André Marsac was a member of the French resistance organisation known as the CARTE network or circuit, based in

Cannes Cannes (, ; , ; ) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions Internatio ...

, organised by André Girard. Marsac acted as a

courier A courier is a person or organization that delivers a message, package or letter from one place or person to another place or person. Typically, a courier provides their courier service on a commercial contract basis; however, some couriers are ...

. In November 1942 Marsac was travelling on a train from

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

carrying a briefcase containing a list prepared by Girard of 200 potential resistance fighters, with full descriptions of their identity and locations. His briefcase was stolen by an agent of the

Abwehr The (German language, German for ''resistance'' or ''defence'', though the word usually means ''counterintelligence'' in a military context) ) was the German military intelligence , military-intelligence service for the ''Reichswehr'' and the ...

while he dozed off, and the CARTE network was fatally weakened.''

Duel of Wits Duel of Wits is a book written by Peter Churchill, DSO, Croix de Guerre, published in 1953. It was the second of three books describing his wartime experience in the French section of the Special Operations Executive in which he was infiltrated ...

'', Peter Churchill, Hodder and Stoughton, 1953''Flames in the Fields'', Rita Kramer, Penguin Books, 1966 Marsac was arrested in Paris by German intelligence officer ‘Colonel Henri’

Hugo Bleicher Hugo Bleicher (August 9, 1899 – August, 1982) was a sergeant in Nazi Germany's Abwehr (military intelligence agency) assigned to the Geheime Feldpolizei (secret field police) in German-occupied France during World War II. Described as a "super s ...

who put him in Fresnes prison, where he convinced Marsac that he was an anti-

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

German officer and could help release him, but this would require the help of a fellow agent. Marsac wrote a letter to

Roger Bardet Roger Julien Bardet (14 March 1916 – 7 April 1972) was a member of the French resistance organisation known as CARTE, based in Cannes, organised by André Girard. He was betrayed by a fellow agent and became a double agent. In November 1942 C ...

asking him to visit him in prison to discuss his escape. Armed with this letter and another to Marsac’s wife, Bleicher set off for

Saint-Jorioz Saint-Jorioz (; ), located on the western banks of lake Annecy, is a Communes of France, commune in the Haute-Savoie Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region in south-eastern France. Population Wo ...

on the banks of

Lake Annecy Lake Annecy (, ) is a perialpine lake in Haute-Savoie in France. It is named after the city of Annecy, which marks the start of the Thiou, Lake Annecy's outflow river.Jean-Daniel Stanley and Thomas F. Jorstad, ''Direct Sediment Dispersal from Moun ...

where

Peter Churchill Peter Morland Churchill, Croix de Guerre (1909 – 1972) was a British Special Operations Executive (SOE) officer in France during the Second World War. His wartime operations, which resulted in his capture and imprisonment in German concentrat ...

had relocated the SPINDLE network, to meet Mme Marsac and persuaded her to come to Paris. He also evaluated the rest of the resistance group, noting the inadequate security measures they adopted. On Bleicher’s return to Fresnes prison he was able to persuade Marsac to hand over a list of about 20 addresses of circuits in

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

and elsewhere, which were previously completely unknown to the Germans. London’s response to Bardet’s request for air transport for Marsac and ‘Colonel Henri’ was to refuse outright and insist that he immediately break off contact with Marsac and ‘Colonel Henri’, however Bardet ignored the orders and returned to Paris where he was arrested by Bleicher, along with a number of other agents. After a series of casual daily talks in Marsac’s cell and information provided by Bardet, Bleicher knew just about all there was to know about the SPINDLE network, and in April 1943 he returned to Saint-Jorioz where he arrested Peter Churchill and

Odette Sansom Odette Marie Léonie Céline Hallowes, (née Brailly; 28 April 1912 – 13 March 1995), also known as Odette Churchill and Odette Sansom, code named Lise, was an agent for the United Kingdom's clandestine Special Operations Executive (SOE) in ...

and subsequently transferred them to Fresnes prison, where they were subjected to brutal interrogation and torture before being transferred to concentration camps, but both were to survive the war, whereas the majority of captured SOE F Section agents were executed.The

Valençay SOE Memorial The Valençay SOE Memorial is a monument in France to the members of the Special Operations Executive F Section who died working to liberate the country during World War II. The memorial was unveiled in the town of Valençay, in the Departments o ...

commemorates the members of the Special Operations Executive F Section who lost their lives.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marsac, Andre French Resistance members