Paul Badré (pɔl badʁe, 1906-2000) was a French aircraft pilot and aeronautical engineer who fought in the Second World War.
A member of Georges Ronin's intelligence service, he radioed information to the Allies from his village of Bellerive, near Vichy. His clandestine broadcasts continued until his departure for Algiers after Operation Torch. He was sent to London in 1943 as liaison officer with MI6 and Colonel Passy’s BCRA. In the summer of 1944, he commanded a bomber squadron during Operation Dragoon.
Biography Paul Badré was born in Saint-Saëns on May 22, 1906. He was the son of Claire Maire (1884-1934) and forester Louis Badré (1875-1969), officer of the Legion of Honour.Louis Badré was a veteran of the Great War, decorated with the US Army Distinguished Service Medal and the War Cross.Louis Badré's file (1875-1969) at the National Archives He was the eldest of six children: Louis BadréBrother-in-law of général Zeller. They were the parents of Denis Badré, and the grandparents of businessman Bertrand Badré. (director of the National Forests OfficeLouis Badré’s file (1907-2001) at the BNF bnf.fr/en/12587186/louis_badre/en.pdf“A History of French Forest”, Le Monde of December 8, 1983), Jean Badré (Vicar for the French Army and Bishop of Bayeux), Jacques Badré (priest of SemalléLocal residents celebrate Father Badré's 100th birthday ouest-france.fr/normandie/semalle-61250/des-habitants-fetent-les-100-ans-du-pere-badre-3227029), Charles Badré (known as Father Jean, a Benedictine monk killed in Cambodia by the Khmer Rouge in 1975With Paul Tep Im Sotha.) and Marie Badré.
In 1926, Paul Badré entered the École Polytechnique in Paris.Paul Badré, Alumni de l'École Polytechnique le=2021-08-09 Two years later, he joined the French Air Force, serving as a second lieutenant at the Military and Aeronautical School in Versailles. He obtained his pilot's license in 1929 and joined the 21st Aviation Regiment in Nancy.Marcel Catillon, Qui était qui ? Mémorial de l'aéronautique, Nouvelles Editions Latines, 2004, vol 2, p.18-19.
Test Pilot In the spring of 1935, Paul Badré was transferred (at the same time as Constantin Rozanoff) to the Aircraft test center of the Villacoublay Air Base. He flew on Bloch MB.220, Douglas DC-2, Potez 540 and Leo 45 prototypes.
At the time of the Munich Agreement, in September 1938, he carried out a reconnaissance mission for the Secret Intelligence Service and the “Air” section of the Deuxième Bureau (commanded by his friend Georges Ronin). Captain Badré photographed the Alps and the Po Valley 10 kilometers above the ground, aboard a Potez 540.Jean Bezy, Le SR Air, éditions France Empire, 1979, p.22.
WWII At the start of the French Mobilization, on September 1, 1939, he was assigned to the Orléans Air Base. In December, he was sent to Scotland (at RAF Leuchars, then commanded by Brian Edmund Baker) for flight testing of new radar technologies. In the spring of 1940, at the request of the Air Staff, he visited bomber squadrons in the South-West of France to monitor pilot training on Leo 45.At this time he made the acquaintance of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. On the eve of the Armistice, he took off for Oran (Algeria). There, he reunited with Georges Ronin, who decided to rebuild an intelligence service in France in touch with the British.
As a German speaker, Paul Badré was assigned in mid-August to the Armistice Commission, where he served as liaison officer with the Luftwaffe.The Luftwaffen-Kontrolkommission II, based in Lyon and commanded by the Oberst Karl Kettembeil, was in charge of making an inventory of aeronautical equipment and infrastructure in the occupied zone. Captain Badré served as interpreter. His mission lasted until January 1941. He then settled with his family in Bellerive-sur-Allier, a village near Vichy.
Vichy He became a member of the semi-clandestine intelligence service set up by Georges Ronin.Claude d'Abzac-Epezy. Les services de renseignements clandestins de Vichy : l'exemple du S.R. Air. In: Revue Historique des Armées, n°195, 1994. Libération et Résistance. pp. 58-67. Before November 1942: a first nucleus of resistance in the armistice army In March 1941, Frederick Winterbotham (codename Summer), a Royal Air Force and MI6 officer in charge of the Ultra intelligence, sent Ronin's network transceivers concealed in diplomatic bags. From his villa in Bellerive, Paul Badré (code name Beard) clandestinely established radio communications with England (Greenland).Jean Bezy, Le SR Air, éditions France Empire, 1979, p.38.
He recruited several agents, including Robert Masson, whom he put in contact with Ceux de la Libération in Paris.Robert Masson, Mes missions au clair de Lune, 1975, p.17-23 Crossing the demarcation line, Masson brought him information every month. Badré obtained from Colonel Jean Touzet du VigierHe was introduced to Colonel du Vigier by his brother-in-law Henri Zeller, head of the third bureau of the Armistice Army staff. that weapons be secretly delivered in the occupied zone to Ceux de la Libération and Alfred Heurteaux's resistance network.Robert Masson, Mes missions au clair de Lune, 1975, p.39
In the spring of 1942, PTT engineer Robert KellerDenounced by René Bousquet to Carl Oberg, Robert Keller was arrested by the Gestapo on Christmas Day 1942. He was deported to Germany, where he died on April 14, 1945 at Bergen-Belsen, the day before the concentration camp was liberated by the British. and his team were able to tap German telephone communications between Paris and Berlin, intercepting the exchanges of high-ranking Kriegsmarine, Luftwaffe, Wehrmacht Heer and Gestapo officials. They even managed to listen to the voice of Adolf Hitler.Hitler sur table d'écoute, documentary by Laurent Bergers, 52 min, 2018. This intelligence source was codenamed K (for Keller). Transcripts of the collected conversations were delivered by doctor Victor Dupont to Bellerive, where Beard communicated them to the Allies.Jean Bezy, Le SR Air, éditions France Empire, 1979, p.58. He notably transmitted information on German troop movements towards the Soviet Union. In the summer of 1942, his station carried out a daily radio broadcast with London, Madrid and Algiers. Ronin’s organization was also put in touch by Count Potocki with the Polish service of Stanisław Gano, for whom a second link with London was set up.
In early October, Paul Badré was summoned by General Revers (Chief of the Defence Staff) who warned him that, with Pierre Laval's agreement, the Abwehr and the Gestapo were preparing to send mobile teams into the free zone, to identify clandestine posts using radio direction finding.Jean Bezy, Le SR Air, éditions France Empire, 1979, p. 61 This operation was codenamed Aktion Donar. On the morning of October 19, 1942, German secret services were circulating in his village of Bellerive. Alerted in time by one of his technicians,Lemoine, who had come to relieve Gourriou at the radio station, arrived on his bicycle and informed them of the presence of the suspicious vans (Robert Masson, Mes missions au clair de Lune, 1975, p.41). he interrupted the broadcast in progress, dismantled his set and burned the compromising papers.
After this incident, informed of the imminent Operation Torch, the service suspended its broadcasts. On the night of November 9–10, 1942, hours before the invasion of the free zone, the main officers of Ronin's network flew to Algeria on two Dewoitine D.338 provided by General d’Harcourt.Jean Bezy, Le SR Air, éditions France Empire, 1979, p.90.
London Colonel Ronin sided with General Giraud and took command of the Secret Service alongside Louis Rivet and Paul Paillole. Ronin visited Winterbotham in London on December 20, shortly before the assassination of Admiral Darlan. Upon his return to Algiers on January 3, 1943, he appointed Major Badré as liaison officer with MI6 and colonel Passy’s BCRA (General de Gaulle's intelligence service).
Accompanied by two French recruits of the Special Operations Executive,Two recruits named Lejeune and Lerat. Badré was briefed in Algiers by two SOE officers, Tony Keswick and Jacques Vaillant de Guélis. Badré left for London on January 30.A Douglas C-47 Skytrain dropped him off at Gibraltar where he was welcomed by John Alfred Codrington. An ocean liner then took him to Glasgow. Initially housed in Albemarle Street, in Claude Dansey’s apartmentRobert Masson, Mes missions au clair de Lune, 1975, p.94 . (where he made the acquaintance of Colonel Passy), MI6 then moved him to a villa near Wimbledon Common.Home to Émile Champion (husband of Gilberte Champion, whom Badré would decorate with the Légion d'honneur after the war), André and Madeleine Chelley (a couple of Dunderdale agents) and Prince Golitsyn (Jean Bezy, Le SR Air, éditions France Empire, 1979, p.113-114). In Westminster, at 12 Caxton Street, he worked with Wilfred Dunderdale's Circus, which gathered intelligence on the Eastern Front.
In March, Badré broke his leg after a parachute jump at Ringway.After Lerat's accidental death, he decided to go on a skydiving course to reboost the morale of the young French recruits of the Special Operations Executive (Jean Bezy, Le SR Air, éditions France Empire, 1979, p.116). He arrived just in time to prevent a team of young French Canadians from being sent to France, where they had imagined they would go unnoticed with their accent and vocabulary. While in hospital, he was visited by Robert Masson, who had made his way to England after having crossed Spain illegally. Masson (Samson) was parachuted over Normandy on the next full moon. Another agent was parachuted, André Duthilleul (Oscar).A former agent of Alfred Heurteaux, recruited in 1941. Oscar was sheltered in Paris by Jean Badré (Paul’s brother). He was caught in a Gestapo mousetrap on Christmas Day 1943, shot while trying to escape, tortured, then deported to Germany. He died in 1945, after the liberation, his German-flagged ship being accidentally sunk by the RAF.
On 20 May 1943, Major Badré arranged the aerial exfiltration of General Georges at the request of Churchill’s cabinet.Jean Bezy, Le SR Air, éditions France Empire, 1979, p.118. Robert Masson was added to the operation and left France after creating the Samson organization.
On June 3, 1943, the armies of General de Gaulle and General Giraud united under the authority of the French Committee of National Liberation. At the age of 37, Badré still considered himself fit to pilot and fight. He submitted his resignation to Stewart Menzies (head of MI6) and left London on June 27, a few days before Operation Husky.
Mediterranean Commanding the 2/52 bombardment group in the Mediterranean, Badré was stationed in the Oran region, with General du Vigier’s division. His troops were assigned for the winter to Mediouna, Morocco. In the spring, they trained in the region of Constantine, at Teleghma. It was only at the end of June that his group became operational, after the delivery by the United States Army Air Forces of 16 brand new Martin B-26 Marauder. On July 19, the 2/52 was sent to Sardinia, at the base of Villacidro. He received a visit from Saint-Exupéry, shortly before the writer’s death.Saint-Exupéry asked him the following question: Why, when we stand in front of a mirror, do we see our right arm represented by the left arm in the image, and vice versa, but not our head in place of our feet? They invoked Riemann, Lobachevsky and Gauss, without finding a satisfactory answer. On July 31st, Saint-Exupéry's plane disappeared off the coast of Marseille, probably shot down by a German fighter (Paul Badré, "Survol," Versailles, 1971, p.281).