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Authors: Sophie Jackson
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his otherwise black hair, he was an easily recognisable face to the French. On missions he would dye his white streak of hair to avoid being identified by the Germans. Colonel Passy would later describe him as: ‘without doubt, the man who, amongst all those I have met in my life, made the greatest impression on me.’ 4 Forest would equally come to respect his new colleague and would consider him one of his greatest wartime friends.
However, on Forest’s return from Ringfield he only knew of Brossolette as another Frenchman fighting the Nazis. SOE headquarters, having concluded the Seahorse mission was a non-starter, were now disinclined to send Forest anywhere. Hutch had tried to get him involved in a mission to have a ‘general look round’ in France, but this was turned down with the slightly snide comment that as Forest was credited as being such a talented officer, his skills would be wasted on such a mundane mission. Hutch was not defeated however. He recognised the same desire to get into action in Forest that he felt in himself and he continued to push to secure his man a mission. It was the mission to send Passy and Brossolette back into France that tipped the scale. Judiciously, it was suggested to HQ that an unbiased representative should go with the two BCRA men to report on the matter for the British, and there was just such a man, with a superb knowledge of France, stationed at No. 1 Dorset Square.
HQ agreed and finally Forest had his chance to get into action. There were still matters to be resolved, however. Forest was sent for more training, this time in the art of sending encoded messages, while London’s forgery department was working overtime on his false papers. Forest’s new identity was that of Francois Thierry, a bachelor born at Arras on 17 June 1901. Before the war he had worked as a clerk and lived in Paris at 41 rue St Ferdinand; he had also spent time serving in the 34th Battalion de l’Air and was demobbed at Marignane on 27 August 1940. Since then he had returned to his employment as a clerk and now lived at 9 rue Richepanse, Paris. Forest had to memorise this entire story, which was backed up by an array of false documents including a French identity card, demob certificate, driving licence and ration cards. Armed with all this it was hoped that he could infiltrate France without attracting any attention.
As one last quirk it was decided to retain the codename Forest had been assigned for his abortive first mission – Operation Seahorse was ready to go.
Agents were typically dropped during a moon period (between the times when the moon was in its first quarter and last quarter phase) ideally when the moon was at its fullest to provide the parachutists with the best possible light. Forest eagerly calculated the most likely time for his drop as between 17 and 28 February. As the first date rapidly approached he was surprised that he was not frightened at the prospect, and his mind instead turned to Mademoiselle Jose Dupuis, who he had penned a postcard to on that sad day at Pointe de Grave when he fled France. Now he couldn’t contain his excitement to be heading back and arranged for a message to be broadcast on BBC radio: ‘From Tommy to Jose. We’ll soon drink again good Chignin wine.’ Tommy was another nickname Forest had used when writing for a British boxing magazine and he was certain the mention of Chignin would remind Mademoiselle Dupuis of the holidays during which they had drunk that wine in a village near Chambery.
The BBC ran a busy trade in these types of message, one of the few ways to communicate freely with France. Some were simple messages of hope to loved ones, others were meaningless phrases added in to confuse German operatives listening, and others were secret communications between agents in France or the resistance. This was the first time Forest had used the service, but it would not be the last and from that point on his messages would not be so
However, on Forest’s return from Ringfield he only knew of Brossolette as another Frenchman fighting the Nazis. SOE headquarters, having concluded the Seahorse mission was a non-starter, were now disinclined to send Forest anywhere. Hutch had tried to get him involved in a mission to have a ‘general look round’ in France, but this was turned down with the slightly snide comment that as Forest was credited as being such a talented officer, his skills would be wasted on such a mundane mission. Hutch was not defeated however. He recognised the same desire to get into action in Forest that he felt in himself and he continued to push to secure his man a mission. It was the mission to send Passy and Brossolette back into France that tipped the scale. Judiciously, it was suggested to HQ that an unbiased representative should go with the two BCRA men to report on the matter for the British, and there was just such a man, with a superb knowledge of France, stationed at No. 1 Dorset Square.
HQ agreed and finally Forest had his chance to get into action. There were still matters to be resolved, however. Forest was sent for more training, this time in the art of sending encoded messages, while London’s forgery department was working overtime on his false papers. Forest’s new identity was that of Francois Thierry, a bachelor born at Arras on 17 June 1901. Before the war he had worked as a clerk and lived in Paris at 41 rue St Ferdinand; he had also spent time serving in the 34th Battalion de l’Air and was demobbed at Marignane on 27 August 1940. Since then he had returned to his employment as a clerk and now lived at 9 rue Richepanse, Paris. Forest had to memorise this entire story, which was backed up by an array of false documents including a French identity card, demob certificate, driving licence and ration cards. Armed with all this it was hoped that he could infiltrate France without attracting any attention.
As one last quirk it was decided to retain the codename Forest had been assigned for his abortive first mission – Operation Seahorse was ready to go.
Agents were typically dropped during a moon period (between the times when the moon was in its first quarter and last quarter phase) ideally when the moon was at its fullest to provide the parachutists with the best possible light. Forest eagerly calculated the most likely time for his drop as between 17 and 28 February. As the first date rapidly approached he was surprised that he was not frightened at the prospect, and his mind instead turned to Mademoiselle Jose Dupuis, who he had penned a postcard to on that sad day at Pointe de Grave when he fled France. Now he couldn’t contain his excitement to be heading back and arranged for a message to be broadcast on BBC radio: ‘From Tommy to Jose. We’ll soon drink again good Chignin wine.’ Tommy was another nickname Forest had used when writing for a British boxing magazine and he was certain the mention of Chignin would remind Mademoiselle Dupuis of the holidays during which they had drunk that wine in a village near Chambery.
The BBC ran a busy trade in these types of message, one of the few ways to communicate freely with France. Some were simple messages of hope to loved ones, others were meaningless phrases added in to confuse German operatives listening, and others were secret communications between agents in France or the resistance. This was the first time Forest had used the service, but it would not be the last and from that point on his messages would not be so
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