Understanding Escape: the Development of the British-Led Escape Organisation, the Pat Line, 1940-1942
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Heavily Father, my PhD is committed to You. You have made it possible. Glory to God. In Jesus name, Amen. Understanding escape: the development of the British-led escape organisation, the Pat Line, 1940-1942 by Catherine Theresa Bergin THESIS FOR THE DEGREE OF PHD DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY Maynooth University NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF IRELAND MAYNOOTH Head of Department: Dr Jacinta Prunty Supervisor of Research: Dr David Murphy 2015 Table of Contents Acknowledgements i Abbreviations ii Introduction 1 Chapter One Escape as resistance: the impact of the British presence in 17 occupied France Chapter Two Overcoming isolation: British escapees in Vichy France 82 Chapter Three Crossing the Pyrenees: diplomacy in Vichy France and 129 British escape activities Chapter Four Promoting an escaping culture: the attitude of French 175 Military and Secret Services Conclusion 219 Bibliography 230 Acknowledgements I would particularly like to thank my supervisor, Dr David Murphy, for his help and support. I would also like to thank Dr Alison Farrell for her time and advice. The Department of History including the secretaries Ann Donoghue and Catherine Heslin were also helpful to me in countless ways. Thank you. I would also like to thank Professor Marian Lyons for all her encouragement. I would also like to express my gratitude to the head of the Department of History, Dr Jacinta Prunty. Much of my time at Maynooth was spent in the library and therefore, I would like to thank the staff for all their support over the years. I would like to extend a special thank you to IT Services, and in particular Niamh and Andreas Boldt. I would also like to extend my gratitude to staff at the National Library of Scotland, the British Library and the National Archives, Kew who were generous with their time and knowledge of the archives. Equally, I would like to offer sincere thanks to the staff at the Service Historique de la Défense and Le Mémorial de Caen. I would like to thank Luke Diver, Bronagh McShane, Jennifer Halton, Fearghal Duffy, Alan Carthy, Alice Hughes, Richard Hyland, James McCafferty, Avril Burbridge, David Collins, Veronica Cluxton-Corley, Martin Lennon, Ruby White, Jacqueline Crowley, Anthony (Post Office) Hughes, Eugene Dunne, Fiona Gallagher and Fergal Donoghue for sharing this journey with me. Their friendship has been invaluable. Anthony and Eugene provided many comic highlights during the long hours spent in the library. To my family and friends, ‘thank you’ does not even begin to express the gratitude for all your help and support. To my sister, Tina Bergin, (my travel agent and nutritionist), my Mum (my P.A.), my Dad (my banker), my aunt and uncle, Ann Coyne Nevin and Brian Nevin (my supporters), my aunt, Rosemary Coyne (my coach and emotional supporter!) and my team of Leixlip ladies (Sheena Byrne, Edel Chadwick, Jennifer McGarry, Linda Collins, Melissa Egan and Olive O’Connor), I could not have imagined undertaking this journey without your support. You have my eternal love and gratitude. i Abbreviations Archives Nationale, Paris A.N. Bureaux for Anti-National Affairs B.M.A. Military Attaché M.A. National Archives, Kew N.A. National Archives, Washington N.A. Washington Non- commissioned officer N.C.O. Other Ranks O.R. Private Pte. Prisoner of war POW Royal Air Force R.A.F Royal Army Service Corps R.A.S.C. Service Historique de la Défense SHD Senior British officer SBO War Office W.O. ii Introduction This thesis seeks to identify and examine the dynamics and processes underpinning the emergence and protraction of British-led escape activities in France during the period 1940-42. From the outset of this research, it quickly became clear that Second World War escape histories had, rather ironically, captured popular imagination. For five years, when explaining the research to those curious enough to ask, quips about movies such as The Great Escape and Von Ryan’s Express or long- running sitcoms such as ’Allo ’Allo quickly worked their way into the conversation. Admittedly, this had one advantage; it provided a discussion point and frame of reference for the topic and piqued general interest. Yet such popular impressions of escape activities during the war had a number of downfalls; the subject of escape was not considered ‘real’ or ‘serious’ history. One local journalist ventured to describe the study of such history as ‘barmy’. In a way, this response is understandable particularly considering that researchers in the field have done little to correct this interpretation. This problem is further compounded by the lack of academic research on the topic, as will be discussed later. Much of the written popular histories on British escape activities and civilian efforts to help these men retain an element of a Hollywood-meets-history appeal. This is not to argue that the facts of these popular histories are necessarily inaccurate but the aim is often related to glorifying the individuals involved rather than understanding why and how such organisations developed. In order to move away from such histories, this research focuses on the social, political, diplomatic and military factors leading to the development of escape organisations aiding British servicemen and airmen during the period 1940-42, after which time escape activities were severely curtailed with the German occupation of the whole of France in November 1942. The primary focus of this thesis is centred on one organisation, commonly known as the ‘Pat Line’, so named after a nom de guerre of one of its chief organisers, Pat O’Leary (Albert Guerisse). The ‘Pat Line’ developed in early 1941 to pass men across the Pyrenees and into Spain. Arguably, ‘Pat’ reached its apogee in the summer of 1942 with connections not only across France but also with London. Through its connections with the latter, the ‘Pat Line’ also established links with the Coastal Watching Flotilla (CWF), a Polish group operating in the 1 Mediterranean.1 In tandem with the CWF, the leadership of the Pat Line successfully arranged a serious of sea evacuations of British military personnel in hiding along the south western French coastline, at Canet Plage. For the most part, the ‘Pat Line’ or, in French, ‘le reseau Pat’ is understood as a resistance network. Resistance scholarship usually distinguishes between ‘networks’ and ‘movements’.2 A movement was considered as inspiring a wide appeal and was usually associated with distribution of a newspaper. In this respect, movements often had political overtones with newspapers acting as a medium to disseminate ideas. This was opposed to networks which were involved in more specific, covert, military-type activity such as committing acts of sabotage, gathering intelligence or aiding escape. Yet the use of the word ‘network’ in relation to escape activities is problematic. Applying the term network to describe ‘Pat’ oversimplifies the development of the organisation giving the idea of a small group of individuals in one area coming together to form an escape line. This was not the case with ‘Pat’ stretching from Pas de Calais right to Marseilles and into the Pyrenees. Instead, ‘Pat’ developed from the separate work of small ,localised escape efforts concentrated in cities such as Lille, Paris and Marseilles that eventually connecting with one another. Establishing connections outside local areas was not an easy task. The Franco-German Armistice, although ending hostilities, compounded these difficulties. France was loosely divided into two zones, the Occupied Zone in the north which also ran along the west coast and the Unoccupied Zone in the south of France. While German military authorities administered the Occupied Zone, the Unoccupied Zone retained some semblance of sovereignty with a nominally independent French government located at the spa town of Vichy. A third division of France included the Forbidden Zone, 1 Brooks Richard, Secret flotillas volume II: clandestine sea operations in the Mediterranean, North Africa and the Adriatic 1940-1944 (London and Oregon, 2004). 2 See Julian Jackson, France; the dark years 1940-1945 (Oxford, 2001), pp 408-10. According to another researcher, Phillip Le Blanc, the term ‘network’ and ‘movement’ are contestable. In a private communication Le Blanc informed this author that ‘networks were called organisations until 1945’. His argument has been confirmed in this research. In the contemporary sources the term network is rarely used. 2 encapsulating the Nord and Pas de Calais region and governed by the German military administration of Belgium (see figure 1).3 Fig 1. Map of France 1940-42: Eric Alary, La ligne de démarcation (Paris, 2009) p. 468. Thus, even in terms of geography, crossing various frontiers made the emergence of a unified escape network difficult. As will be demonstrated in chapter two, it was only when a number of British officers reached the Unoccupied Zone, organising escape 3 Eric Alary, La ligne de démarcation (Paris, 2009), pp 33-4. In addition to these zones, Alsace-Lorraine was annexed directly to Germany. Italy also received a small portion of French territory in the south-west along the Franco-Italian border. However, these zones will not be looked at in detail in this study as there is no evidence of significant British escape activity. 3 activities there and maintaining links with civilian helpers in the north that an escape network, which ultimately after the war became known as the ‘Pat’ line or the Pat O’Leary network, developed. Considering this, it is important to understand that for a significant period during its development, the ‘Pat Line’ consisted mainly of loosely- connected smaller groups in the Forbidden and Occupied Zone. These groups passed men across the demarcation line into unoccupied France. The ‘Pat Line’ did not emerge until the summer of 1941 when British escape organisers in unoccupied France began to connect with, and direct the activities, of these northern groups.