Réseau AGIR | |
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![]() AGIR provided HUMINT on V-1 flying bomb "ski sites", e.g., some had launch ramps ("P", bottom),[1] here Maisoncelle.[2][not in citation given] In 1974, the "Maison-Ponthieu site" still had the treelines and ski-shaped buildings depicted in this diagram.[3]:6 | |
Active | began 1941[citation needed] |
Country | Occupied France |
Allegiance | Allies of World War II |
Type | French Resistance |
Role | Human intelligence (espionage) |
Size | >100[4] informants, a few agents[citation needed] |
The Réseau AGIR (English: ACT Network) was a World War II espionage group founded[5] by French wartime resister Michel Hollard that provided human intelligence on V-1 flying bomb facilities. Hollard smuggled information to the British military attaché in Bern, Switzerland, from Occupied France making ninety-eight trips from 1941 through February 1944 when he was betrayed and arrested.[6] After a September 7, 1943, Ultra intercept identified that an agent tasked with gathering V-weapon intelligence had been captured, Réseau AGIR member Olivier Giran was captured and executed in 1943.[7] On 5 February 1944, Michel Hollard and 4 other AGIR agents (including Henri Dujarier) were arrested during a cafe meeting on the Rue du Faubourg-Saint-Denis[citation needed] (Hollard received the "bath treatment" (torture) by the Milice.)[7][verification needed]
V-1 espionage[]
An AGIR railway engineer at Rouen[citation needed] reported in 1943 unusual constructions in Upper Normandy, and Michel Hollard's report of September 1943 to the British Secret Intelligence Service identified six V-1 flying bomb facilities: "Bonnetot [sic] le Faubourg, Auffray [sic], Totes, Ribeaucourt, Maison Ponthieu and Bois Carre".[3] A more detailed report in October about Bois Carré claimed it had "a concrete platform with centre axis pointing directly to London".[7] AGIR reconnoitered 104 V-1 facilities and helped pinpointing[verification needed] the Watten bunker, the first V-2 launching site.[6] AGIR also provided sketches of V-1 launching sites such as one by André Comps of Bois Carré (English: square woods) labeled "La position de Maisons" and B2.[7] Hollard had the site infiltrated by Comps, who copied "the blueprints"[3]:3—a copy of the compass swinging building blueprint and the Bois Carré sketch were published in 1978.[7]
Post-war[]
AGIR agents received various British and French military awards (including Hollard's DSO for V-1 espionage),[8] and Hollard's biographies provide AGIR history.[9] In 2009, Joseph Brocard was the last surviving AGIR participant.[10]
References[]
- Citations
- ↑ Gurney, Gene (Major, USAF) (1962). The War in the Air: a pictorial history of World War II Air Forces in combat. New York: Bonanza Books. p. 184. "The launching ramp (P) had a double track enclosed in concrete walls."
- ↑ Bauer, Eddy (1972) [1966]. Illustrated World War II Encyclopedia. Vol 15. H. S. Stuttman Inc.. pp. 2059, 2068. ISBN 0-87475-520-4. "[need quotation to verify]"
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "The V-Weapons". 1974. pp. 3, 14, 16. http://www.afterthebattle.com/ab-con1.html#index.
- ↑ Lee 2001
- ↑ "Michel Hollard: Heros de la Resistance" (in French). http://www.michel-hollard.com. Retrieved 2010-02-09.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Jeffery, Keith (2010). MI6 : the history of the Secret Intelligence Service 1909-1949. London : New York: Bloomsbury. ISBN 978-0-7475-9183-2. http://books.google.com/books?id=_bZZIVf5YxAC&pg=PA535#v=onepage&q&f=false.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 Jones, R. V. (1978). Most Secret War: British Scientific Intelligence 1939-1945. London: Hamish Hamilton. pp. 300, 362–3. ISBN 0-241-89746-7. "at Bonnetot le Fauborg [Comps] succeeded in copying the plans of every building at the Bois Carré site" (p. 362)
- ↑ Distinguished Service Order citation for Michel Hollard. 1945. "Hollard, at great personal risk, reconnoitered a number of heavily guarded V1 sites and reported on them with such clarity that models were constructed which enabled effective[1] bombing to be carried out."
- ↑ Martelli 1960
- ↑ "Last remaining member of resistance network dies". Radio France Internationale. http://www.rfi.fr/actuen/articles/110/article_2898.asp. Retrieved 2010-02-09.
- Bibliography
- Lee, Bruce (2001). Marching orders: the untold story of World War II. http://books.google.com/books?id=CAN54NcnjcMC&pg=PA226. Retrieved 2010-02-11.
- Martelli, George (1960) (in French). Agent extraordinary: the story of Michel Hollard, D. S. O., Croix de guerre. Collins. OCLC 1349946.
The original article can be found at Réseau AGIR and the edit history here.