André Sérot (24 July 1896 in Xertigny, France – 17 September 1948 in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

) was a French military officer. Sérot enlisted in the infantry in 1915, then saw action in the

Battle of Argonne A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

and received the

Croix de Guerre The (, ''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 awarded during World ...

. 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'' include fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air aircraft such as h ...

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

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

. In 1933, he became deputy chief of station Belfort, or Military Communications Service (MCS). He married Berthe Grünfelder (1898–1971). During the "

Phoney War The Phoney War (; ; ) was an eight-month period at the outset of World War II during which there were virtually no Allied military land operations on the Western Front from roughly September 1939 to May 1940. World War II began on 3 Septembe ...

" 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 Georges Ronin. After the

Allied landings in North Africa Operation Torch (8–16 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 allowing American arm ...

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 (, ), 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 ...

Clermont-Ferrand Clermont-Ferrand (, , ; or simply ; ) is a city and Communes of France, commune of France, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regions of France, region, with a population of 147,284 (2020). Its metropolitan area () had 504,157 inhabitants at the 2018 ...

and was deported to Ravensbruck in Germany. In 1945, she was rescued and released by Count

Folke Bernadotte Folke Bernadotte, Count of Wisborg (2 January 1895 – 17 September 1948) was a Swedish nobleman and diplomat. In World War II, he negotiated the release of about 450 Danish Jews and 30,550 non-Jewish prisoners of many nations from the Nazi ...

. 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 (, , ) is the air and space force of the French Armed Forces. Formed in 1909 as the ("Aeronautical Service"), a service arm of the French Army, it became an independent military branch in 1934 as the French Air Fo ...

, was serving with UN forces in

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

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 Israeli Ground Forces () are the Army, ground forces of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). The commander is the GOC Army Headquarters, General Officer Commanding with the rank of major general, the ''Mazi'', subordinate to the Chief of the Gen ...

liaisons, as Bernadotte wanted to project a peaceful, non-combative image. Their vehicle was ambushed by members of Lehi (also known as the Stern Gang), who were wearing Israeli army uniforms, intent on assassinating Bernadotte. Both Bernadotte and Sérot 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 Bien may refer to: * Bien (newspaper) * Basic Income Earth Network * Bień, Poland * "Bien", a song by Tini from ''Un Mechón de Pelo'' * Gertrud Bien Gertrud Bien (1881–1940) was an Austrian pediatrician and one of the first female medical stu ...

and

Tan Son Nhut Tan Son Nhat International Airport is an international airport serving Ho Chi Minh City, the most populous city in Vietnam. The airport is located in the Tân Bình district within the Ho Chi Minh City metropolitan area. It is the busies ...

. 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 Assassinated French military personnel 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 French military personnel killed in action French people murdered abroad United Nations military personnel