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Michel Tillet was born on 17/11/1917 in Marmande (Lot-et-Garonne). On 24/12/1935, he enlisted in the 19th Engineer Regiment in Algiers.

At mobilization, he was transferred to the 82nd Telegraph Company as a telegraphy instructor and sent to Maubeuge on 19/09/1939, then withdrawn to Montpellier on 25/06/1940.

On 01/08/1940, he was assigned to the 8th Signals Group, then to the Radio Company of the Colonial Mobile Group on 01/08/1941. After landing in Dakar on 20/09/1941, he was sent to Kati (Sudan) where he held logistics duties.

Repatriated to Morocco, he was assigned to the 67th Signals Company on 23/10/1943. A volunteer for missions in occupied France, he joined the BCRAA in Algiers on 26/02/1944 and took the name Marcel Goulet.

Sussex Plan (England)

He arrived in England in March 1944 and was assigned to the Sussex Plan. At St Albans, he followed special training at the Praewood House school under the alias Marcel Tréville. He earned parachutist brevet no. 21512 on 22/05/1944 after a one-week course at Ringway.

Due to persistent bad weather, then the rapid Allied advance, Michel Tillet (alias Marcel Tréville) could not be parachuted in. He was later embarked on a motor torpedo boat (MTB), notably towards Dieppe, to take part in the liberation of Paris.

Intelligence missions (1944–1945)

On 23/09/1944, he was placed at the disposal of Colonel Lefebvre (DGER) and carried out several infiltration and intelligence missions behind German lines in Alsace and Germany, with Major Ostheimer’s (OSS) group, from 01/10/1944 to 22/02/1945.

Force 136 — Far East

Sent to Calcutta as a diplomatic courier (April 1945), he was assigned to Force 136 on 28/04/1945.

As radio operator for Colonel Imfeld, Michel Tillet (alias Marcel Tréville) was parachuted on 18/07/1945 by the crew of a Liberator flown by F/O Ellinor (No. 358 Squadron, RAF) into the Dong Hong massif (Upper Laos), during operation Nuisance/Fraise. He joined Colonel Imfeld and took part in the liberation of Luang Prabang.

He was taken prisoner by the Chinese on 23/09/1945 and was released on 05/01/1946. He reached Saigon and on 10/02/1946 was assigned to the 1st SAS demi-brigade of Lt-Colonel De Bollardière as a parachute instructor. Promoted to Chief Warrant Officer, he took part in the liberation of Indochina with 24 combat missions and 178h25 of operational flight time.

Medically repatriated to France on 25/03/1947, he was assigned on 31/07/1947 to Bayonne to the 2nd Parachute Chasseur Regiment (later the 2nd “Shock” Parachute Battalion). He was promoted Warrant Officer (01/04/1948), then Second Lieutenant (01/01/1949). Promoted Lieutenant, he joined the 1st RCP in Philippeville in September 1951.

Death

Selected to serve in the Far East, he boarded Air France Constellation F-BAZZ on 01/09/1953 destined for Saigon. The aircraft crashed on Mont Cemet as it was about to land in Nice. The 9 crew members and 39 passengers were killed in the crash. Michel Tillet was declared “Died for France” (Mort pour la France).

Awards

• 1939–1945 War Cross (2 citations: Brigade order and Division order)
• Commemorative Medal for Voluntary Service in Free France
• Order of the Million Elephants (Laos)