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Authors: Damien Lewis
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under them, with other groups located at further mountaintop redoubts. Discipline seemed reasonably good, but prior to the airdrop, Lieutenant LeFranc’s men had been armed only with a dozen ancient rifles and possessed very limited supplies of ammunition.
The first priority had to be to instruct the Maquis in the use of the new weaponry. Priority number two was to radio in a ‘sitrep’ – situation report – to London, giving the location and status of the mission. And as soon as possible Druce needed to arrange a meeting with Colonel Grandval to assess the needs of the entire Maquis, then leave Gough and his Jedburghs to call in the bulk of the arms while he got the main body of the SAS flown in.
‘So, when will I be able to see Colonel Maximum?’ Druce asked Lieutenant LeFranc, over a breakfast of coarse brown bread dunked in bitter acorn coffee. ‘When will we be able to start some proper planning?’
Druce’s enthusiasm, coupled with his ability to speak French like a native had endeared him to the Maquis commander.
‘The colonel will come,’ Lieutenant LeFranc reassured him. ‘I am told he is at Le Round Table Salon, attending to some important business. But he will come.’
Druce was unsure what the ‘Round Table Salon’ might signify, but important Maquis business was presumably important Maquis business.
‘Right, in the meantime how about we get your men training with the new weaponry?’ Druce eyed a patch of trees that would give good cover, but was relatively free of undergrowth. ‘Get ’em to fall in over there, and we’ll get to it.’
‘Right away, Captain,’ Lieutenant LeFranc replied. He paused for a moment. ‘But you will need to send a radio message to London, no? The colonel has asked that you do not use your radios within 5 miles of the camp, due to the risks of DF. I can send one of my best guides to take your signallers to a place from where they can transmit in safety.’
‘DF’ stands for direction finding. The Germans had excellent mobile DF units, which could detect a radio signal at distance, triangulate the point from which it was transmitting, and so fix its location.
‘Sounds like a very sensible precaution,’ Druce agreed. ‘I’ll send a team out this morning with your man.’
With the Jedburgh signaller, Seymour, out of action owing to his injuries, it would be up to Hislop and his Phantoms to establish first communications. Just a few weeks previously a new type of radio had been issued to all Special Forces, nicknamed the ‘Jed Set’. It was comparatively lightweight and was powered by turning a handle, which meant that fewer bulky batteries needed to be lugged over the hills.
The Jed Set was simple to operate, the wavelength of transmission being set by a ‘crystal’, a small piece of crystalline mineral, such as galena, that was slotted into the device. This ensured there was no need to ‘tune’ the set prior to transmission or reception. The Jed Sets were inoperable without their crystals, so it was crucial to get rid of them if a set were ever in danger of falling into enemy hands.
SAS and Phantom signals were routed via Brigade Tactical Headquarters at Moor Park, where a contingent from the Royal Corps of Signals manned five transmitter-receiver sets 24/7. Each team was supposed to transmit two daily ‘skeds’ (schedules) from the field: the first between 08.30 and 09.00 hours and the second at 13.00–14.00 hours. If one or more sked was missed, Special Forces Headquarters (SFHQ) would consider a party compromised and on the run, possibly captured or killed.
Shortly after breakfast Hislop loaded up his Jed Set and headed into the forest, with seventeen-year-old local Roger Souchal acting as his guide. Souchal was definitely one of those who had come to the Maquis to fight. A schoolboy with aspirations to train as a lawyer, Souchal had been forced to grow up fast once the Germans took possession of the Vosges. He burned to drive the hated
The first priority had to be to instruct the Maquis in the use of the new weaponry. Priority number two was to radio in a ‘sitrep’ – situation report – to London, giving the location and status of the mission. And as soon as possible Druce needed to arrange a meeting with Colonel Grandval to assess the needs of the entire Maquis, then leave Gough and his Jedburghs to call in the bulk of the arms while he got the main body of the SAS flown in.
‘So, when will I be able to see Colonel Maximum?’ Druce asked Lieutenant LeFranc, over a breakfast of coarse brown bread dunked in bitter acorn coffee. ‘When will we be able to start some proper planning?’
Druce’s enthusiasm, coupled with his ability to speak French like a native had endeared him to the Maquis commander.
‘The colonel will come,’ Lieutenant LeFranc reassured him. ‘I am told he is at Le Round Table Salon, attending to some important business. But he will come.’
Druce was unsure what the ‘Round Table Salon’ might signify, but important Maquis business was presumably important Maquis business.
‘Right, in the meantime how about we get your men training with the new weaponry?’ Druce eyed a patch of trees that would give good cover, but was relatively free of undergrowth. ‘Get ’em to fall in over there, and we’ll get to it.’
‘Right away, Captain,’ Lieutenant LeFranc replied. He paused for a moment. ‘But you will need to send a radio message to London, no? The colonel has asked that you do not use your radios within 5 miles of the camp, due to the risks of DF. I can send one of my best guides to take your signallers to a place from where they can transmit in safety.’
‘DF’ stands for direction finding. The Germans had excellent mobile DF units, which could detect a radio signal at distance, triangulate the point from which it was transmitting, and so fix its location.
‘Sounds like a very sensible precaution,’ Druce agreed. ‘I’ll send a team out this morning with your man.’
With the Jedburgh signaller, Seymour, out of action owing to his injuries, it would be up to Hislop and his Phantoms to establish first communications. Just a few weeks previously a new type of radio had been issued to all Special Forces, nicknamed the ‘Jed Set’. It was comparatively lightweight and was powered by turning a handle, which meant that fewer bulky batteries needed to be lugged over the hills.
The Jed Set was simple to operate, the wavelength of transmission being set by a ‘crystal’, a small piece of crystalline mineral, such as galena, that was slotted into the device. This ensured there was no need to ‘tune’ the set prior to transmission or reception. The Jed Sets were inoperable without their crystals, so it was crucial to get rid of them if a set were ever in danger of falling into enemy hands.
SAS and Phantom signals were routed via Brigade Tactical Headquarters at Moor Park, where a contingent from the Royal Corps of Signals manned five transmitter-receiver sets 24/7. Each team was supposed to transmit two daily ‘skeds’ (schedules) from the field: the first between 08.30 and 09.00 hours and the second at 13.00–14.00 hours. If one or more sked was missed, Special Forces Headquarters (SFHQ) would consider a party compromised and on the run, possibly captured or killed.
Shortly after breakfast Hislop loaded up his Jed Set and headed into the forest, with seventeen-year-old local Roger Souchal acting as his guide. Souchal was definitely one of those who had come to the Maquis to fight. A schoolboy with aspirations to train as a lawyer, Souchal had been forced to grow up fast once the Germans took possession of the Vosges. He burned to drive the hated
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