VIS MISSION

How the mission was prepared

(History of Georges Soulier)

   At the joint M.I. 6 and O.S.S school located in Saint Albans, the constitution of the "pairs or teams of two" was often left with the choice of the agents. Sympathy and the reciprocal regard, as well as the progress report of the courses and training, carried the decision.

     "For this preparation, I was sent a few days later "to have a refreshing break". It was the expression used to indicate the very discrete place where we spent the last days before our departure. It was a question of developing all the details concerning the mission, and if necessary, of going back at it in full physical form.

     That occurred in a manor lost in nature. The place was called Grendon. It was located at ten kilometres of Northampton. We arrived at this house while crossing a large park maintained very well. It was managed by the captain Alden of the O.S.S., and all the personnel was composed of hand-picked American soldiers. Each one of us had his luxuriously furnished room and there were several living rooms and dining rooms. I remember that we ate there in a royal way. It was not any more the English mode. For example with the breakfast there were fruit juices, small sweetened thick pancakes, on which we put liquid honey, very white English bread with peanut butter, jam, cornflakes, small delicious sausages, without forgetting milk, coffee, tea or chocolate, etc. The whole at will. And of the heavy meals midday and evening.

     The captain Alden had explained us that the number of people passing in this house was to remain absolutely secret, as well as for the supply office staff which supplied us. Also the delivered quantities were always the same, and obviously quite higher than the needs.

     It is there that I knew that the place of my mission would be Blois. This place was to be kept secret for all, and it was forbidden to speak about it between comrades for obvious reasons about safety. The team was composed of a chief of mission (the observer) and radio operator in charge of the transmission of the information and reception of the messages of the O.S.S. in London. I was the radio operator. I learned that my fellow-member would be Jourdet. He was a comrade who had followed the same training and whom I knew already.

     We were given a detailed map of the town of Blois. We had to study it very seriously to know it by heart, and to be able to move on the spot without the assistance of anybody, as if we live there for a long time. We had to also learn the names and addresses of the principal shopkeepers and other administrations. We underwent several examinations during which we were requested information on the people to be judicious known, or on the manner of going from a place to another.

     We learned that the code name of our mission would be "VIS" and that our sector of work whose Blois would be the center, extended from Vendôme in the North, Orleans in the East, Tours in the West and Vierzon in the South. We received a set of very detailed military maps of this zone. We were required to choose new pseudonym for this mission, and I chose George Sautel with information of marital status which was given to me, and which in the event of control was unverifiable; registers of births, marriages and deaths of the place where I was born, having been destroyed or having been burned during the first part of the war.

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Georges Soulier’s
forged identification card
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     A few days later, I was given an identity card, established with the name that I had chosen, by the Police Station of Blois. I received also various sets of papers: food card from which I had to learn how to use it, work permit, membership card of Inns of Youth, certificate of residence, etc.

     I also received all the material which I could need during this mission. Among it, two receiving & transmitter radio sets Mark 7 in their small red leather bags, one of them to be used in the emergency shelter, an automatic gun Colt 45, and various gadgets: a pen gas thrower 38 gauge to temporarily blind a police officer a little too curious, a phosphorescent ball of the size of a table tennis ball, to be placed close to an object to find quickly in the night, such as the gun for example or to make night signals on the ground of parachuting. There were also a flask with Gin or another Whisky, a tiny metal round box containing pills to fight against tiredness and sleep, a compass, a medical kit with morphine syringe, two English "striker" grenades n° 69 made out of Bakelite, and still much more other objects which I forgot " »

     "Lastly, we carried with us a cyanide pill to be swallowed in the event of arrest and tortures, to avoid speaking. Usually this pill was placed in a gold ring, having a mobile kitten. This one hid a small cavity of the size of the pill. Unfortunately for me, there was no more ring when I received this pill, and they arrived only after my departure. This fact I never had it! I must say besides that at the time, it was the least of my concern! "

Gold signet ring hiding a cyanide pill

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     "From the financial point of view, we were at ease. We had received for our expenses a sum of two hundred thousand French Francs (approximately 30 500 euros), what at the time represented an enormous sum of money. In order to have an idea, a managing director of a company used to earn a maximum of four to five thousand French Francs per month (750 euros approximately), when he was well paid! Half of this sum would be put in reserve in our emergency shelter.

     In the last days before our departure, we had to choose our civil clothing. They did not bear any mark, and it would thus not have been possible to define their origin in the event of control. I also received a Swiss watch of very great quality, but without mark "

     We learned that a team managed by certain "Pierre", was to take delivery of us on the ground, and to lead us to a provisional shelter where we would be in safety before our departure for Blois. This Pierre was to also indicate the name of the person to be contacted for our installation in this town. an agreed message would be diffused by the radio of London, the famous B.B.C., in its "private messages" heading to inform the committee of reception of our arrival. Thirteen hours thirty: Here is London, here are your personal messages:

 .. “The typhoon will take four crews”...

We repeat:

“The typhoon will take four crews” twice.

     This message would be repeated during the bulletins broadcasted at nineteen hour thirty and twenty one hour thirty, Pierre was to make all the necessary arrangements to receive us the same evening, and in particular, to mark out the ground with light and to ensure the security of the field with the assistance of resistant of the sector.

     On the 30th of May 1944, in the morning we were informed that it would be for this evening! In the afternoon we got dressed into civil, and we only kept our weapons. All the remainder of our clothing and our material was packed in containers to be parachuted with us. Three other teams would be dropped on the same DZ as our “Vis” team: "Madeleine" would work in the sector of Saint Germain, "Marbot" in Versailles and "Cure" in Tours. The evening after the dinner, we met with those who remained in England, to drink the glass of the departure. We only drank Gin or Whisky, but in quantity. Also we were warmed up at the end of this drinking party.

     After saying goodbye, around 10.00 pm we got into cars which took us along to the Harrington Airfield, not far from Tempsford, one of the 8th Air Force bases. Two "B24 Liberators" of the Carpetbaggers of the 801/492 Bombardment Group of the U.S.A.A.F. were waiting for us. The "Liberator" is an enormous bomber with four engines with eight crew members: pilot, copilot, navigator, bomber, radio, dispatcher, turret gunner and mechanic. It should be noted that these planed assigned to special operations were black painted with anti-reflective coating for camouflage and protection against the projectors of the FLAK.

     Our containers were already loaded on board. We put on several plates with foam, then we slipped on our overall camouflaged, them our boots in fabric and finally the foam helmet to be used to deaden the too brutal falls. Finally we put on our parachute. The colonel came to tell us some words of encouragement. Four of us got into each plane whose engines were already running. We sit down on the floor, because there were neither seats, nor benches. The plane took off in the night, it was very dark inside because there only was a small night light. Outside, all also appeared quite black, although it was the full moon, as for all parachutings. In the interior, the euphoria of the departure was replaced by a complete silence.

     Quickly we were above the English Channel. The turret gunners fired some gusts to check the correct operation of their weapons. I felt a strong apprehension, initially caused by the jump to carry out, apprehension which always was the same as it was for the first time, in spite the number of jumps already done, but especially for what we wiould find on the ground. Indeed it already happened that the people in charge of the reception were stopped and replaced by agents of Gestapo.
 

     We flew since more than one half an hour, then suddenly the plane was surrounded by gleams and was strongly shaken. The flight officer, without any emotion, explained us that we just reached the French coasts, and that we had to face the Anti-Aircraft Defense which shot at us. Finally all again became quiet.

     We spent a new hour without incident, then the dispatcher who was in liaison with the pilot, asked us to get prepared, because we would soon arrived. We hang up the hook of our parachute to the steel wire rope running along the cabin and we waited…… But nothing happened! After having carried out several turns above the ground, the dispatcher informed us that the committee of reception did not mark out the DZ (dropping zone) nor sent the agreed signal. Consequently the dropping was cancelled and we turned back towards England! A coward relief then replaced the fear I had before. I thought that it was the same for my other companions, because at once we all were more loquacious.

     While passing above a city the dispatcher took large packages surrounded of kraft paper and tied up. He sliced the strings with his knife and dropped all these packages, still closed, by the trap door. He explained us that they were anti-German leaflets. The still tied up packages spent a certain time to open while falling down quickly, so that the leaflets would only scatter at low altitude above the houses. We landed at the base around 3 or 4 hours in the morning.

     After a few hours of rest, at the end of the morning, our American officers told us that we would again depart this evening. Like the day before, we celabrated this new departure before joining the planes. The flight occured without notorious incident. Once again the dispatcher asked us to get prepared and we waited. Once again, nothing occurred? There was still no signal on the ground and we again returned to England.

     The following day, it was June the 1st, we were kicked up by our comrades remained on the spot. They made fun nicely of us, saying that we were afraid to jump, or because it was to have free farewell drinks and other jokes of the same kind. Almost immediately, we were warned that we were again going to leave the same evening. During the farewell celebration somebody said that finally it was not unpleasant to start again every evening the same ceremonial, and that we could still continue like that during further days.

     Once again, we climbed into the same planes. We started to know the procedure well. Just above the French coasts, as the first time we were under the violent fire of the Anti-Aircraft Defense but the plane was not hit. Little before the arrival on the DZ, we saw great red gleams by a port-hole, rather far on our left. We were explained that to make diversion on our flight, U.S aviation was carrying out a bombardment of a railway center.

     A little later on, once again we went through our jump preparation. The dispatcher announced us that this time everything was ok. The agreed signals of recognition were flashing; the committee of reception was there. The trap door opened. The plane did a first passage to drop our containers, then it returned to the end of the field. My heart beating, I sat down at the edge of the trap door. I could see the red light which lit up and I heard somebody to shout loudly "Action station" then, the light went green, a howl: "Go!! ".My mission started!

     I jumped out in the space "


     Then left to their destiny, each "Sussex" agent took part in a very active way to inform the Allied Headquarters’ staff, moving with the battle front, often even pulling back with the German troops.