Bernard Anquetil (1916–1941) was a

French Resistance The French Resistance ( ) was a collection of groups that fought the German military administration in occupied France during World War II, Nazi occupation and the Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy#France, collaborationist Vic ...

and a

Compagnon de la Libération The Order of Liberation (, ) is a French Order which was awarded to heroes of the Liberation of France during World War II. It is a worn by recipients only before the ''Légion d’Honneur'' (Legion of Honour). In the official portrait of Gen ...

Career

Bernard Anquetil embarked on the Ouessant submarine in June 1940, refit at the arsenal of Brest; when the Germans occupied the city, the crew of the submarine was dispersed. Anquetil found a job as a radio repairman in

Angers Angers (, , ;) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the Prefectures of France, prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Duchy of Anjou, Anjou until the French Revolution. The i ...

. It was there that, recommended by the former Ouessant second officer,

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

Philippon (future

vice-admiral Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral. Australia In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of vic ...

of the squadron), he met

Colonel Rémy Gilbert Renault (6 August 1904 – 29 July 1984), known by the nom de guerre Colonel Rémy, was a notable French secret agent active during the Second World War and was known under various pseudonyms such as ''Raymond'', ''Jean-Luc'', ''Morin'', '' ...

and with enthusiasm, Bernard Anquetil accepted to join the BCRA network in the process of being set up, to ensure radio links with

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. With his transmitter, he moved to a discreet family, Les Combes in

Saumur Saumur () is a Communes of France, commune in the Maine-et-Loire Departments of France, department in western France. The town is located between the Loire and Thouet rivers, and is surrounded by the vineyards of Saumur itself, Chinon, Bourgu ...

. The messages it transmitted mainly concerned the movements of

Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official military branch, branche ...

ships in Brest, their damage and their availability, such as the characteristics and movements of the German battleship Bismark, which by these actions was sunk off Brest on 27 May 1941. It was in this way in particular that the

Scharnhorst was a German capital ship, alternatively described as a battleship or battlecruiser, of Nazi Germany's ''Kriegsmarine''. She was the lead ship of her class, which included her sister ship . The ship was built at the ''Kriegsmarinewerft'' doc ...

departure was also reported in July 1941, which enabled the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

to attack it successfully. However, German

radio direction finder Direction finding (DF), radio direction finding (RDF), or radiogoniometry is the use of radio waves to determine the direction to a radio source. The source may be a cooperating radio transmitter or may be an inadvertent source, a natural ...

s eventually located the transmitter and on 30 July, precisely following the Scharnhorst message, Anquetil was arrested and transferred to Fresnes.

Sentenced to death Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...

on 15 October, he refused to reveal the origin and content of the messages transmitted, despite the promise of the court's support for a pardon. On 24 October 1941 he was shot at Fort Mont-Valérien. He is buried in the cemetery of

Montrouge Montrouge () is a Communes of France, commune in the southern Parisian suburbs, located from the centre of Paris. It is one of the most densely populated municipalities in Europe. After a long period of decline, the population has increased agai ...

, in the “square of the executed”. After the war, his body joined the family vault of

Colleville-sur-Mer Colleville-sur-Mer (, literally ''Colleville on Sea'') is a commune in the Calvados department in Normandie region in northwestern France. History It was originally a farm owned by a certain ''Koli'', a Scandinavian settler in the Middle ...

in the department of

Calvados Calvados (, , ) is a brandy from Normandy in France, made from apples and/or pears. History In France Apple orchards and brewers are mentioned as far back as the 8th century by Charlemagne. The first known record of Norman distillation was ma ...

Awards

Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 Croix (French for "cross") may refer to: Belgium * Croix-lez-Rouveroy, a village in municipality of Estinnes in the province of Hainaut France * Croix, Nord, in the Nord department * Croix, Territoire de Belfort, in the Territoire de Belfort d ...

Médaille de la Résistance The Resistance Medal (, ) was a decoration bestowed by the French Committee of National Liberation, based in the United Kingdom, during World War II. It was established by a decree of General Charles de Gaulle on 9 February 1943 "to recognize the ...

Legacy

* A French

D'Estienne d'Orves-class aviso The ''D'Estienne d'Orves''-class avisos, also known as the A69 type avisos, is a Ship class, class of French Navy avisos, comparable in size to a light corvette, mainly designed for coastal anti-submarine defence, but are also available for high s ...

has been named after him. * A street along the beach of

Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer (, literally ''Saint-Laurent on Sea'') is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France. The town is located not far from Omaha Beach, where, in World War II, Allied forces landed dur ...

(neighboring town of

) has been named after him since the 1990s.

Notes

*Hubert Granier, "History of French sailors: World War II and the first revolts in the Empire, 1940-1945" (2008) *Pierre de Longuemar, “Memorial 1939-1945: the commitment of members of the nobility and their allies” (2001) *Georges-Marc Benamou, “The rebels of the year 40” (2010) *Remy, "An Epic of the Resistance ...: In France, Belgium and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg" (1981) *Henri Darrieus, Jean Quéguiner, “History of the French Navy: 1922-1942” (1996) *"In that time, de Gaulle, Volume 1" (1971)

References

External links