Gilbert Renault (August 6, 1904 – July 29, 1984), known by the

nom de guerre A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

Colonel Rémy, was a notable French secret agent active in

World War II 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 ...

, and was known under various pseudonyms such as ''Raymond'', ''Jean-Luc'', ''Morin'', ''Watteau'', ''Roulier'', ''Beauce'' and ''Rémy''.

Biography

Gilbert Renault was born in

Vannes Vannes (; br, Gwened) is a commune in the Morbihan department in Brittany in north-western France. It was founded over 2,000 years ago. History Celtic Era The name ''Vannes'' comes from the Veneti, a seafaring Celtic people who lived ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, the oldest child of a Catholic family of nine children. His father was a professor of Philosophy and English, and later the inspector general of an insurance company. He went to the ''Collège St-François-Xavier'' in

, and after his studies he went to the

Rennes Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department ...

faculty. His sisters were

Maisie Renault Maisie Renault (13 December 1907 – 7 April 2003) was a French Resistance fighter, a member of the Confrérie Notre-Dame network, she was arrested in 1942 and deported to the Ravensbrück concentration camp in 1944. Biography Born May Renault in ...

and Madeleine Cestari. A sympathizer of French Action in the

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and

Nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

line, he began his career at the

Bank of France The Bank of France ( French: ''Banque de France''), headquartered in Paris, is the central bank of France. Founded in 1800, it began as a private institution for managing state debts and issuing notes. It is responsible for the accounts of the F ...

in 1924. In 1936, he began cinematic production and finances, and made ''J'accuse'', a new version of the

Abel Gance Abel Gance (; born Abel Eugène Alexandre Péréthon; 25 October 188910 November 1981) was a French film director and producer, writer and actor. A pioneer in the theory and practice of montage, he is best known for three major silent films: ''J ...

film. It was a resounding failure, but the many connections Renault made during this period were very useful during the resistance. With armistice declared of June 18, 1940, he refused to accept Marshal Philippe Pétain and went to London with one of his brothers, on board a trawler which departed from Lorient. He was one of the first men to adhere to the calls of General

Charles de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (; ; (commonly abbreviated as CDG) 22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French army officer and statesman who led Free France against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government ...

, and was entrusted by

Colonel Passy Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

, then captain and chief of the BCRA, to create an information network in France. In August of that year he met with

Louis de La Bardonnie Louis de La Bardonnie, born 11 October 1902; died in 1987, owner-winemaker at Saint Antoine-de-Breuilh in the Dordogne (South-West of France), was a member of the French Resistance during World War II. His code name was "Isabelle." Biography Lou ...

, and together they created the

Notre-Dame Brotherhood Notre Dame, French for "Our Lady", a title of Mary, mother of Jesus, most commonly refers to: * Notre-Dame de Paris, a cathedral in Paris, France * University of Notre Dame, a university in Indiana, United States ** Notre Dame Fighting Irish, the ...

, which would become NDT-Castille in 1944. Initially centered on the Atlantic coast, it ended up covering much of occupied France and Belgium. This network was one of the most important in the occupied zone, and its information allowed many military successes, as the attack on Bruneval and on

Saint-Nazaire Saint-Nazaire (; ; Gallo: ''Saint-Nazère/Saint-Nazaer'') is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France, in traditional Brittany. The town has a major harbour on the right bank of the Loire estuary, near the Atlantic Ocean ...

. Convinced that it was necessary to mobilize all forces against the occupation, he put the

French Communist Party The French Communist Party (french: Parti communiste français, ''PCF'' ; ) is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its MEPs sit in the European Unit ...

in touch with the exiled government of Free France in January 1943. Gilbert Renault later admitted it was

Pierre Brossolette Pierre Brossolette (25 June 1903 – 22 March 1944) was a French journalist, left-wing politician and major hero of the French Resistance in World War II. He ran an intelligence hub of Parisian resistance at the Rue de la Pompe, before serving ...

who got him in touch with political groups and trade unions. Awarded the

Ordre de la Libération The Order of Liberation (french: Ordre de la Libération) is a French Order which was awarded to heroes of the Liberation of France during World War II. It is a very high honour, second only after the ''Légion d’Honneur'' (Legion of Honour ...

on March 13, 1942, he became a member of the executive committee of the Rally of the French People (RPF) from its creation, in charge of trips and demonstrations. He appeared in ''Carrefour'', April 11, 1950, in an article entitled 'La justice et l'opprobre' (Justice and the Opprobrium), in which he preached the rehabilitation of Marshal Pétain. A short time afterwards, he adhered to the Association of defense of the memory of Marshal Pétain (ADMP). Repudiated by de Gaulle, he resigned from the RPF. He settled in Portugal in 1954 and returned to France in 1958 to be placed at de Gaulle's disposal, who refused. He was also very active from this time onwards in various associations, including ultra-conservative Catholic networks. He died in Guingamp,

, in 1984. Renault wrote many works on his activities in the Resistance. Under the name of Rémy (one of his pseudonyms in clandestinity), he published his ''Mémoires d'un agent secret de la France libre et La Ligne de démarcation'' ( adapted for cinema by

Claude Chabrol Claude Henri Jean Chabrol (; 24 June 1930 – 12 September 2010) was a French film director and a member of the French New Wave (''nouvelle vague'') group of filmmakers who first came to prominence at the end of the 1950s. Like his colleagues an ...

in 1966), which are regarded as important testimonies on the French Resistance. He had the writer

Jean Cayrol Jean Cayrol (; 6 June 1911 – 10 February 2005) was a French poet, publisher, and member of the Académie Goncourt born in Bordeaux. He is perhaps best known for writing the narration in Alain Resnais's 1955 documentary film, ''Night and Fog (195 ...

under his orders.

Decorations

* Commandeur de la

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

* Compagnon de la Libération - décret du 13 mars 1942 *

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 ...

1939-1945 * Médaille de la Résistance avec rosette *

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typ ...

(G.B.) *

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(G.B.) * Officer of the

Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements. The decoration is issued to members of the eight ...

(U.S.) * Officier de la Couronne de Belgique * Croix de Guerre Belge * Commandeur du Mérite (Luxembourg)

Homage

Around 1993, a street in

Caen Caen (, ; nrf, Kaem) is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the department of Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inhabitants (), while its functional urban area has 470,000,France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

) was named after Colonel Rémy,Caen map, La Poste, 1994. in a district close to the ''Mémorial pour la Paix'' museum, where a majority of streets commemorate personalities linked with World War II, the

Résistance 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 ...

, and the subsequent making of the

European Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisbo ...

Portrayed in film and television

* ''

Le Grand Charles ''Le Grand Charles'' is a 2006 French television miniseries on the life of Charles de Gaulle from 1939 to 1959, written and directed by Bernard Stora. Plot Cast * Bernard Farcy as Charles de Gaulle * Danièle Lebrun as Yvonne de Gaulle * Davi ...

'' - French television - portrayed by French actor

Sam Spiegel Samuel P. Spiegel (November 11, 1901December 31, 1985) was an American independent film producer born in the Galician area of Austria-Hungary. Financially responsible for some of the most critically acclaimed motion pictures of the 20th centur ...

Bibliography

* 1946–1950: ''Mémoires d'un agent secret de la France libre'', Raoul Solar ** Volume 1, ''Mémoires d'un agent secret de la France libre (juin 1940-juin 1942)'' ** Volume 2, ''Le livre du courage et de la peur T.1 (juin 1942-novembre 1943)'' ** Volume 3, ''Le livre du courage et de la peur T.2 (juin 1942-novembre 1943)'' ** Volume 4, ''Comment meut un réseau (novembre 1943-août 1944)'' ** Volume 5, ''Une affaire de trahison'' ** Volume 6, ''Les mains jointes (1944)'' ** Volume 7, ''…Mais le temple est bâti (1944-1945)'' *(Reorganized in the posterior editions): ** Volume 1, ''Le Refus'' ** Volume 2, ''Les Soldats du silence'' ** Volume 3, ''La Délivrance'') * 1947: ''De Gaulle cet inconnu'', Raoul Solar * 1948: ''La Nuit des oliviers'', Raoul Solar * 1949: ''Le Monument'',

Fayard Fayard (complete name: ''Librairie Arthème Fayard'') is a French Paris-based publishing house established in 1857. Fayard is controlled by Hachette Livre. In 1999, Éditions Pauvert became part of Fayard. Claude Durand was director of Fayard ...

* 1949: ''Nous sommes ainsi faits'', Chavane * 1950: ''La Justice et l'opprobre, suivi d'une note sur l'intolérance'',

Éditions du Rocher The Éditions du Rocher is a publishing house based in Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the Fre ...

* 1951: ''On m'appelait Rémy'', Plon * 1952: ''Réseaux d'ombre'',

Éditions France-Empire France-Empire is an independent French publishing house, created in 1945 by . History In 1945, from the end of the Second World War, the Éditions France-Empire began their activity by publishing works concerning the period 1939-1945 then the ...

* 1952: ''Le Messie'', Editions du Rocher * 1953: ''Profil d'un espion'', Plon * 1953: ''Pourpre des martyrs'', Fayard * 1953: ''Un architecte de Dieu, le père François Pallu'', Fayard * 1953: ''Œuvres libres'', Fayard * 1954: ''Leur calvaire'', Fayard * 1954: ''Passeurs clandestins'', Fayard * 1954: ''L'Opération "Jéricho"'', Éditions France-Empire * 1955: ''Goa, Rome de l'Orient'', Éditions France-Empire * 1956: ''Les Caravelles du Christ'', Plon * 1956: ''Les Mains revêtues de lumière'', Plon * 1957: ''Fatima, espérance du Monde'', Plon * 1957: ''Portugal'', Hachette * 1959: ''Dix marches vers l'Espoir'', Presses de la Cité * 1960: ''De sang et de chair'', Le livre contemporain * 1960: ''Le monocle noir'', Hachette * 1961: ''Le Joueur de flute'', Presses de la Cité * 1961: ''Catéchisme de la patrie'', Éditions France-Empire * 1961: ''J.A. épisodes de la vie d'un agent du S.R. et du contre-espionnage français'', Galic (J.A. sont les initiales de Jacques Abtey) * 1962: ''Le Monocle passe et gagne'', Hachette * 1962: ''Les Balcons de Tulle'', Librairie académique Perrin * 1963: ''La grande prière de Chartres, Dimanche 29 Septembre 1963, Histoire du pèlerinage national pour la réconciliation dans la justice et la compréhension mutuelle'', France-empire * 1963: ''La Dernière carte'', Presses de la cité * 1963: ''Comment devenir agent secret'', Albin Michel * 1964: ''Compagnons de l'Honneur'', France-Empire, Paris * 1964 - 1976: ''La Ligne de démarcation'', Librairie académique Perrin (21 volumes) * 1967: ''Réseau Comète'', Librairie académique Perrin * 1968: ''Bruneval, Opération coup de croc'', France-Empire * 1968: ''Le Déjeuner de la croix de Vernuche'', Librairie académique Perrin * 1968: ''La Maison d'Alphonse'', Perrin, 1968 * 1969: ''Autour de la plage Bonaparte, suite de «la Maison d'Alphonse'', Perrin * 1969: ''Le Pianiste'', Éditions France-Empire * 1969: ''Et l'Angleterre sera détruite'', Éditions France-Empire * 1971: ''Dans l'ombre du maréchal'', Presses de la cité * 1971: ''Dix ans avec de Gaulle, 1940 - 1950'', Éditions France-Empire, Paris * 1972: ''Avec l'oflag VIII F'', Presses de la Cité * 1973: ''Le Schloss ou l'évadé malgré lui'', Éditions France-Empire * 1974: ''Avec les Ch'timis : en souvenir du réseau Sylvestre Farmer,ex W.O.'', France-Empire * 1974: ''Mission Marathon'', Librairie académique Perrin * 1974: ''Trente ans après - 6 Juin 1944 / 6 Juin 1974'', Librairie Académique Perrin * 1974 - 1975: ''Les Français dans la Résistance'', Famot (29 Volumes : En Lorraine, En Provence, En Bretagne, A Paris et dans la Région Parisienne, En Aquitaine, En Auvergne, Limousin, Berry, En Champagne Ardennes, En Languedoc Roussillon, En Alsace et Vosges, Dans le Nord, Dans le Lyonnais, En Normandie, En Dauphiné Savoie, En Corse, T. 2, En Anjou, Touraine, Orléanais, T. 1, En Bourgogne Franche-Comté, T. 1...) * 1975: ''Missions secrètes'', Famot * 1975: ''Morhange. Les chasseurs de traites'', Flammarion * 1976: ''Le 18^e jour : la tragédie de Léopold III, Roi des Belges'', France-Empire * 1976: ''Combats dans l'ombre'', Idégraf * 1978: ''Rognes et grognes du Général - 1940-1944'', Versoix * 1979: ''Histoire du débarquement'', Vernoy * 1979: ''Secrets et réussites de l'espionnage français'', Famot * 1979: ''Une épopée de la Résistance : en France, en Belgique et au Grand Duché du Luxembourg'', Paris * 1979: ''La Résistance a commencé le 3 septembre 1939'', Plon * 1979 - 1983: ''Chronique d'une guerre perdue'', France-empire ** Volume 1, ''L'Entre-Deux-Guerre'' ** Volume 2, ''Le 10 Mai 1940'' ** Volume 3, ''Sedan'' ** Volume 4, ''De la Norvège aux Flandres'' ** Volume 5, ''La Bataille de France'' ** Volume 6, ''Fors l'Honneur'' * 1981: ''De sang et de chair'', Édito-service * 1981: ''Combattre jusqu'au bout'', Plon * 1981: ''La résistance en France 1940-1945'', Collet * 1982: ''Mes grands hommes et quelques autres'', Grasset * 1984: ''La Résistance à vingt ans'', Ouest France * 1984: ''La Seconde guerre mondiale : la Résistance'', Éd. Christophe Colomb * 1986: ''La Résistance'', Hatier

Sources

(Mostly translated from the French article on Gilbert Renault) * Grandmaison (Henri de), ''Le colonel Rémy, un héros de l'ombre'', CMD, 2000. * Perrier (Guy), ''Rémy - L'agent secret n° 1 de la France libre'', Perrin, 2001.

References

External links

Ordre de la libération - Fiche de Gilbert Renault
{{DEFAULTSORT:Renault, Gilbert 1904 births 1984 deaths French Resistance members Officers of the Legion of Merit Recipients of the Resistance Medal Officers of the Order of Merit of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg University of Rennes alumni