André Sérot (24 July 1896 in

Xertigny Xertigny () is a commune in the Vosges department in Grand Est in northeastern France. Xertigny station has rail connections to Épinal, Lure and Belfort. Population Geography The Côney forms most of the commune's northwestern border. Poi ...

, France – 17 September 1948 in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

) was a French military officer. Sérot enlisted in the infantry in 1915, then saw action in the Battle of Argonne and received the

Croix de Guerre The ''Croix de Guerre'' (, ''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 awa ...

. The following year he was an officer candidate at Saint-Cyr. In 1917 he transferred to

aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' includes fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air craft such as hot air ...

, flying reconnaissance missions. In 1919, Lieutenant Sérot transferred to the intelligence service. In 1923 he was sent to

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

. In 1933, he became deputy chief of station Belfort, or Military Communications Service (MCS). He married Berthe Grünfelder (1898–1971). During the " Phoney War" period (1939–1940), Sérot was sent behind German lines with a series of false identity papers to perform reconnaissance missions. After the 1940 defeat, he helped organize the counter-espionage section of the ''Service de Renseignements de l'Armée de l'Air'' ("Air Forces Intelligence Service") newly created by Colonel George Ronin, classmate of General

Jean Bergeret Jean Bergeret (born 1751 in Lescar - died 1813 in Paris) was a French doctor and botanist. Biography After his marriage in 1771, he studied philosophy and graduated in 1773. After his separation from his wife in 1780, he moved to Morlaàs and be ...

. After the

Allied landings in North Africa Operation Torch (8 November 1942 – 16 November 1942) was an Allied invasion of French North Africa during the Second World War. Torch was a compromise operation that met the British objective of securing victory in North Africa while all ...

in November 1942, he and Paul Paillole went there to organize the new ''Service de Sécurité Militaire'' ("Military Intelligence Service"). On June 23, 1943, his wife was arrested by the

Gestapo The (), 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 Prussia into one organi ...

Clermont-Ferrand Clermont-Ferrand (, ; ; oc, label=Auvergnat (dialect), Auvergnat, Clarmont-Ferrand or Clharmou ; la, Augustonemetum) is a city and Communes of France, commune of France, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regions of France, region, with a population ...

and was deported to Ravensbruck in Germany. In 1945, she was rescued and released by Count Folke Bernadotte. This led to a friendship between the two men. In 1944, Captain Sérot headed the SSM.

Death

Sérot, now a Colonel in the

Armee de l'Air The French Air and Space Force (AAE) (french: Armée de l'air et de l'espace, ) is the air and space force of the French Armed Forces. It was the first military aviation force in history, formed in 1909 as the , a service arm of the French Army; ...

, was serving with UN forces in

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

in 1948, where he commanded a detachment of French peacekeepers. On September 17, 1948, he was traveling by car in Jerusalem, accompanying Bernadotte, now the United Nations Mediator for Palestine. Both were unarmed, as were their bodyguards and

Israeli Army The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branc ...

liaisons, as Bernadotte wanted to project a peaceful, non-combative image. Their vehicle was ambushed by members of

Lehi Lehi (; he, לח"י – לוחמי חרות ישראל ''Lohamei Herut Israel – Lehi'', "Fighters for the Freedom of Israel – Lehi"), often known pejoratively as the Stern Gang,"This group was known to its friends as LEHI and to its enemie ...

(also known as the Stern Gang), who were wearing Israeli army uniforms, intent on assassinating Bernadotte. Both Bernadotte and Serot were killed. The killers were never arrested but the murders led to the discrediting and disbandment of Lehi.

Commando Colonel Sérot (Indochina War)

Capitaine Albert-Charles Meyer, an

Fusilier-Commando officer, arrived in Indochina in 1951. He set up an intelligence and counter-sabotage unit to defend the airbases of Bien Hoa and Tan Son Nhut. He used native auxiliaries led by Fusilier-Commandos to patrol the area of operations near the base to prevent sabotage to the planes or raids on the airfields. It also handled informants, infiltrators, and Viet-Minh turncoats who gave information on Viet Minh operations. The unit, ''Brigade de Recherches et de Contra-Sabotage (BRCS)'' ("Intelligence & Counter-Sabotage Brigade") was dubbed the Commando Colonel Sérot in the slain Colonel's honor. Meyer's father had been Sérot's friend and Sérot mentored Meyer when they worked together in the Resistance.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Serot, Andre 1896 births 1948 deaths Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France) French soldiers French military personnel of World War I French military personnel of World War II