Georges Duboudin (1907–1945) was a French

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 ...

agent 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 opposi ...

Early years

Émile Georges Jean Duboudin was born in France on 23 May 1907, the son of George and Adelna Duboudin. He married an English woman named Elizabeth Trumble, and lived in London.

Wartime

He joined the

, Section F, as a Captain.

First mission

On the night of 19/20 September 1941 Georges Duboudin "Alain" landed by boat at Barcarès, near Perpignan,Operation Autogyro; ship: HMS Fidelity; Landed agents: Francis Basin "Olive", Robert Leroy "Louis", Raymond Roche "François", and Georges Duboudin "Alain". ource: Sir Brooks Richards, p. 923/ref> and went to Lyons to train to organise the SPRUCE network to supervise sabotage teams. In January 1942

Peter Churchill Peter Morland Churchill, (14 January 1909 – 1 May 1972) was a British Special Operations Executive (SOE) officer in France during the Second World War. His wartime operations, which resulted in his capture and imprisonment in German concentra ...

arrived to give him instructions from SOE headquarters and give him 300,000 francs. '' Of Their Own Choice'', Peter Churchill In April 1942

Virginia Hall Virginia Hall Goillot DSC, Croix de Guerre, (April 6, 1906 – July 8, 1982), code named Marie and Diane, was an American who worked with the United Kingdom's clandestine Special Operations Executive (SOE) and the American Office of St ...

assigned him radio operator Edward Zeff, who had arrived in the French Riviera by submarine with

Victor Gerson Haim Victor Gerson DSO, LdH (b. 1898—d. ?), code name Rene, was a Special Operations Executive agent during the Second World War. He organised the Vic escape line in France. Escape lines helped allied soldiers and airmen, SOE agents, and othe ...

, an SOE agent on a special mission to organise the VIC Escape Line, delivered by

in Operation DELAY II. On 28 May 1942 the first parachuting of arms in the Lyons region took place. On 2 June 1942 Robert Boiteux was parachuted to Anse to assist him, but the two men did not get along. Bob Sheppard, who arrived on the same flight as an instructor, fell on a roof near the police station and was arrested. Jean Mingat, in charge of receiving Bob Sheppard, was also arrested and sentenced to 10 months in prison. In October 1942 Duboudin was called back to London, and during the night of 26/27 October a

Lysander Lysander (; grc-gre, Λύσανδρος ; died 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 en ...

flew him back to the UK, having handed over his network to Robert Boiteux.

Second mission

On the night of 23/24 March 1943 he was landed by Lysander near Compiegne to run the PLAYWRIGHT network, but was arrested a few days after his arrival and taken to the

Mittelbau-Dora Concentration Camp 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 ...

, where he died of

pleurisy Pleurisy, also known as pleuritis, is inflammation of the membranes that surround the lungs and line the chest cavity ( pleurae). This can result in a sharp chest pain while breathing. Occasionally the pain may be a constant dull ache. Other sy ...

on 22 March 1945, aged 37, as result of his mistreatment in captivity.

Post-war

In 1965 his widow filed a claim for Nazi persecution under the Anglo-German Compensation Agreement. Nazi persecution claim: Mrs Veronica Francis Ellen Mary Duboudin (nee Trumble) for Mr Jean George Duboudin (deceased). National Archives Reference: FO 950/4485
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Recognition

* As one of the 104 SOE Section F agents who gave their lives for the liberation of France, Georges Duboudin is honoured at the Valençay Memorial (Indre). * Brookwood Memorial, Surrey, panel 21, column 3.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duboudin, Georges 1907 births 1944 deaths French Special Operations Executive personnel French people who died in Nazi concentration camps People who died in Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp