André Grandclément (28 July 1909–July 1944) was a leader in the

French Resistance The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, who turned

traitor Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

and became a double agent, assisting the Nazi regime to significantly weaken the

resistance movement A resistance movement is an organized effort by some portion of the civil population of a country to withstand the legally established government or an occupying power and to disrupt civil order and stability. It may seek to achieve its objective ...

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...

Early life

André Marie Hubert Grandclément was born in Rochefort on 28 July 1909, the son of

Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...

Raoul Gaston Grandclément and Amelie de Barole. He was educated in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

, and

Tunis ''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois , population_note = , population_urban = , population_metro = 2658816 , population_density_km2 = , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 ...

. He joined the army in 1928, and married for the second time in 1929. After suffering a serious fall from a horse in 1934 he left the army and became an insurance broker in

Wartime activities

In 1941 he founded a resistance network in the

area. After joining the Civil and Military Organization in 1942, he became its head in Aquitaine and, with the help of the British

Special Operations Executive The Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a secret British World War II organisation. It was officially formed on 22 July 1940 under Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton, from the amalgamation of three existing secret organisations. Its pu ...

, he strongly developed his regional network, arming and training several thousand agents, and setting up an escape route and a radio link with London. After

Claude de Baissac Claude Marie Marc Boucherville de Baissac, Distinguished Service Order, DSO and bar, Croix de Guerre, CdeG, known as Claude de Baissac or by his codename ''David'' (born 28 February 1907, Curepipe, Mauritius; died 22 December 1974) was a Mauriti ...

, organiser of the

SCIENTIST network was informed by

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 gue ...

of the existence of the very strong resistance organisation in Bordeaux led by Grandclément, which was eager to receive weapons and equipment, he made contact with Grandclément and by mid-1943 the number of weapons drops was estimated at 150, equipping 42,000 potential fighters. When de Baissac was flown to Britain in August 1943, SCIENTIST's wireless operator

Roger Landes Roger Arthur Landes, LdH CdeG MC & Bar (16 December 1916 – 16 July 2008), code named Stanislas and Aristide, was an agent of the United Kingdom's clandestine Special Operations Executive (SOE) organization during World War II in France ...

took control of the network just as a Gestapo crackdown led to many arrests, including Grandclément's wife. Fearing for his wife's life, and suspicious of communist influence within the

Maquis Maquis may refer to: Resistance groups * Maquis (World War II), predominantly rural guerrilla bands of the French Resistance * Spanish Maquis, guerrillas who fought against Francoist Spain in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War * The network ...

, the

right-wing Right-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position on the basis of natural law, economics, authorit ...

André Grandclément agreed to help the Germans, and the number of arrests increased and the SCIENTIST network began to collapse. Landes had long considered Grandclément to be a security risk but agreed to meet him, the Germans having let Grandclément attend the meeting, during which he explained his intentions to expose dozens of arms dumps which would destroy many months work. Landes drew his pistol but hesitated to shoot Grandclément in cold blood never having previously shot anyone, and let him go. It proved to be a costly error of judgement as two months later Grandclément's actions had crippled SCIENTIST, and led to the capture and execution of the circuit's arms instructor, Victor Hayes. Landes was forced to flee, and was then recalled to London, leaving on 1 November 1943. In London he was suspected of being a double agent, but his name was cleared and he returned to Bordeaux in March 1944 as organiser of the ACTOR network, a new circuit tasked with making contact with surviving Resistance groups in the area and coordinating sabotage to support the

D-Day landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D ...

. In July 1944 Grandclément and his wife, Lucette, were captured by Resistance forces near Bordeaux. Having let Grandclément walk away in September 1943, Landes gave the order for his execution. Grandclément and his wife were told that they were to be flown to England to argue their case, and were taken to the supposed landing site. Once there, Landes told Grandclément that he would have to be separated from his wife for security reasons, and then shot Grandclément's wife, while Grandclément was executed by one of Landes's men. Although Landes learned after the war that Lucette Grandclément was opposed to her husband's actions, he later explained that he had concluded that he could not let her go, given the risk she presented to his group.

Early life

Wartime activities

References

Further reading