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LA RESISTANCE DANS LE TERNOIS Secteur de Frévent, Saint-Pol s/Ternoise Auxi-le-Château, Avesnes-le-Comte Septembre 1986 With gratitude and thanks And to the memory of De Monsieur le Colonel Fernand LHERMITTE (+ 1986) Président d'Honneur des Anciens Résistants Actifs de l'OCM et du BOA du Pas-de-Calais A qui ce récit doit beaucoup For Mr André VELUT (died 1983) our late lamented President who was determined to perpetuate the memory of the "Resistance" in the Pas-de-Calais |
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INTRODUCTION
This history of Resistance in Ternois is a memorial (marque d'estime) for those who took an active part in the clandestine combat in what was known as the Frévent Sector. It is also and especially, an homage paid to the memory of our missing companions, victims of their engagement in this fight against the occupant Nazi so that our country could find its place among the great democratic nations, and that freedom and human dignity could triumph over intolerance and barbarism. This is also an analysis of the reasons why we could justify this engagement in Resistance, this account will detail:
R. Guittard A Frévent le 15 Septembre 1986 |
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JOINING
THE RESISTANCE
To understand such an engagement it is necessary to try to place it in the context of the time after the Great War of 1914-1918, time which modelled the generation of those who took part in the insane but exciting life of La Resistance. France had won this Great War. The schools glorified the heroism of our fathers in the trenches, sensitized our young hearts on the enthusiastic return of Alsace-Lorraine to the French Nation, and exalted the patriotic virtues of this victorious France. In addition, the position of Ternois in the English Zone during the 4 years of the 1st World War, the hard times and deadly combat carried out coast to coast on the fields of battle in Artois, the renewal of the promises of the British military establishment during the "Phoney War" of 39-40, cemented a strong Franco-English solidarity in our area. The horrible massacres of Aubigny in Artois and Besles-Monchel perpetrated by the SS in May 1940, outraged us. The news bulletins on the British radio, the program "Les Français parlent aux Français", and the interventions of General de Gaulle on the BBC, had a profound effect on us and woke up the hope; while the Vichy-native collaborationist propaganda of Pétain seemed cowardice to us. At the same time we were very aware of the threat of annexation by the Grand Reich of our provinces in the north attached by the Oberfeldkommandantur in Brussels, and separated from the remainder of France by the line of demarcation established along the Somme; a guarded frontier, very difficult to cross. As of June 1940, an escape organisation, covering Frévent, Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise and their immediate surroundings, extended towards Arras and Bethune, made escape possible for the French and British soldiers from the columns of prisoners, who wanted to go to Great Britain to continue the armed struggle. It is was because this escape line that some local young people, answering the call of de Gaulle, were able to join the Forces Françaises Libres in England. Restraints imposed by the occupiers: curfew from 21.00 to 06.00, strictly controlled movements, massive requisitions, difficulties of supply, were soon causing a reaction in some of our fellow-citizens who, because of relations and ideological affinities, sometimes within the framework of professional activities and the old political or trade-union formations, acted in small groups, even separately, to fight enemy propaganda and to carry out some sabotages:
Also, very early, some patriots of Ternois had shown their will to shake the yoke of the occupant. But it is towards the end of summer 1942 that the message "On ne dégotte pas les gars du Nord et du Pas-de-Calais" on the BBC made the constitution of the Resistance groups already formed in FREVENT and the surrounding areas, official. Then, quickly, this first organized core, flowed like oil into SAINT-POL, AUXI, AVESNES and LUCHEUX. The activities concerned four organizations: Two movements of "Résistance intérieure"
Two FFC (Forces Françaises Combattantes) networks attached to the BCRA (Bureau Central Renseignements et Action) of the Staff of the FFL (Forces Françaises Libres) in London:
DEVELOPMENT OF THE ORGANISATIONS AND GROUPS OCM: ORGANISATION CIVILE ET MILITAIRE ORGANISATION OF THE SECTOR CHIEF FOR THE DEPARTMENT It was after a meeting in Arras in July 1942 between JACQUOT alias "Antoine" from Paris (delegated by Colonel TOUNY of the OCM) and George BEDEZ, Mayor of Arras, that the OCM was established in the Pas-de-Calais. Confirmation was given from London in a message received at the end of July 1942: "Les Quatre Amis d'Arras se sont réunis". A headquarters staff was formed, and immediately Raoul FRANÇOIS alias "Godillot", Professor in Arras, made himself responsible for the military organization in the sectors of the Coast, HESDIN, FREVENT and SAINT-POL. THE OCM FREVENT SECTOR IN AUGUST 1942 Raoul FRANÇOIS soon contacted Augustin PETIN alias "Bâtisse", a teacher at Izel-les-Hameaux, and took his place on the Departmental Committee of the OCM. The first contacts in the sector were made by "Bâtisse" in August 1942 with:
Liaison was assured with René GUITTARD alias "Banjo" of FREVENT. REORGANISATION OF THE SECTOR IN AUGUST 1943
Five sub-sectors were defined, each one with a person in charge responsible for a) recruitment in the zone and b) maintaining contact with the sector headquarters.
In each sub-sector profitable recruitment took place. In many villages (always with the necessary guarantees for the safety of each one, and survival of the movement) a local résponsable was contacted who then recruited his own group. At the level of the sector chiefs, more specific information was sought:
The Brigades of St Pol (1 gendarme) of Frévent (2 gendarmes and the Chef de Brigade) and of Auxi (1 gendarme) were infiltrated in this way. In order to ensure everyone's security, the contact phrase "Le P'tit Quinquin et l'Ami Bidasse vont la main dans la main" was used several times during the autumn 1943. The use of an "Action" phase was considered by headquarters from the very start of 1944, a team of 6 volunteers known as Equipe Action Immédiate (AI) were quickly armed and trained in the use of weapons and parachuted explosives, and placed under the command of Gerard MALO. FN-FTPF: FRONT NATIONAL ET FRANCS TIREURS PARTISANS FRANCAIS It should be remembered that these resistance movements were initially formed at the instigation of the Communist Party and charged with secrecy since the signing of the German-Russian pact in August 1939, but who, after the attack on Russia by Germany in June 1941, joined the clandestine fight against the Nazi invader. In the sector, this form of resistance was extremely active as of the summer 1942, (notably) in two of our towns whose industrial environment had involved particular trade-union and Communist establishment:
It should be noted that in our sector, contrary to what may have happened elsewhere, the groups of the OCM, and of the FN and FTP, had a common cause. BOA: BUREAU DES OPERATIONS AERIENNES Pierre DESHAYES alias "Jean Pierre" or "Tommy Gun" Liaison Officer of the BCRA in London, was parachuted into France in December 1942. His mission was to organise the BOA teams in the five Departments of Area A (Northern, Pas-de-Calais, Somme, Aisne and Seine Maritime). Thanks to the OCM being already in place, he was able to contact Doctor Pierre CUALLACCI and bring Pierre DE CLEENE alias "Alex" as his technical assistant. Research of landing fields was then carried out by DESHAYES, DE CLEEVE, CUALLACCI, HETROY and GUITTARD who also recruited at the same time the Chiefs of the Reception Teams:
One field in the s/sector of AUXI-LE-CHATEAU and two fields in the s/sector of FREVENT were approved and used:
Three other fields in the s/secteurs of AUXI-LE-CHATEAU and SAINT-POL s/TERNOISE were approved but not used: at GUESCHART, at HAUT-MAINIL and at BLANGERMONT. THE BORDEAUX-LOUPIAC ESCAPE NETWORK From the spring of 1943, there was a return of the heavy bombing raids on central Germany, the almost daily flights of Anglo-American heavy bombers passing over Ternois on their outward journey, and the endless air raids to neutralize the many V1 launch sites, which were protected by an effective network of DCA (AA guns). The allied airmen were shot down with their aircraft, but fortunately, quite often, the parachute drop or crash landing allowed the men to escape without too much injury. Consequently, the Resistance had the duty to recover them; the loss of experienced crews being more crucial to the allies than the loss of their equipment. From August 1943, the creation of an escape route became essential. Organized at OCM-BOA (sector of district) level, this branch of activity was attached to the "Bordeaux-Loupiac" group after contact in LILLE in August 1943 between Rene GUITTARD and the Regional Responsable of this FFC network, HEGEDOS alias "Antoine" (journalist with the "Réveil du Nord" actually "Nord-Matin") and is presented as follows:
Five under-sectors of collection were established:
In spite of the enormous risks incurred, 58 known families in Ternois lodged the many fallen airmen recovered into the area (cf Appendix 1: Structure of réseau "Bordeaux-Loupiac"). It is quite obvious that "BOA" and "Bordeaux-Loupiac" networks were not in fact two branches of more specific activities of the OCM.
INTELLIGENCE According to the directives issued from 1942 by the ARRAS headquarters, the search for "intelligence" had to be more thoroughly and systematically organized. It concerned:
This intelligence was collected by the responsables of each sub-sector centred around FREVENT, and after selection (mis au net) transmitted from ARRAS to be sent to England through the "CENTURIE" and "ZERO-FRANCE" networks. The most important intelligence provided concerned:
THE EVASION NETWORK The sector of FREVENT-AUXI-ST POL was particularly effective in the assistance given to the allied airmen brought down in the area.
Fact: a score of airmen reached Great Britain via Spain, and 13 were lodged until the Liberation. The others, arrested on the escape line, were taken to Germany as Prisoners of War. Three messages were transmitted by the BBC to announce the return of airmen to Great Britain:
Also, a Russian national FTP group from AUXI were lodged for a few weeks in FREVENT in February 1944 before being taken to ARRAS and a specific network for Russian refugees (Russian Prisoners of War or Required Russian escaped prisoners). FORGED IDENTITY PAPERS - HELP FOR THE "REFRACTAIRES" OF THE STO (Service du Travail Obligatoire en Allemagne) From 1942 to the Liberation, more than 300 forged indentity cards, together with false certificates of employment and fake residence certificates, were manufactured in the sector. They were intended for:
Apart from the clandestine use of the seals from the towns and already mentioned villages, and seal of the Police Station of Arras was used thanks to a contact made by Georges LION. Many forged cards, especially those intended for evaders of the STO, were manufactured using the old seal of the commune of VAULX-les-AUXI recovered by Raymond HETROY and entrusted to Eugene GUITTARD, who specialised in this kind of work. The false employment certificates were made using seals taken from the offices of the Lenier Counter and the Winterberger Foundry at FREVENT and Emailleries AUBECQ in AUXI-le-CHATEAU. It should be noted that because of this, none of the holders of these forged papers, although often inspected, were challenged by either the Germans or the French police. Some young evaders of the STO were hidden and looked after by farmers in our sector, and so effectively increased our manpower. PARACHUTINGS AND LANDINGS Night of 12/13 July 1943: SARRE field at Canettemont.
Night of 15/16 July 1943: SCARPE field at Ponchel.
Night of September 19/20, 1943: SAMBRE field at Rebreuviette.
Night of 22/23 September 1943: SCARPE field.
Night of 7/8 October 1943: SAMBRE field.
Night of 18/19 October 1943: SCARPE field.
Night of 15/16 November 1943: SARRE field in Canettemont.
ARMS AND EXPLOSIVES At the beginning of 1942 we had only some revolvers and salvaged pistols of average calibre (7.65) which had been reconditioned by the COTTON brothers of Frévent, and a hundred usable cartridges. With the first parachute drops in July 1943 the situation seriously improved. The containers brought us:
At first, the weapons caches were the responsibility of the BOA who hid them in farms near the dropping fields, then from November 1943, they shared them out on orders from the "military delegates" (Regional and Departmental) for use by Resistance groups.
Transport was carried out:
At the end of January 1944, a sector team (Rene GUITTARD, Gerard MALO and Pierre COLLEMENT) took possession, with Paul LEMAIRE's truck (Wines and Spirits of FREVENT), of a ton and half of weapons and explosives at ALETTE near MONTREUIL s/MER, and brought them to a hiding place in CONCHY s/CANCHE to be distributed throughout the sector. INSTRUCTIONS ON PARACHUTED WEAPONS AND EXPLOSIVES At the beginning of December 1943, FFL instructor Jean DELVALEZ was sent to us by the Regional FFI. A hiding place for the materiel and a room were placed at his disposal with the firm of DUPOND-CHABE at Rue de Marshal Pétain (now Rue General de Gaulle) in FREVENT. The volunteers of the "Action Immédiate" teams, and a number of résistants from the sector and other nearby sectors, and two young "Voix du Nord" sent from Lille, were involved in the use of the weapons and explosives during December 43, January and February 44. Then Gerard MALO, chief AI of the sector, was named Departmental Instructer by the FFI Staff in Arras. It should be noted that as well as the explosives, the teams of saboteurs used unexploded bombs, found everywhere after the allied bombings, and defused. SABOTAGE ACTIONS Sabotage was co-ordinated between the OCM and FTP groups. From September 1943 to March 1944 these teams achieved:
In March 1944 'our' gendarmes at Frevent told us that Charles DUQUENNOY alias "Freddy", who was responsible for FTP groups, was very actively sought by the French and German police forces. Restricted by the inaction in the sector, he received an order from his chiefs to leave the Northern Area and join the Eastern Area where he was later killed during a direct attack against the Germans. His groups were taken over by the FTP HQ at Bassin Minier, except for some isolated groups which were involved with the OCM in forest of Lucheux. THE EVENTS OF FEBRUARY AND MARCH 1944 There was a certain excitement at headquarters and responsables level for the start of the invasion, which we were convinced would take place on the beaches of the Pas-de-Calais (of course, we know now that it was one of the aspects of the allied operation known as "Operation Fortitude" which succeeded in deceiving even the German High command). Consequently, we multiplied our sources of intelligence on the enemy activity, and proceeded with the installation of the action plans:
We especially intensified the sabotage actions when, on June 5 and 6, the BBC sent successive 'action' messages:
And so from March 1944 to 1 September 1944 the AI (Action Immédiate) groups of the OCM achieved:
PAMPHLETS/LEAFLETS AND THE CLANDESTINE PRESS To all these activities it is necessary to add the distribution of the leaflets and especially of the clandestine press, La Voix du Nord and Le Patriote which reached us rather irregularly:
In contrast, les responsables quite regularly received information from "Les Cahiers de l'OCM".
From 31 August 1944, knowing about the quickly advancing movement of the British tanks of the 7th English Armoured Division of the 12th Army Corps of Lieutenant-General RITCHIE, all the Resistance groups began guerrilla actions aiming seizing the greatest possible number of enemy soldiers, or if not, then slowing down their retreat. The faulty tyres (crève-pneus) manufactured by some of our companions resulted in a considerable number of their vehicles being immobilized during their retreat. Tired, demoralized, disabled, and cut off from their units, many Germans went without firing a shot, and those soldiers without uniforms simply wearing an arm-band with the "Cross of Lorraine". The weapons recovered from them made it possible to equip the majority of the volunteers who spontaneously came to join us. On the other hand certain enemy groups were still well structured and opposed us with an obstinate resistance, causing significant losses in our ranks:
In total: 13 killed + 13 wounded (cf Appendix 7: FFI volunteers killed and wounded during the Fight for Freedom). The 950 German prisoners captured in the whole of the sector testify to the effectiveness of the Battle for Liberation carried out by our Resistance groups and those Patriotic Militia who spontaneously came to join us to evict the occupant Germans from Ternois. The majority of these young FFI volunteers were gathered into the "Compagnie de Marche FREVENT" at the Château de Gargan and integrated in 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 33ème regiment of Motorized Infantry. They continued the fight around the pockets of Boulogne and Dunkirk before joining the 1st Division of French Infantry on operations in southern Germany.
Since 1942, the German police forces (Gestapo and Feldgendarmerie), aware of the importance of Resistance in Ternois tried, with the assistance of some traitors and paid informers, to dismantle our organisations and networks. They managed to arrest several of our companions with important responsibilities in our clandestine organizations, but never managed to destroy them. On the contrary, the actions of resistance become increasingly frequent. For tougher repression, in May 1944 the Gestapo requisitioned a whole wing of the home of Mrs CAUWET-DEWAZIERES at Rue Houbart in FREVENT to install an information unit with four French informers, which resulted in new arrests among our companions. Altogether, 29 résistants were arrested in the sector of Frévent, Saint-Pol and Auxi le Chateau:
(cf Appendix 8: Deportees and internees of the Resistance: details of the arrests and losses in the sector)
This talk of the resistant activities of the sector of FREVENT, ST POL, AUXI and AVESNES shows that the inspiration given to the teams by the local founders in 1942 of the above mentioned organisations and networks was very effective. The assessment of the actions is remarkably positive compared to the losses suffered; German repression having been limited by the obstinate silence of our comrades arrested by Gestapo. Certainly the main objective for us was direct action against the enemy war machine, but to conclude, I believe that I need to honestly evoke what such an engagement could, on the human level, bring to the young people which we were then. For us, La Résistance was, above all, one total engagement with all that such an engagement can bring of sacrifices and enthusiasm, sorrows and joys. War crushes youth, La Résistance exalted ours. For those few years, the young résistants that we then were, lived so intensely that it is always engraved in our memory with same acuity. This period remains the most filled of our life, as much by the diversity and the extent of the activities as by the richness and the plenitude of emotions. The arrest of one of our companions, sometimes of one of our parents, the rigour of the fate which awaited them, twisted us to tears of the heart. The fear tortured us to the marrow. But I never again experienced the deep joy I felt when I first heard a personal message sent from London; the confident glance, full of hope, of the allied airman shot down and recovered from the clutches of the enemy; the vision of parachutes opening in the moonlight of a beautiful summer's night; the landing of a small Lysander and the frank smile of the pilot with his friendly salute, proof of the same combat which linked us for the final victory ... and so much more … other events. "Sir you had the chance, while you were still young, to have been able to work for a noble cause." That is what a pupil said to me during the preparation for a School Contest of the Résistance, when I came to answer the many questions. I believe there is no better conclusion on this modest subject; and one understands then why any oppression generated, still generates and will always generate, La Résistance.
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