Description
Object description
Collection of documents (in English, French and German) relating to his service with SOE in occupied France (September 1942 – September 1944) when he was parachuted into the Clermont Ferrand area as an F Section agent (September 1942) to organise operations, before his arrest and imprisonment by the Germans (October 1942 – early 1944) until his escape and return to the UK (March 1944) and his second mission in the Le Mans region as 'Albin' of the 'Headmaster' Circuit (April – August 1944), including forged identity cards and papers, travel documents (1942 – 1944), ration books and coupons for his various aliases ('Jacques Etienne Laroche', 'Michel Puisais'), (seemingly obtained in France rather than supplied before his departure), two ts forms (2pp, 10 and 16 October 1942) regarding his ill health when taken prisoner of war, several laissez passers for himself and his fellow agent, exemptions from security restrictions and requests for assistance (August – September 1944) issued by the US Army as they passed through their lines during his second mission; together with ms notes (3pp, September 1997) describing his role in the Headmaster Circuit and their aim after the Normandy Landings to ambush German lines of communication in the countryside to the south and east of Le Mans and the formation of a maquis group in the Foret de Charnie to the north and west, which was unfortunately soon after discovered and attacked by the Germans; ts letter from J de la Rochefordiere to the Special Forces Club (3pp, 18 December 1996) requesting news about Hudson with whom he had come into contact during his second mission, outlining his own role in the operation and the Resistance and his interrogation by the Gestapo (June 1944) and photocopy of ts article by M Legendre (in French, 8pp, 1997) on SOE operations in the Le Mans area with ms notes on accuracy of its content by Hudson and ms covering letter (1p, 9 September 1997) from de la Rochefordiere about Legendre who had witnessed events; together with annotated map (scale 1:25000) of the Foret de Charnie and 17 colour photographs (taken and labelled by de la Rochefordiere) of the forest and the chateau des Bordeaux which briefly acted as headquarters for the operation.
Content description
Collection of documents (in English, French and German) relating to his service with SOE in occupied France (September 1942 – September 1944) when he was parachuted into the Clermont Ferrand area as an F Section agent (September 1942) to organise operations, before his arrest and imprisonment by the Germans (October 1942 – early 1944) until his escape and return to the UK (March 1944) and his second mission in the Le Mans region as 'Albin' of the 'Headmaster' Circuit (April – August 1944), including forged identity cards and papers, travel documents (1942 – 1944), ration books and coupons for his various aliases ('Jacques Etienne Laroche', 'Michel Puisais'), (seemingly obtained in France rather than supplied before his departure), two ts forms (2pp, 10 and 16 October 1942) regarding his ill health when taken prisoner of war, several laissez passers for himself and his fellow agent, exemptions from security restrictions and requests for assistance (August – September 1944) issued by the US Army as they passed through their lines during his second mission; together with ms notes (3pp, September 1997) describing his role in the Headmaster Circuit and their aim after the Normandy Landings to ambush German lines of communication in the countryside to the south and east of Le Mans and the formation of a maquis group in the Foret de Charnie to the north and west, which was unfortunately soon after discovered and attacked by the Germans; ts letter from J de la Rochefordiere to the Special Forces Club (3pp, 18 December 1996) requesting news about Hudson with whom he had come into contact during his second mission, outlining his own role in the operation and the Resistance and his interrogation by the Gestapo (June 1944) and photocopy of ts article by M Legendre (in French, 8pp, 1997) on SOE operations in the Le Mans area with ms notes on accuracy of its content by Hudson and ms covering letter (1p, 9 September 1997) from de la Rochefordiere about Legendre who had witnessed events; together with annotated map (scale 1:25000) of the Foret de Charnie and 17 colour photographs (taken and labelled by de la Rochefordiere) of the forest and the chateau des Bordeaux which briefly acted as headquarters for the operation.
History note
Cataloguer KM