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Enlisting for four years in February 1938 with the 41st Engineer Regiment in Rabat (Morocco), he trained as a radio operator. Demobilised in February 1942, he joined the Compagnie du Méditerranéen Niger and was seconded to the Western Saharan companies.

Mobilised as a radio operator with the 45th Engineer Regiment in Algiers (June to October 1943) but disappointed by the prevailing mindset, Georges Lassale volunteered in late October 1943 to carry out a mission in occupied France and adopted the cover name Georges LESCOUR. His assessment by the BCRA in Algiers noted: Highly determined — good candidate — to be used on D-Day due to his age. Gaullist sympathies.

Immediately assigned to the Sussex Plan, he was sent to St Albans for specialised training run by the Intelligence Service. On 5 February 1944, before the end of training, Georges was selected for the Pathfinder mission.

Led by Commander Marcel Saubestre, the team also included Jeannette Guyot and Pierre Binet. The success of this mission was a prerequisite for implementing the Sussex Plan. Its objective was to identify future drop zones and landing areas for subsequent missions, establish contacts, and prepare caches for equipment, etc.

In six months, the Pathfinder team identified and organised 22 parachute drop fields, 17 of which were used (some twice), as well as around a hundred “safe houses” to shelter parachuted agents. After several false starts due to bad weather, on the night of 8 February 1944, the mission was parachuted at around 11:45 p.m. from a RAF Halifax near Clion, 27 km south-east of Loches (Indre-et-Loire). They were met by Marc Chassaing and Félix Guilcher of the BCRA’s Écarlate network.

Georges Lassale then handled, regularly and with great skill, very heavy radio traffic until 12 August 1944, when he was arrested by the Gestapo. Immediately tortured and then imprisoned at Fresnes, he did not speak and managed to deceive the Gestapo, who continued to “question” him regularly… At Fresnes he turned his guards by threatening reprisals after Liberation and succeeded in being released on 18 August 1944.

At the Liberation of Paris, Georges re-established contact with the Sussex detachment led by Colonel Rémy (CL). Sent to England for a short rest period, he quickly returned to duty and set off again on 21 January 1945 on a mission in the Vosges. With Roland Sadoun (alias Sauvagnac), he was to establish an intelligence network in case the German army returned. As the enemy breakthrough did not occur, the mission became moot and Georges returned to Paris on 15 February 1945.

“Charles (Georges Lassale, alias Charles Lescour). I truly have only praise for this good companion…
I believe Charles has fully deserved the War Cross.”
— Signed Saubestre

Georges Lassale then volunteered as a reservist, along with five other former Sussex agents, for the Far East. They joined the “Commando Conus” to fight the Japanese in Indochina. The commando took the name of its leader and founder: Adrien Conus (Companion of the Liberation).

But that is another story…

Awards

• Legion of Honour
• Military Medal
• War Cross with Palm
• Resistance Medal
• DSC Distinguished Service Cross (USA)
• DSO Distinguished Service Order (United Kingdom)

Documents / Images

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