Jean Savy
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Jean Savy (4 December 1906 – 17 June 1993) was a French citizen and a
commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...
in the
French army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (, , ), is the principal Army, land warfare force of France, and the largest component of the French Armed Forces; it is responsible to the Government of France, alongside the French Navy, Fren ...
.


Early life

William Jean Savy was born in
Sarcelles Sarcelles () is a Communes of France, commune in the northern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the Kilometre Zero#France, centre of Paris. Sarcelles is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the Val-d'Oise Departments of Franc ...
, Seine-et-Oise, France on 4 December 1906. He attended l'Ecole des Science Politique in
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 ...
and read Law. After completing his studies, he practiced Law.


Special Operations Executive

Savy was interviewed by Colonel Buckmaster and was recruited by the
Special Operations Executive Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a British organisation formed in 1940 to conduct espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance in German-occupied Europe and to aid local Resistance during World War II, resistance movements during World War II. ...
. Jean Savy was given the pseudonym Jean Millet.


The Wizard Network

The main brief by the SOE was to form an organisation for the furnishing of safe houses for the reception of teams of
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
officers after
D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during the Second World War. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...
. Savy worked undercover as a
solicitor A solicitor is a lawyer who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and enabled to p ...
in
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 ...
and rented an office from a Monsieur Gieules (aka "Marcellin"). The
Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...
was aware of this. One night in a brave act of courage, Gieules raced from his office to the Métro station where Jean Savy was about to descend and informed him that the Gestapo was waiting for him. On the 19/20 July 1943 Savy and Antelme, both now hunted, were expatriated from France by
Lysander Lysander (; ; 454 BC – 395 BC) was a Spartan military and political leader. He destroyed the Athenian fleet at the Battle of Aegospotami in 405 BC, forcing Athens to capitulate and bringing the Peloponnesian War to an end. He then played ...
operation near Tour (
Tours Tours ( ; ) is the largest city in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabita ...
?). Meanwhile, Monsieur Gieules had been arrested and deported to
Mittelbau-Dora Mittelbau-Dora (also Dora-Mittelbau and Nordhausen-Dora) was a Nazi concentration camp located near Nordhausen in Thuringia, Germany. It was established in late summer 1943 as a subcamp of Buchenwald concentration camp, supplying slave labour f ...
, a concentration camp.


Operation Mitchel

After the arrests of
Madeleine Damerment Madeleine Zoe Damerment (11 November 1917 – 13 September 1944) was a French agent of the United Kingdom's clandestine Special Operations Executive (SOE) organization during World War II. The purpose of SOE was to conduct espionage, sabotage, ...
,
France Antelme Major Joseph Antoine France Antelme OBE (12 March 1900 – 1944), no. 239255, was one of 14 Franco-Mauritians who served in the Special Operations Executive (SOE), a World War II British secret service that sent espionage agents, saboteurs and guer ...
and Lionel Lee in February 1944, Savy volunteered to return to France. On 2 March 1944 he arrived near
Châteauroux Châteauroux ( ; ; ) is the capital city of the French department of Indre, central France and the second-largest town in the province of Berry, after Bourges. Its residents are called ''Castelroussins'' () in French. Climate Châteauroux te ...
and was received by 'Greyhound'. Savy was accompanied by
Jacqueline Nearne Jacqueline Nearne MBE (27 May 1916 – 15 August 1982), code named Jacqueline and Josette, was an agent for the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) in Nazi-occupied France during World War II. The purpose of SOE was to conduct espionage ...
's sister Eileen Nearne (ROSE) as his wireless operator. Savy was on a particularly dangerous mission. He was to form a large and widespread organisation, the establishment and arrangement for the reception and utilisation of uniformed teams to be sent into France by parachute on and after D-Day. Savy was a prominent figure in French legal circles and very well known, in addition he suffered from a badly disfigured arm, which rendered him conspicuous. In spite of this and with the knowledge that he was posted as wanted by the Gestapo, he displayed a complete disregard of personal danger and traveled extensively in order to visit a large number of contacts and leaders - themselves marked men - in order to make sure of the sound foundation of his plans. Antelme's arrest disrupted his plans for pursuing supply and financial contacts; seeking to make himself useful, he stumbled accidentally on a piece of intelligence so important that he left Paris, Miss Nearne and a second operator Jean Gernard Maury (Arnaud) and returned to
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 ...
. (The two operators attached themselves to 'Spiritualist'). Savy's information was about a large secret ammunition dump in stone quarries at Saint Leu d'Esserent. He had discovered precise details of its site and, more important of its content: 2000 V1 rockets, ready to fire.


Awards

Savy was appointed as a member of The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire and awarded the
Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...
, the
Croix de Guerre The (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awarded during World ...
, and the
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 ...
by the French government.


References


Sources


SOE French Section
* http://perso.orange.fr/redtarget * ''They Landed by Moonlight'' by
Hugh Verity Hugh Verity, (6 April 1918 – 14 November 2001) was a Royal Air Force fighter pilot and later a "special duties" squadron pilot working with the Special Operations Executive (SOE) during World War II. He landed many times at clandestine airfie ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Savy, Jean 1906 births 1993 deaths French Army officers Place of death missing French Resistance members Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France) Recipients of the Legion of Honour Recipients of the Resistance Medal French Special Operations Executive personnel