Spirit of Resistance: The Life of SOE Agent Harry Peulevé DSO MC

275 Pages·2009·5.97 MB·English

by  Nigel Perrin

First published in Great Britain in 2008 by
PEN & SWORD MILITARY
An imprint of
Pen & Sword Books Ltd
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Copyright © Nigel Perrin, 2008
ISBN 978-1-84415-855-3
The right of Nigel Perrin to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance
with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
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Contents
Foreword by M.R.D. Foot
Preface and Acknowledgements
Author's Note
Maps
1. Origins
2. Frustrations
3. The Racket
4. Scientist
5. Carte
6. Violette
7. Grandclément
8. Author
9. Vindication
10. Retribution
11. Buchenwald
12. Escape
13. Peacetime
Epilogue
Appendix A: DSO Citation
Appendix B: Croix de Guerre Citation
Appendix C: SOE agents in France
Glossary
Notes and References
Documentary Sources
Bibliography
Index
Foreword
Even in that galaxy of heroes and heroines, muddlers and villains that made up
the Special Operations Executive, Harry Peulevé stood out, for courage and
tenacity. Not many men, having broken a leg on a parachute jump into occupied
territory, came out a cripple over the Pyrenees and promptly asked to go back
again. No one else managed an escape from Buchenwald, ending up a few
months later in the American lines with two SS prisoners in tow.
There have been a lot of weak books about the exploits, and the failures, of
SOE. It is a relief to read a different one. Nigel Perrin has been through all the
papers that have now turned up at Kew, as well as getting hold of various
surviving members of Harry's family and reading the books that are worth
pursuing on the subject, while keeping clear of the junk that still abounds. He
dispels a good many myths and displays the truth about a genuine hero; for
whom, after what he had been through in war, peacetime life turned tame.
Neither in Great Britain nor in France, from both of which his ancestors
came, both of which he served in war, nor in Denmark where he has left a
family, nor anywhere where free men and women gather, should Harry Peulevé
be forgotten. His life, described below, provides a splendid example of what a
single soul can do, if he has stout friends to help him and a sound cause for
which to fight.
M.R.D. Foot
Preface and Acknowledgements
My interest in Harry Peulevé grew from curiosity about a block of flats on
Portman Square in central London, just behind Selfridges at the southern end of
Baker Street, which I regularly walked past on my way home. Although I
already had a vague idea of this building's connection with wartime secret
agents, it was only when I eventually embarked on some background research
that I began to discover what role Orchard Court had really played. From
makeshift offices in one of its second-floor apartments, a shadowy government
organization called the Special Operations Executive had selected, trained and
despatched more than 400 men and women to organize resistance in occupied
France. They came from all walks of life, civilian and military, volunteering to
parachute behind enemy lines and build underground networks capable of
sabotaging Germany's war effort from within. All were told of the great risks
involved and the terrible consequences they faced if captured, yet few refused
the challenge. Many of them were destined never to see Orchard Court again.
The heroic actions of these undercover agents quickly caught the public
imagination after the war, sparking off a number of films, biographies and
fictional spin-offs, though as I continued my research I became more intrigued
by those whose stories had not been so widely recognized. Amongst them was
one that particularly attracted my attention: an ex-BBC cameraman who had
undertaken two missions, during which he overcame crippling injuries to arm
and train thousands of guerrilla fighters; later captured, he endured appalling
torture, deportation, evaded execution by a hair's breadth in Buchenwald
concentration camp and eventually reached the American lines after spending six
months masquerading as a French prisoner. Ranked by his commanding officer
as one of the best half-dozen of his agents, I was surprised that his extraordinary
career hadn't been represented more fully.
Initially I wondered if there could be a good reason for his relative obscurity
and had reservations about how much material might still be available, but after
contacting Peulevé's family in Denmark and gaining access to his unfinished
memoirs, it was obvious that much of his story had been left untold. I also
discovered that many who knew him were disappointed that no biography had
been written following his death in 1963. To a great extent this became the
reason for writing a book, to do my best to preserve the memory of an
uncommonly determined and greatly admired man.
In putting this project together I must firstly acknowledge the great debt I
owe to the Peulevé family, who supported me from the beginning: Madeleine
and Marie-Louise Peulevé were of inestimable help in providing family
documents and answering countless questions; Jo Woollacott gave me access to
many other papers and photographs; and Margaret and Anna Byskov offered
translations and made it possible for me to research the locations of Harry's
exploits in the Corrèze, Dordogne and Cote d'Azur. I am deeply grateful to all of
them for their generosity, hospitality and trust. I must also mention Tony
Rushton, who was always willing to offer his assistance and was killed in a car
accident just a few months before the book's completion.
Trying to find interview sources more than forty years after Harry's death
was inevitably a difficult business, and many of those who appear in the story
were too ill to help or have died since. However, I was privileged to be able to
talk with several ex-agents, most notably Stéphane Hessel, Peter Lake, Cyril
Watney and Jean Melon. I also received reminiscences and help from a number
of surviving members of the French Resistance, and particularly have to thank
Charles Thouloumond of the Corrèze ANACR, Alfred Pisi of the Cannes
ANACR, Roger Ranoux, Raymond Lacombe, André Odru and René Coustellier.
A number of archives and museums provided essential information, and I am
grateful for the assistance of Dr Roderick Bailey, Ann Brooks and the staff of
the Imperial War Museum; Howard Davies and the staff of the National
Archives, Kew; Samuel Gibiat and the Archives Départementales de Corrèze,
Tulle; Dr Rémi Fourche and the Musée Henri Queuille, Neuvic, Corrèze;
Patricia Reymond and the Musée Edmond-Michelet, Brive-la-Gaillarde; the
Archives Municipales, Brive-la-Gaillarde; the BBC Archives; Westminster City
Archives; Jean-Louis Panicacci and the Musée de la Résistance Azuréenne,
Nice; Marie Gatard and the Amicale Anciens des Services Spéciaux de la
Défense Nationale, Paris; Brian Baxter at the REME museum at Arborfield,
Berkshire; Yvonne Taverny and the Grande Chancellerie de la Légion
d'Honneur, Paris; the Bundesarchiv, Berlin; the Archivo Histórico Comarcal del
Alto Ampurdán, Figueres; the Ministerio del Interior, Spain; and Sabine Stein
and Sandra Starke of the Buchenwald Archives, Weimar.
For details on radar I have to thank one of Harry's former radio pupils, Eric
Atkinson, as well as Alan Brock; Louis Meulstee supplied technical information
on wireless sets. Rhiannon Looseley generously gave her time to help me with
translation and research, as did Jasper Snyder and Siân Miles. Judith Hiller
supplied excerpts from her husband's diary and offered additional useful
information. Francis Suttill helped me with details on his father and the events
surrounding the Prosper collapse. Julie Dubec and her family were able to
provide me with eyewitness accounts and very kindly invited me to visit their
house where Harry operated. For research on Schönebeck I have to thank Leo
Finegold, and especially Thoralf Winkler and Maurice Falissard for providing
invaluable sources. Bruno Kartheuser gifted me one of his excellent works on
Walter Schmald, while Guy Penaud offered his considerable knowledge of
resistance in south-western France. I am also deeply grateful to M.R.D. Foot for
his help in answering my questions, offering many useful revisions and writing
the foreword. Of course, any errors in the text are mine, not his.
Thanks also to Marcus Binney; Suzanne Melon; Peggy Watney; David
Harrison; Marcel Jaurant-Singer; Noreen Riols; Eileen Nearne; Sarah Helm;
Phoebe Atkins; Pamela Windham Stewart; Stuart Wright; Angela Kelly; Tania
Szabó; Kay Lake; Mike Cartwright; Roger Luxton; Michael Ferrada; Colin
Peulevé; Sean Taplin; Richard Pearson; Lynda Martin and Asociación San
Jorge, Seville; Nadège Bidart; Denise Freygefond; Suzette Litschgy Burg-mann;
J.P. Lescure; the late Gaston Collin; John Chillag; Randy Trahan, Kevin W.
Murphy and Jim Dupre; Philip Vickers; Robert Marshall; Robert Favier; Thierry
Watrin; Jean Overton Fuller; Kevin Reynolds; Alan Shillaker; and Bob Body.
My sincere apologies to anyone I've not included. Lastly I have to thank Henry
Wilson at Pen & Sword, editor Bobby Gainher, my agent Robin Wade and my
family, without whose support this book could not have been completed.
I wish to thank the following for permission to reproduce copyright material:
Little, Brown for the extract from Christine by Madeleine Masson; David
Higham Associates for the extract from War Diaries 1939–1945: Field Marshal
Lord Alanbrooke by Alex Danchev and Daniel Trotman; The History Press for
the extract from Between Silk & Cyanide by Leo Marks; Farrar, Straus and
Giroux for excerpts from The Theoryand Practice of Hell by Eugen Kogon,
Copyright © 1950 by Farrar, Straus & Giroux, Inc.
Author's Note
I have tried as far as possible to let Peulevé tell his own story, corroborating his
memoirs with information from recently released SOE files at the National
Archives, along with numerous other documentary sources, interviews and
conversations with his family. Untangling actual events from the tales of
derring-do that surround Peulevé's reputation proved to be a real challenge:
references to his missions in France have often relied on half-truths that have
established themselves over the years, and some incidents recorded elsewhere
have consequently been omitted.
While I have attempted to present Harry's involvement with SOE as fully as
possible, it was beyond the scope of this book to offer more than a brief
overview of the organization's broader activities in France; similarly, I have
concentrated only on presenting the relevant details concerning the French
Resistance in the Corrèze, Dordogne, Cote d'Azur and other areas where Harry
operated. Those looking for more wide-ranging accounts on these subjects
should refer to the bibliography and particularly to Foot's SOE in France, which
even after forty years remains an indispensable source.
The names of SOE circuits are given in capitals throughout the text; agents’
code names have been italicized.