his exhausted appearance. He was no longer the fit and extraordinary Shelley, he was a prematurely old man.

  Forest’s deterioration now became rapid. He was bedridden, and his mental state was so poor that he only occasionally slipped into lucid moments. Barbara was his full-time nurse.

  On 26 February 1964 Forest suffered a massive haemorrhage and died. Barbara was by his side to the last.

  In the end he could not match James Bond’s final, remarkable quality. He could not make himself immortal.

  * * *

  Notes

  1. Secret and personal letter HMS/1870, written 9 May 1945, contained in Yeo-Thomas’ SOE personnel file.

  2. An interesting look at possible ‘Bonds’ and other character inspirations can be found in Macintyre, B., For Your Eyes Only: Ian Fleming and James Bond.

  3. McCormick, D., 17F: The Life of Ian Fleming.

  4. Major Ireland’s report from Millbank military hospital, 2/8/1945.

  5. Medical memo, 24/9/1945.

  6. Letter from the War Crimes branch, US forces, 7/11/1945.

  7. Letter from Arthur Dietzech dated 20/7/1945.

  8. Letter to the War Office dated 20/8/1945.

  Select Bibliography

  Beevor, J.G., SOE Recollections and Reflections 1940–45 (The Bodley Head, 1981)

  Boyce, F. and Douglas, E., SOE: the Scientific Secrets (Sutton Publishing, 2003)

  Crankshaw, E., Gestapo: Instrument of Tyranny (Wren’s Park Publishing, 2002)

  Dank, M., The French Against the French: Collaboration and Resistance (Cassell Ltd, 1974)

  Dear, I., Sabotage and Subversion: Stories from the files of the SOE and OSS (Arms and Armour Press, 1996)

  Delarue, J., The Gestapo: A History of Horror (Frontline Books, 2008)

  Distel, B., Dachau Review I: History of Nazi Concentration Camps, Studies, Reports, Documents (Berg Publishing Ltd, 1988)

  Foot, M.R.D., SOE in France (1966)

  Howarth, P., Undercover: The Men and Women of SOE (Phoenix Press, 1980)

  Mackenzie, W., The Secret History of SOE: Special Operations Executive 1940–45 (St Ermin’s Press, 2000)

  Maclean, F.L., The Camp Men: The Officers who ran the Nazi Concentration Camp System (Schiffer Publishing Ltd, 1999)

  Marshal, B., The White Rabbit (The Riverside Press, 1952)

  Murphy, C.J., Security and Special Operations: SOE and MI5 during the Second World War, (Palgrave Macmillan, 2006)

  Perrault, G., Paris Under the Occupation (Andre Deutsch Ltd, 1989)

  Perrin, N., Spirit of Resistance: The Life of SOE Agent Harry Peulevé, DSO, MC (Pen and Sword, 2008)

  Seaman, M., Bravest of the Brave (XXX)

  Segev, T., Soldiers of Evil: The Commandants of the Nazi Concentration Camps (Grafton Books, 1990)

  Spitz, V., Doctors from Hell: The Horrific Account of Nazi Experiments on Humans (Sentient Publications, 2005)

  Turner, D., Aston House, Station 12: SOE’s Secret Centre (Sutton Publishing, 2006)

  Winstone, M., The Holocaust Sites of Europe: An Historical Guide (I.B. Taurus & Co. Ltd, 2010)

  Escape from Germany: True Stories of POW Escapes in WW2 (The National Archives, 2009)

  SOE Syllabus: Lessons in Ungentlemanly Warfare, World War II (The National Archives, 2001)

  Plates

  1. American Troops – Forest’s father saw to it that he was unable to join French or British troops in the First World War, so he had to wait until the Americans joined the conflict before he could sign up.

  2. After the First World War Forest had numerous jobs, but he found his niche working for fashion designer Molyneux and attending the well-to-do ladies of the 1930s.

  3. After the First World War General Pétain was seen as a hero and led a triumphal parade through Paris.

  4. General Pétain, French hero and leader of the Vichy government.

  5. With the Second World War looming, many old soldiers wanted to avoid a return to trench warfare and started to make plans for defences.

  6. Trench warfare had left its scars on France, and General Pétain, among others, pushed for a defensive barricade for the French borders; this became the Maginot Line.

  7. The Maginot Line was one war too late. It failed in its task of keeping the Germans out and soaked up money that could have been placed into armaments.

  8. Neville Chamberlein, seen here pre-war (back row, second from right) founded SOE as his last political act before his death.

  9. Hitler surged to power in the 1930s and was quickly clamouring for another war. Forest joined up as soon as he realised the threat.

  10. By the Second World War Petain was an old man and he voted for appeasement instead of war. He founded the Vichy government, which briefly kept southern France unoccupied. He was recognised by SOE as a threat as serious as the Gestapo to their operations.

  11. Place de la Concorde was one of the first ports of the city to be triumphantly taken by the Nazis. German planes landed in the square while swastikas went up on the buildings.

  12. General de Gaulle opposed Petain and fled to England to set up a government in exile. Forest was an ardent Gaullist and met the man personally. De Gaulle stands here at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier after the Liberation of Paris.

  13. Forest knew it was the ordinary people who would suffer most in the war and made close ties with rural communities where resistance was strong. Here, French women continue to harvest chestnuts while war rages around them.

  14. The old and infirm had no place in the Nazi ideal and were often kicked from their homes or executed.

  15. Forest’s first attempt at parachuting scared the life out of him; it was a dangerous business and many SOE agents broke bones with bad landings.

  16. France was quickly crippled by the Nazis
and when Forest returned to it in 1943 his beloved country was decimated. The destruction only made him more determined to fight back.

  17. Wireless sets were a constant nightmare. Difficult to hide and awkward to repair, they were the bane of SOE. Forest had to use them to send back messages, but he knew the risk involved. This example is an early Marconi set.

  18. Wireless-detection vans had been first designed to track pirate radios, as this British picture demonstrates. The Germans used them to track SOE agents reporting in and, over the course of the war, developed them to the point that the detection unit could be carried by a single man.

  19. Barns and outbuildings proved havens for resistance men and women. Forest spent a lot of his time in rural France in such places. Unfortunately, many were raided by the Germans and their occupants murdered.

  20. Jean Moulin with his good looks and charm united the early resistance, though he fell out of favour with Forest and Brossolette. When he was arrested and accidentally killed by the Gestapo, the resistance came close to falling apart and it was agreed that never again would it be united under one figurehead.

  21. On his train journey from Lyons, Forest distracted the fearsome Klaus Barbie by noting the train wreckage out the windows. Teams of Germans and French civilians scrounged the debris for salvage.

  22. Forest had the sense to know not all Germans were evil and when he met ordinary individuals he felt friendly towards them. He gave one German orderly some chocolate to take home to his children.