Major General Count
Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...
Albert-Marie Edmond Guérisse (5 April 1911 – 26 March 1989) was a
Belgian Resistance
The Belgian Resistance (, ) collectively refers to the resistance movements opposed to the German occupation of Belgium during World War II, German occupation of Belgium during World War II. Within Belgium, resistance was fragmented between many ...
member who organized French and Belgian escape routes for downed
Allied pilots during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
under the alias of Patrick Albert "Pat" O'Leary, purportedly the name of a peace-time Canadian friend. His escape line was dubbed the
Pat O'Leary Line.
Biography
Guérisse was born in
Brussels
Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...
, and qualified in medicine at the
Université Libre de Bruxelles
The (French language, French, ; lit. Free University of Brussels; abbreviated ULB) is a French-speaking research university in Brussels, Belgium. It has three campuses: the ''Solbosch'' campus (in the City of Brussels and Ixelles), the ''Plain ...
before joining the
Belgian Army
The Land Component (, ), historically and commonly still referred to as the Belgian Army (, ), is the Land warfare, land branch of the Belgian Armed Forces. The King of the Belgians is the commander in chief. The current chief of staff of the Land ...
. Guérisse was Médecin-Capitaine with a Belgian cavalry regiment during their eighteen-day campaign in May 1940. He managed to escape to England through
Dunkirk
Dunkirk ( ; ; ; Picard language, Picard: ''Dunkèke''; ; or ) is a major port city in the Departments of France, department of Nord (French department), Nord in northern France. It lies from the Belgium, Belgian border. It has the third-larg ...
. At
Gibraltar
Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...
, he joined the crew of a former French merchant ship, ''Le Rhin'', which was later renamed and served in the Mediterranean on clandestine missions. He secured entry into the British
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
and was commissioned as Lieutenant Commander Patrick Albert O'Leary RNVR of French-Canadian origin. The "Canadian" identity attempted to explain his not-quite British accent in English, and his not-quite French accent in French, in order to protect his family in occupied Belgium if he was captured. He had a six-week undercover training session with Naval Intelligence. Until April 1941, he was serving mainly as a conducting officer, escorting agents ashore in small boats through the surf, whilst the large vessel lay some distance offshore. This was skilled work, exposed to physical dangers from the sea-conditions and operational dangers from the Vichy security services.
On 25 April 1941, during a mission to place
Special Operations Executive
Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a British organisation formed in 1940 to conduct espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance in German-occupied Europe and to aid local Resistance during World War II, resistance movements during World War II. ...
(SOE) agents in
Collioure, on
Roussillon
Roussillon ( , , ; , ; ) was a historical province of France that largely corresponded to the County of Roussillon and French Cerdagne, part of the County of Cerdagne of the former Principality of Catalonia. It is part of the region of ' ...
coast in southern France, "O'Leary" and three crewmen from HMS ''Fidelity'' were arrested by the
Vichy French
Vichy France (; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was a French rump state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II, established as a result of the French capitulation after the defeat against G ...
coast guard and taken to a camp for British military prisoners at
Saint-Hippolyte-du-Fort near
Nîmes
Nîmes ( , ; ; Latin: ''Nemausus'') is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Gard Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region of Southern France. Located between the Med ...
. Helped by 'fellow British' officers, "O'Leary" escaped in early June 1941. He went to
Marseille
Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...
where there was an escape organisation run by a British Army officer,
Ian Grant Garrow, and soon made contact. At this point his intention was make his way to Gibraltar and resume his original naval service. Events were to dictate otherwise because Garrow wanted "O'Leary" to stay and help with the organisation since he had undercover training and, unlike Garrow, spoke French fluently. Consequently, a request was sent to London that he stay, which was approved and confirmed by a
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
radio message received on 2 July 1941.
[''Fidelity'' was lost with all hands when torpedoed in the South Atlantic on 31 December 1942.] "O'Leary" immediately began his job : within a four-month period, he helped about fifty men escape from the prison of St Hippolyte du Fort, then moved them down the line back to England through the
Pyrenees
The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. ...
.
When the Vichy France authorities captured Garrow in October 1941, Guérisse took over as chief of the escape network. Along with others, including
Nancy Wake, he smuggled a guard uniform to Garrow in his cell in
Mauzac prison camp, which helped Garrow's escape on 6 December 1942. At this point the British decided it was time for Garrow to return to London, so "O'Leary" continued in command and expanded the reach of the escape line's operations. The line carried over 600 escapees to Spain and back to Britain.
In January 1943, the escape line was infiltrated and betrayed by a French turncoat, Roger le Neveu; Guérisse was arrested in
Toulouse
Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...
on 6 March 1943. En route to prison he managed to get one of the younger members, Fabien de Cortes, to escape and warn the British. After his arrest the line was taken over by
Marie Dissard. Guérisse told nothing to the
Gestapo
The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, 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 F ...
interrogators even while being tortured. He then was sent to a series of concentration camps, including
Mauthausen. No one, neither in the network, nor the French police nor the Gestapo, ever knew "O'Leary's" true identity.
In the summer of 1944, he was at the
Natzweiler-Struthof
Natzweiler-Struthof was a Nazi concentration camp located in the Vosges Mountains close to the villages of Natzweiler and Struthof in the Gau Baden-Alsace of Germany, on territory annexed from France on a basis in 1940. It operated from 21 Ma ...
concentration camp in
Alsace
Alsace (, ; ) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in the Grand Est administrative region of northeastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine, next to Germany and Switzerland. In January 2021, it had a population of 1,9 ...
with another SOE agent,
Brian Stonehouse. At the camp he witnessed the arrival of four other female SOE agents,
Andrée Borrel
Andrée Raymonde Borrel (18 November 1919 – 6 July 1944), code named Denise, was a French woman who served in the French Resistance and as an agent for Britain's clandestine Special Operations Executive in World War II. The purpose of SOE was ...
,
Vera Leigh,
Diana Rowden, and
Sonya Olschanezky, who were all executed and disposed of in the
crematorium
A crematorium, crematory or cremation center is a venue for the cremation of the Death, dead. Modern crematoria contain at least one cremator (also known as a crematory, retort or cremation chamber), a purpose-built furnace. In some countries a ...
in an attempt to make them disappear without a trace, under the
"Night and Fog" programme. After the war, Guérisse and Stonehouse were able to testify at the
Nazi war crimes trials as to the women's fate.
Finally, Guérisse was taken to the
Dachau concentration camp
Dachau (, ; , ; ) was one of the first concentration camps built by Nazi Germany and the longest-running one, opening on 22 March 1933. The camp was initially intended to intern Hitler's political opponents, which consisted of communists, s ...
, tortured again and then sentenced to death. However, when
SS guards surrendered before the Allied advance, Guérisse took command and refused to leave until the Allies agreed to take care of the inmates. On 30 April 1945, he was chosen as the first president of the International Prisoners' Committee that administered the camp after liberation.
Pat O'Leary (i.e. Albert Guérisse) Mauthausen Arolsen Archives DocID1582970.jpg, Registration form of "Patrick O'Leary" as a prisoner at Mauthausen
Pat O'Leary (i.e. Albert Guérisse) Natzweiler Arolsen Archives DocID3195554.jpg, List of personal effects at Natzweiler
Pat O'Leary (i.e. Albert Guérisse) Arolsen Archives DocID86334889.jpg, Request (stamped "SECRET") for his repatriation after the liberation of Dachau
Pat O'Leary (i.e. Albert Guérisse) Arolsen Archives DocID86334888.jpg, Worksheet on the request for the repatriation of "Patrick Albert O'Leary" (labelled " VIP")
Pat O'Leary (i.e. Albert Guérisse) Arolsen Archives DocID86334890.jpg, Report (stamped "SECRET") on his repatriation
From its founding in 1956 until his death he served many terms as president of the Comité International de Dachau, and regularly gave the keynote speech at the May memorial ceremonies.
In 1946, he was appointed a member of the War Crime Commission at Nuremberg. In November 1946 he was demobilized from the Royal Navy and resumed his real name and rejoined the Belgian Army, returning to his former regiment. In 1951, he volunteered as a medical officer for the Belgian United Nations Corps in Korea during the
Korean War
The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...
where he was wounded while going to rescue a wounded soldier under enemy fire. He became the head of the medical service of the Belgian Army and retired in 1970, in the rank of
major general.
Personal life
In his personal life, he married Sylvia Cooper-Smith in 1947; they had a son, Patrick. Sylvia Guérisse predeceased her husband.
He was the subject of ''
This Is Your Life'' in November 1963 when he was surprised by
Eamonn Andrews
Eamonn Andrews, (19 December 1922 – 5 November 1987) was an Irish radio and television presenter, employed primarily in the United Kingdom from the 1950s to the 1980s. From 1960 to 1964 he chaired the Radio Éireann Authority (now the RTÉ ...
at the BBC Television Theatre.
Awards and decorations
General Guérisse received 37 decorations, from a variety of nations. In 1946, the British recognised his war service with the award of the
George Cross
The George Cross (GC) is the highest award bestowed by the British government for non-operational Courage, gallantry or gallantry not in the presence of an enemy. In the British honours system, the George Cross, since its introduction in 1940, ...
.
This was the highest possible award of the British Commonwealth nations for actions not in combat and only the
Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British ...
(the equivalent award for bravery in actual combat) takes precedence.
In the UK it is the convention for the post-nominal letters for both these awards to be appended to the surname even for general usage, i.e. to refer to: 'Guérisse, GC'. Recognising his military service as a whole, the British later also conferred on Albert-Marie Guérisse, GC, an honorary
knighthood
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity.
The concept of a knighthood ...
(
KBE
KBE may refer to:
* Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, post-nominal letters
* Knowledge-based engineering
Knowledge-based engineering (KBE) is the application of knowledge-based systems technology to the domain o ...
).
Similarly, the
King of Belgium
The monarchy of Belgium is the constitutional and hereditary institution of the monarchical head of state of the Kingdom of Belgium. As a popular monarchy, the Belgian monarch uses the title king/queen of the Belgians and serves as the ...
recognised the lifetime service of General Guérisse with the grant of a peerage in 1989, in the rank of Count. His motto: ''Honores non-quaero, fidelis sum'' (''Honors I do not seek, faithful I am'').
Death
General Count Albert-Marie Guérisse died in
Waterloo, Belgium
Waterloo (; ; ) is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in Wallonia, located in the province of Walloon Brabant, Belgium, which in 2011 had a population of 29,706 and an area of . Waterloo lies a short distance south of Brussels, and immedia ...
on 26 March 1989, aged 77.
Footnotes
Reading
*Vincent Brome, ''The Way Back'', Cassell and Company (London), 1957 (ASIN: B000ZRBLPQ)
References
External links
Major-Gen Albert-Marie Edmond Guérisse: Pat O'Leary of the PAO Allied escape line - the 'Pat' or 'O'Leary' Line rafino.org.uk
Holocaust Sketches Donated To Imperial War Museum culture24.org.uk
gc-database.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guerisse, Albert
1911 births
1989 deaths
Belgian resistance members
Honorary Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Belgian military personnel of the Korean War
Belgian military personnel of World War II
People from Brussels
Royal Navy sailors
Special Operations Executive personnel
Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War II
Belgian recipients of the George Cross
Dachau concentration camp survivors
Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp survivors
Companions of the Distinguished Service Order
Belgian military doctors
Belgian generals
Belgian participants in the French Resistance
Belgian Army officers