Today, 1944. Three undercover JEDBURGH operatives were dropped into German-Occupied France.
Over the next few months, 93 teams would infiltrate the country to supply, advise, and lead the French Maquis into battle as Allied forces landed in Normandy during Operation OVERLORD on DDay. Here, author and ex-Special Forces James Stejskal tells us the exhilarating story.
JUNE 5, 1944. SOMEWHERE OVER THE INDRE DEPARTMENT, CENTRAL FRANCE.
The Halifax bomber was on a night run, not to drop bombs, but to drop a special team of three men into German-occupied France. The three JEDBURGH operatives, specially trained as liaisons to the French resistance forces, had an important job. They would be the first of 93 teams dropped into France between 5 June and the end of September 1944, Jedburghs would help train, supply, advise, and lead the French Maquis in battle behind German lines as Allied forces landed in Normandy during Operation OVERLORD on D-Day, June 6th 1944, and then southern France during Operation DRAGOON on August 15th.
The three men, Captain William Crawshay code-name “Crown,” Captain Louis l’Helgolauch “Franc,” and Sub-Lieutenant René Meyer “Yonne,” had a simple mission — keep the Germans from reinforcing their front line defenses as the Allies fought their way inland. These tasks included: organize and arm the resistance, arrange supply drops, procure intelligence, provide liaison between the Allies and the Resistance, and to take part in sabotage operations.
Earlier, the Supreme Allied Commander, General Dwight D. Eisenhower had recognized the Allies would need not just overwhelming firepower on the beachheads, but also diversionary measures in the background. Measures that would confuse, delay, and demoralize the enemy. To do this, the JEDBURGHs were created. First they recruited able-bodied men through announcements such as the following:
Wanted: Volunteers for immediate overseas assignment. Knowledge of French or another European language preferred; willingness and ability to qualify as a parachutist necessary; likelihood of a dangerous mission guaranteed.
Then the volunteers trained hard in the United States and the United Kingdom. The teams were made up of three men, usually a British and American officers and one French radio operator. The British soldiers came primarily from SOE, although some SAS troopers were included, while the Americans came from the OSS. The French mostly came from either the Bureau Central de Renseignements et d’Action (BCRA) or the French SAS Regiment. The teams self-selected their members in a unique arrangement called ‘marriage’ during training. It was very important that the men’s personalities were compatible because they would be working together closely under arduous and dangerous circumstance once they dropped into France. Some ‘marriages’ ended in ‘divorce’ and the process was begun again.
Initially, the teams were to be dropped into France well in advance of D-Day but Eisenhower did not want to infiltrate the teams early to prevent a compromise of the D-Day invasion date. That would limit the activities of some teams, but most had more than ample chances to engage the enemy. After Hugh came Team HARRY on the 6th, with ISAAC on the 7th, QUININE and VEGANIN on the 8th and then FREDERICK, AMMONIA and GEORGE following them in on 9 June.
278 JEDBURGH operators were dropped into France and helped train and deploy over 100,000 French resistance fighters against the Germans. Several teams were also dropped into Holland, and others were deployed in the Far East. Once France was liberated, most of the JEDBURGH teams returned to England and were given new missions.
Eisenhower recognized the contributions of the French resistance and their JEDBURGH advisors to have been a “very considerable part in our complete and final victory.”
This map depicts the landing zones of the 93 JEDBURGH Teams inserted into France.
Credit: No Moon As Witness: Missions of the SOE and OSS in World War II, James Stejskal, Casemate Publishers, 2021
No Moon as Witness
By James Stejskal
Entering Occupied Europe undetected, the agents of the British Special Operations Executive and the American Office of Strategic Services undertook the most perilous missions of WWII; they involved sabotage, subversion, organising resistance groups and intelligence gathering – all behind enemy lines. Many were captured, tortured, and ultimately killed – the life expectancy of an SOE wireless operator in Occupied France was just six weeks. James Stejskal examines why these agencies were established, the training regimen and ingenious tools developed to enable agents to undertake their missions, their operational successes, and their legacy.
9781612009520 | Hardback | Casemate | £20.00 | May 2021
SPECIAL OFFER: £16.00
Available to order through Casemate UK
Author
An historian and writer, James Stejskal collected interesting stories during 35 years active service with the US Army Special Forces and Central Intelligence Agency in hot and not so hot spots overseas. He is the author of the definitive history: Special Forces Berlin: Clandestine Cold War Operations of the US Army’s Elite, 1956–1990.
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