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Planes, Loans and Bank Robbery

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The Price of Freedom

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This chapter covers the methods of fund acquisition that emerged in France after D-Day. 

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Notes

  1. 1.

    ALBERTELLI, Les Services secrets de la France libre, 2012 (Ed. 2017), p. 187.

  2. 2.

    TNA, HS7 124 RF, RF Section History 1943, Chapter 30.

  3. 3.

    TNA, HS7 124, RF History 1943, Notes on the Stores Sub-Section RF Section History, Appendix A, p. 10.

  4. 4.

    Ibid.; 1.35 billion francs do not tally with the figures shown in Table 9, which suggests that 2.2 billion francs were authorised and expedited by Section ‘RF’. Table 9 was constructed using documents from AN, AG 3 (2) 276—171 MI 108 BCRA.

  5. 5.

    Idem, p. 9.

  6. 6.

    FRENAY, La nuit finira, 1973, p. 299—“Aid to the Maquis is a vital necessity. Failure to provide it would destroy their confidence in the Resistance. Are we going to force these men to come down from their mountains and go to Germany? We need additional resources and, first of all, money.”

  7. 7.

    PINEAU, La Simple Vérité, 1960, p. 223—“Charles Laurent is a perfect honest man; he is also a meticulous finance official; he ran such risks with his methods that I cannot help but protest. He misunderstands the meaning of my reply, gets angry - so much so that I reluctantly give him the envelope that I had prepared. Meeting ends in an unenthusiastic atmosphere”.

  8. 8.

    PASSY Colonel, Mémoires du chef des services secrets de la France Libre, Paris, Éditions Odile Jacob, 2000, 801p., p. 276—“The arguments of each varied according to the phases of the moon or the hygrometric state of the atmosphere; that is to say that, in truth, they were only a function of the personal interests of such and such a leader of the movements. The slightest imprudent word aroused rowdy sensibilities and unleashed violent incidents”.

  9. 9.

    AN, AG 3 (2) 276—171 MI 108 BCRA, Dispositions relatives au Budget Mensuel, Colonel Vernon (Henri Ziegler), p. 1.

  10. 10.

    AN, AG 3 (2) 278—171 MI 110 BCRA—Letter from General Koenig to Commissioner d’Astier, 21 July 1944.

  11. 11.

    AN, AG 3 (2) 277 - 171 MI 109 BCRA, Dossier 9—Budgets et Finances Zone Sud 1944.

  12. 12.

    ‘Serge Ravanel’, https://www.ordredelaliberation.fr/fr/compagnons/serge-ravanel, Consulted 18 March 2020.

  13. 13.

    HESLOP, XAVIER: A British Secret Agent…, 1970 (Ed. 2014), p. 227.

  14. 14.

    ‘Henri Jaboulay’, https://www.ordredelaliberation.fr/fr/compagnons/henri-jaboulay, Consulted 20 March 2020.

  15. 15.

    DORMOIS Jean-Pierre, The French Economy in the Twentieth Century, Cambridge, CUP, 2004 (Ed. 2010), 156p., p. 61—“Piecemeal assistance schemes introduced earlier by the Third Republic were generally limited in coverage and economical in provision; they included free medical assistance (the ‘poor man’s doctor’), the creation of orphanages (1904), and asylums for the destitute (1905) and the introduction of child benefit (from the fourth child) in 1932”.

  16. 16.

    AN, AG 3 (2) 276 - 171 MI 108 BCRA, Letter from Colonel ‘Vernon’ (Henri Ziegler) to Commandant Lejeune, 04 July 1944.

  17. 17.

    TAGLIABUE John, ‘Henri Ziegler, Aviation Figure, Is Dead at 91’, New York Times, 28 July 1998.

  18. 18.

    AN, AG 3 (2) 276 - 171 MI 108 BCRA, Note for F1/F, 17 July 1944.

  19. 19.

    AN, AG 3 (2) 278 - 171 MI 110 BCRA, Cash Handed to Ft./Lt. CLARK for despatch during January, 24 January 1944.

  20. 20.

    AN, AG 3 (2) 276 - 171 MI 108 BCRA, Dispositions relatives au Budget Mensuel, 24 July 1944.

  21. 21.

    VERITY Hugh, We Landed by Moonlight: Secret RAF Landings in France 1940–1944, Manchester, Crécy Publishing, 1978 (Ed.2013), 272p., p. 154.

  22. 22.

    ‘Louis Mangin’, http://www.francaislibres.net/liste/fiche.php?index=83142, Consulted 19 March 2020—Louis Mangin, formerly a commandant in the 24th Alpine Hunter Battalion, had, as his liaison officer, Lucien Cambas (Trapeze).

  23. 23.

    ‘Jacques Chaban-Delmas’, http://museedelaresistanceenligne.org/media3347-Jacques-Chaban-Delmas, Consulted 20 March 2020.

  24. 24.

    ‘Alias « ARCHIDUC», Terroriste à la retraite’, https://vimeo.com/67803592,Consulted 20 March 2020.

  25. 25.

    AN, AG 3 (2) 278—171 MI 110 BCRA, Sommes expédiées directement (Novembre 1943) Zone Sud, 10 January 1944.

  26. 26.

    AN, AG 3 (2) 277 - 171 MI 109 BCRA, Telegram from Archiduc, via Ambassadeurs Noir, 12 March 1944—“Financial situation serious STOP from Archiduc No 3 1 of 10 March following the 30 STOP Given teams dispersed demoralised STOP Some commit acts banditry fault lack of money STOP Promis your name remedy quickly”.

  27. 27.

    AN, AG 3 (2) 277 - 171 MI 109 BCRA, Telegram to Circonference via Algiers, 09 April 1944.

  28. 28.

    AN, AG 3 (2) 277 - 171 MI 109 BCRA, Telegram to Circonference via Algiers, 17 April 1944—“…Citation we cannot accept your budgetary project triple that of other regions STOP Have cabled Circonference on this matter STOP It is inadmissible that you issue ultimatum as means of pressure STOP…”.

  29. 29.

    TNA, HS7 124, RF Section History 1944, Chapter 6, p. 16.

  30. 30.

    AN, AG 3 (2) 278—171 MI 110 BCRA, Tableau des dépenses d’ordre militaire pour le mois d’avril 1944, 29 March 1944.

  31. 31.

    AN, AG 3 (2) 277 - 171 MI 109 BCRA, Telegram from Archiduc, via Ambassadeurs Violet, 17 April 1944.

  32. 32.

    AN, AG 3 (2) 276—171 MI 108 BCRA, Note for Koenig and Passy from Vernon, 09 May 1944.

  33. 33.

    ‘History’, Port Camille Rayon, https://www.portcamillerayon.net/en/history/, Consulted 20 March 2020.

  34. 34.

    ‘Camille Rayon bâtisseur de port est décédé à l’âge de 101 ans’, France 3, Provence Alpes Côte d’Azur, 18 September 2014, https://france3-regions.francetvinfo.fr/provence-alpes-cote-d-azur/alpes-maritimes/cannes/camille-rayon-batisseur-de-port-est-decede-l-age-de-101-ans-553258.html, Consulted 20 March 2020.

  35. 35.

    BUCKMASTER, They Fought Alone…, 1956 (Ed. 2014), 320p., p. 165.

  36. 36.

    AN, AG 3 (2) 276—171 MI 108 BCRA, Letter from Passy to de Gaulle, 27 March 1943.

  37. 37.

    BELOT, KARPMAN, L’affaire Suisse…, 2009, p. 216—“Already, the English Treasury accepted to constitute a reserve from which the French could draw in the lack of flight operations; an equivalent of 150 million francs in frozen pound sterling credits”.

  38. 38.

    NARA, RG 331 (Allied Operational and Occupation Headquarters, World War II), Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Forces (SHAEF) General Staff, G-3 Division, Organization and Equipment Section Project Decimal File Feb 1944-Jan 1945, 314.7 Vol. I to 314.7 Vol II, Part 1—Chapter II—French Resistance and Allied Services (S.O.E.—O.S.S.—S.F.H.Q.) p. 355.

  39. 39.

    AN, AG 3 (2) 276—171 MI 108 BCRA, Letter from Mendès France to Soustelle, 14 March 1944.

  40. 40.

    TNA, HS7-121, Report from Mr. I.D. Lloyd to Group Captain Venner, Undated; See also FOOT, Des Anglais dans la Résistance…, 2014, Appendix C, Table 6.

  41. 41.

    BINOT, BOYER, L’argent de la Résistance, 2010, p. 75—“The lender is obliged, in theory, to trust them for the repayment. The only ‘guarantee’ consists of a duplicate of the telegram addressed to Algiers, which accompanies a receipt, given by the borrower on the spot, in case the latter is placed under arrest or disappears. The accounts, we understand, are not opened under the true surname of the lender, but only with a first name and date of birth”.

  42. 42.

    AN, AG 3 (2) 276—171 MI 108 BCRA, Instructions pour l’émission de bons du Trésor en France, 24 March 1944—“Every month: the issuing agents will send a telegram to London giving the numbers of the vouchers issued and the signature on the vouchers”.

  43. 43.

    AN, AG 3 (2) 277 - 171 MI 109 BCRA, Telegram to Gascon via Tetouan, 30 March 1944.

  44. 44.

    BdF, 1,069,199,410 1 – Prélèvements—Généralités, Note, 19 October 1944.

  45. 45.

    FOULK David, ‘Homeward Bound: Map** Clandestine Transportation into France during the Second World War’, War in History, November 2021, pp. 18–20.

  46. 46.

    ‘Pierre Bourgoin’, https://www.ordredelaliberation.fr/fr/compagnons/pierre-louis-bourgoin, Consulted 21 March 2020.

  47. 47.

    AN, AG 3 (2) 277 - 171 MI 109 BCRA, Dossier 3 ‘Buckmaster’, Appendix ‘A’ to HQ SAS, Message N° 9.

  48. 48.

    AN, AG 3 (2) 277 - 171 MI 109 BCRA, Issue of Money to Troops and Resistance in BRITTANY, undated.

  49. 49.

    The literature on the importance of morale in warfare is abundant. Among the most pertinent is POPE Arthur Upham, ‘The Importance of Morale’, The Journal of Educational Sociology, Vol. 15, N° 4, Civilian Morale, December 1941, pp. 195–205.

  50. 50.

    BdF, 1,069,199,410 1—Prélèvements—Généralités, Prélèvement irrégulier opéré à Périgueux le 26 juillet 1944 par les Forces Françaises de l’Intérieur.

  51. 51.

    BdF, 1,069,199,401 2 Prélèvements irréguliers - Comptoirs A-G, Prélèvements effectués à nos Caisses par les F.F.I.

  52. 52.

    TNA, HS7 124 RF Section History 1944, p. 22—“The FTP contained numbers of men who were not communists, and even if there were dangerous and disciplined groups elsewhere, they were well in hand in R1”.

  53. 53.

    TNA, HS7 124 RF Section History 1943, p. 4.

  54. 54.

    BdF, 1,069,199,401 2 Prélèvements irréguliers - Comptoirs A-G, Compte rendu annexe à ma lettre du 2 août 1944 relative aux réquisitions à main armée du 1er août 1944.

  55. 55.

    BINOT, BOYER, L’Argent de la Résistance, 2010, p. 105—“Established in Annonay (Ardèche), the Bechetoille Bank was visited twice by guerrillas, who took 130,000 francs in the summer of 1944. The authors and their units are well-known”.

  56. 56.

    BONNAUD Pierre, ‘Notice Annonay (Ardèche) et sa région: les fusillés de l’été 1944’, 16 March 2020, https://maitron.fr/spip.php?article222028, Consulted 22 March 2020.

  57. 57.

    (X = 2,800,000/1,000).

  58. 58.

    BONNAUD, ‘Notice Annonay…’, 2020—“Many hundreds of young people signed themselves up to the A.S. and F.T.P. between the 6th and 19th June”.

  59. 59.

    BdF, 1,069,199,401 2 Prélèvements irréguliers - Comptoirs A-G, Prélèvements effectués à nos Caisses par les F.F.I.

  60. 60.

    See Loi n° 45–15 du 2 décembre 1945 relative à la nationalisation de la Banque de France et des grandes banques et à l’organisation du crédit, https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do?cidTexte=LEGITEXT000006072686&.

  61. 61.

    MARGAIRAZ Michel, ‘La Banque de France et l’Occupation’ in MARGAIRAZ Michel (Ed.), Banques, Banque de France et Seconde Guerre mondiale, Paris, Albin Michel, 2015, 208p., Chap. 2, Para. 2 (Ebook)—“The years 1940–1944, one suspects, appears the time when the Bank essentially became the State Bank in wartime…”.

  62. 62.

    Secrétariat d’Etat à l’Économie Nationale et aux Finances, L’Action économique en France depuis l’armistice, Macon, Protat Frères, 1941, 181p.

  63. 63.

    MOURÉ Kenneth, ‘Spearhead Currency: Monetary Sovereignty and the Liberation of France’, The International History Review, 42:2, 2020, pp. 278–297, p. 280.

  64. 64.

    BdF, 1,069,200,401 267 Guerre 1939–1945, Front National, Comité Parisien de Libération, Sous-Groupe de la Banque de France.

  65. 65.

    BdF, 1,069,200,401 267 Guerre 1939–1945, Journal Résistance Paris Témoignages 18 août—7 septembre 1944, p. 1.

  66. 66.

    Nom-de-guerre ‘Suchet’, Armoured cavalry officer during the 1939–40 campaign who, in 1944, was tasked with organising the northern section in the Seine area, under the orders of Commandant Macary, ‘Latour’. For more information, http://museedelaresistanceenligne.org/media4851-Plaque-commA, Consulted 07 May 2019.

  67. 67.

    Association Nationale des Anciens Combattants de la Banque de France, ‘FFI à la Banque’ - The website containing this information was discontinued in 2019. Nonetheless, it can be accessed through WayBackMachine at the following link, https://web.archive.org/web/20181220173856/http:/www.anac-fr.com/f_2gm.htm, clicking through to ‘Liste des récits’ and, under (F—Résistance à la Banque), the article ‘FFI à la Banque’ is consultable.

  68. 68.

    BOUGEARD Christian, ‘La vie quotidienne des Bretons pendant la guerre: Quelques aspects’, Annales de Bretagne et des pays de l’Ouest, Vol. 92, Issue 1, 1985, pp. 79–102, p. 97.

  69. 69.

    BRIDGE Joe (John Steer, 1886–1967), ‘Cigares Diplomates’ poster, Ateliers Joe Bridge, Paris, 1930, 120 × 159.4 cm, https://auctions.posterauctions.com/lots/view/1-HG2MO/cigares-diplomates-1930, Consulted 8 May 2019.

  70. 70.

    MAUSS Marcel, The Gift: The Form and Reason for Exchange in Archaic Societies, London, Routledge, 1990, 200p., https://libcom.org/files/Mauss%20-%20The%20Gift.pdf, Consulted 12 May 2019.

  71. 71.

    BdF, 1,069,200,401 267 Guerre 1939–1945, Journal Résistance Paris Témoignages 18 août–7 septembre 1944, p. 2.

  72. 72.

    AGLAN, La France à l’envers…, 2020, 720p., p. 179.

  73. 73.

    TAYLOR, Lynne, ‘The Black Market in Occupied Northern France, 1940–4’, Contemporary European History, Vol. 6, N° 2 (Jul. 1997), pp. 153–176, p. 162.

  74. 74.

    BdF, 1,069,200,401 267 Guerre 1939–1945, Journal Résistance Paris Témoignages 18 août–7 septembre 1944.

  75. 75.

    Graphical representations of the trip have been created using - QGIS Development Team, QGIS Geographic Information System, Open Source Geospatial Foundation Project, 2009, http://qgis.org.

  76. 76.

    BdF, 1,069,200,401 267 Guerre 1939–1945, Journal Résistance Paris Témoignages 18 août—7 septembre 1944, p. 10, “Fearing for his life, because he surrendered to "Franc-Tireurs", he threw his weapons without shooting, which is confirmed to me by our two comrades. I reassured him as best as I could about his fate, telling him that it was not the French who were barbarians, but the supporters of Hitler, and I cited the odious massacre at Oradour-sur-Glane as proof”.

  77. 77.

    BINOT, BOYER, L’argent de la Résistance, 2010, p. 31—“System D, dear to the French, was working at full capacity”; GILDEA Robert, Fighters in the Shadows: A New History of the French Resistance, London, Faber and Faber, 2015, 608p., Chap. 2, Para. 5 (Ebook)—“This was the famous système du débrouillage or système D.”

  78. 78.

    BdF, 1,069,200,401 267 Guerre 1939—1945, Journal Résistance…, p. 4, “…such as that which happened to the wife of my friend, a Lorrainer by birth, who, upon leaving their apartment at the École des Mines, which was still occupied by the Germans, was suspected of being a spy, by a brainless idiot, and had to spend the day and night at the police station in the 5th arrondissement.”

  79. 79.

    BdF, 1,069,200,401 267 Guerre 1939–1945, Journal, Incidents de la journée de 23 août 1944, undated.

  80. 80.

    TAYLOR, ‘The Black Market…’, 1997, p. 155.

  81. 81.

    BdF, 1069200401 267 Guerre 1939–1945, Journal, p. 3, “Thursday August 24 - 9:30 am, Gift from a nightclub, rue Montmartre: 50 bottles of champagnes, aperitif”; CORDIER Daniel, La victoire en pleurant: Alias Caracalla 1943–1946, Paris, Éditions Gallimard, 2021, 310p., p. 295, “Champagne is 800 francs a bottle…”.

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Foulk, D. (2022). Planes, Loans and Bank Robbery. In: The Price of Freedom. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-09066-0_9

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