History
Documents
New document 2023
The SUSSEX / PROUST Plans
SHD References (Vincennes)
Personal files of SUSSEX agents (rev 77, update 11 August, 2025)
SUSSEX Agents
Arrested, deported, killed on mission/deportation, and/or returned
THE SUSSEX PLAN
Within the framework of preparations for the landings in France, General Eisenhower’s headquarters, in March 1943, conceived a plan named “Sussex”. Its aim was to establish, in all regions north of the Loire that would become combat zones, two-man teams—an observer officer and a radio operator—positioned at strategic points. These teams were to provide the Allies, during and after the landings, with continuous intelligence on the German army: its order of battle, troop movements—especially those of the “Panzer” divisions—supply depots of equipment and ammunition, and the installations and launch ramps for the V1 and V2 flying bombs, etc. This intelligence would enable headquarters to make timely decisions and intervene effectively, notably through bombing of convoys and concentrations of troops and materiel.
To carry out this mission, 120 volunteers—all French—were selected. After several months of intensive training and instruction in military intelligence by British instructors from the Intelligence Service (I.S.) and Americans from the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), at “Praewood House” near St Albans (about 40 km from London), they were parachuted in pairs into the designated regions.
The work of these agents was harsh and dangerous: the Gestapo and German detection services grew ever more effective, and many were arrested, tortured, and shot. Despite this, their work was remarkable, and the Americans could declare after the war:
"The activity of the Sussex agents was intense, and the information transmitted was of the utmost importance. The results achieved far exceeded the most optimistic forecasts."
On October 17, 1944, the Sussex agents sent Colonel Henderson a letter asking to continue operations together:
In recognition of their actions, these agents received the highest British or American decorations.
More than 60 years later, these “ultra‑secret” missions were only beginning to become known to the general public. This museum is dedicated to all the men and women of the Sussex Plan.
The equipment and documents displayed here belonged to them and were used during various missions.
Recruitment
Recruitment was carried out across all branches of the French armed forces (Army, Air Force, and Navy), within the two Free French Divisions, as well as among the divisions of the Army of Africa.
Some volunteers escaped France by sea—either from Brittany or via Spain and the grim Miranda camp—and reached Great Britain. However, most came from units based in North Africa. Many were from the forbidden zones and had managed to cross enemy checkpoints, including the demarcation line that split France in two. All knew how to behave in occupied France.
Training
Instruction covered every subject that might prove useful for forthcoming missions. Intense physical training was led by NCOs from His Majesty’s commandos and by U.S. Marines—one named Robichaud and the other Homola. “The two instructors were good comrades and effective teachers, but… it could be painful. Every morning we practised close-combat training in order to defend ourselves if attacked, and above all, if necessary, to kill cleanly, silently, and bare-handed by breaking the cervical vertebrae.”
Training also covered recognition of enemy equipment: aircraft, armour, all kinds of vehicles, identification of German units, ranks, unit insignia, order of battle, and more.
“We also learned to drive vehicles we might have to use—beyond cars—such as trucks, buses, motorbikes (skills that were uncommon at the time), etc.”
Sabotage was also studied, with handling of all kinds of explosives, grenades, and other “tricks and gadgets”. There were also boxing matches to test fighting spirit.
Topography and navigation were also on the programme. The goal was to be able to transmit the coordinates of potential drop zones for men and supplies, or even to mark a field for the night landing of a liaison aircraft such as a Lysander.
Among the most important subjects—at least for the radio operators—were cipher classes to learn how to encrypt and decrypt messages.
The essential complement to this training was radio instruction to become familiar with the sets agents would use on missions. They also had to know how to deploy the antenna—a simple steel electrical wire about 6 to 8 metres long—in different configurations: straight, V‑shaped, L‑shaped, etc., to obtain the best reception depending on the operator’s location. These sets were already very high‑performance—radio links between London and Saigon had been achieved.
These radios fit into ordinary‑looking civilian suitcases and worked only in “graphy”—that is, Morse code.
Parachute training lasted one week and took place at the famous British airborne troops school at Ringway, near Manchester.
Equipment
Each Sussex agent was issued with a very comprehensive set of equipment, enabling them to carry out their mission in occupied territory. Below are the details of their equipment:
Equipment list for ....................................
Documents (required)
- Identity card
- Ration card
- Textile card
- Demobilization papers
- Registration certificate
- Work certificate
Documents (additional)
- Driving licence
- French Youth card
- Student card
Money
.................. francs
Clothing (travel bag)
- 1 worn suit
- 2 shirts
- 1 tie
- 2 pairs of socks
- 1 pair of shoes
- 1 undershirt
- 2 underpants
- 3 handkerchiefs
Clothing worn
- 1 hat, beret or cap
- 1 suit
- 1 shirt
- 1 tie
- 1 pair of socks
- 1 pair of shoes
- 1 undershirt
- 1 underpants
- 1 belt
- 1 handkerchief
- 1 coat or raincoat
- 1 pair of gloves
- 1 scarf
- 1 sweater
- 1 belt argent
Toiletries (travel bag)
- 1 French razor (hollow handle)
- 2 shaving soaps
- 6 bars of soap
- 2 hand towels
- 1 mirror and comb
- 1 pack of safety pins
- 1 toothbrush
- 1 tube of toothpaste
Medical kit
- British brown kit (SOE)
- 1 French first-aid dressing pack
Food and tobacco
- 1 ration for 24 hours
- 1 ration for 48 hours
- 8 bars of French chocolate
- 1 packet of stimulant pills
- 1 Meta stove
- 65 packs of French cigarettes
- 6 boxes of French matches
- 41 packets of saccharin
- 7 pounds of coffee
- 2 small bags of tobacco
- 1 kg of Marseille soap
Weapons
- 1 .32 calibre revolver
- 50 rounds
- 1 commando knife
- 1 tear-gas pen launcher
- 2 grenades, type 69 or 36
Maps and instruments
- 1 compass (lensatic)
- 1 ruler (centimetres)
- 1 pocket knife
- 1 magnifying glass
- 2 pencils, red and blue
- 1 eraser
- 1 writing pad
- 1 pen
- 1 to 4 GSGS region maps 1:50,000
- 4 photographic reductions of adjacent-region maps 1:100,000
- 1 city plan
- 1 Michelin map of the region — French edition
- 1 Michelin map of the region — English edition
Miscellaneous
- 2 pads of QB paper
- 1 flask of cognac
- 1 bicycle repair kit
- 1 compass ring or compass collar button
- 1 flashlight
- 1 spare bulb
- 3 spare batteries
- 1 American electric signal lamp (mica lens, green)
- 1 multi-blade escape knife
- 1 escape file
- 1 Swiss wristwatch
- 1 packet of L pills
- 1 packet of K pills
- 1 wallet
- 2 bicycle inner tubes
- 1 repair kit
- 2 pairs of shoelaces
Observer only
- 1 pocket telescope
- 1 hollow gold ring
- 1 hollow pencil
Radio operator only
Radio and equipment
- 1 complete transmitter and receiver (TR1)
- 1 backup transmitter and receiver (Mark 21)
- 1 backup accumulator (Willard)
- 3 bottles of sulfuric acid
- 1 hand charger
- 1 signal board
- Codes
Ascension
- 1 transmitter
- 1 receiver
- 1 spare accumulator (Willard)
- 1 hand-cranked charger
- 3 bottles of sulfuric acid
Sussex Squadron
Heraldry of the 226 Squadron
Some teams, especially after D-Day, were equipped with special secret ultra high frequency (UHF) radio-telephone sets known as S-Phone. This radio allowed direct ground-to-air communications with a radio operator onboard an aircraft. For this purpose, a special squadron of “B-25 Mitchell” aircraft under the command of Squadron Leader Whinney was created specifically for Sussex missions using the S-Phone.
French airmen, among them Joseph Kessel—the renowned writer and journalist—and his friend André Bernheim, were assigned to the 226 Squadron. They maintained voice contact with the “Sussex” teams on the ground, enabling those teams to direct Allied air and artillery attacks against concentrations of tanks and enemy troops.
DIORAMA and MODEL made by Renaud POUGE
Joseph Kessel and André Bernheim
Carpetbaggers Squadron
Standing (left to right): Clinton Rabbit (Pilot) - Ernest Asbury (Co-pilot) - Floyd Olson (Navigator) - Donald Leinhauser (Bombardier) - Art Bogusz (Mechanic)
Kneeling: Nick Rasnak (Dispatcher) - Steve Sianis (Radio) - Mike Tauger (Tail Gunner)
Operation Carpetbagger
The aim of Operation Carpetbagger was, during special missions, to supply resistance groups in occupied territory with weapons and ammunition, to parachute agents known as JOEs (BCRA, Jedburghs, OSS, Proust, SOE, Sussex), and to bring certain people back to England.
For more information, visit Roy Tebbutt’s site about the Carpetbagger Aviation Museum in Harrington (UK):
Mission reports
These reports list the types of missions carried out, the agents involved, and the crews who successfully completed them…
For more information, visit Thomas Ensminger’s site, historian of the 801st and 492nd Carpetbagger Bomb Group
- T H E C R E W S -
The Stapel Crew
Members of the Stapel crew who, on the night of 10–11 May 1944, dropped the Sussex teams “Diane” and “Ney” over Neaufles-sur-Risle (Eure) as part of Operation FIAT 6 (Carpetbagger mission no. 429A).
(Other crews to be added here…)
DIORAMA and MODEL made by Renaud POUGE
Map of France
About
In Colonel Rémy’s book,
Memoirs of a Secret Agent of Free France
you can read the following foreword written by Colonel Francis Pickens Miller (OSS), one of the American Sussex leaders:
Courtesy of the George C. Marshall Research Library, Lexington, Virginia
“The circumstances that brought together Rémy, the British officer who signed the second volume of his memoirs under the pseudonym Wagon, and the American officer that I was, produced a magnificent example of cooperation among the services of three different countries, working toward a common goal.”
Each representative played their distinctive and appropriate part in the planning and conduct of the operations.
But it was the French who provided these plans with the means to carry them out.
In intelligence matters, the field agent is the decisive factor:
Plans may be perfect, equipment flawless, and time and luck may be on your side, but it is the field agent—and that agent alone—who ultimately determines success.
The agent’s highest quality lies in their character.
Words fail me when I think of the qualities of the men and women, the young men and young women, who went out on missions for our common cause.
Their patriotism was of the purest kind, and the courage they showed will never be surpassed by the courage of any man.
The surest test of an individual’s character reveals itself under torture.
Yet in this operation we had to direct, none of the tortured agents ever gave up the names of their comrades. Not one!
In the harsh and glorious conduct of these men and women—who went so far as the supreme sacrifice without ever wavering—lies the hope we may place in the future of France, which I do not hesitate to say, as a citizen of the United States of America, is our future as well.”
Colonel Francis Pickens Miller
Testimonies
Testimonies and archival documents relating to Sussex teams and their actions in the field.
Resistance fighters’ testimonies
10 Sussex teams parachuted in 1944 at Souppes-sur-Loing
Seine-et-Marne (France) — Testimony by Gilbert Gaillardon (maquis leader) and Maurice Esnault (deputy)
With the kind permission of Mr. Bernard Gaillardon.
Activities of the Sussex team “Plainchant” (Le Mans area)
Sarthe — from April to July 1944
With the kind permission of Mr. Benoît J. Pedretti, Director of the Departmental Archives of Sarthe.
Photo album
Videos
A selection of videos and reports about Plan Sussex, the French Resistance, and commemorations.
Video (YouTube)
La Wantzenau: the Sussex missions at MM Park – BFM Alsace (VF)
Video (YouTube)
French Resistance — produced for the 80th anniversary of D-Day
Thanks to Charles Pinck and the OSS Society for their kind permission.
Operation Overlord — OSS and the Battle for France (French version)
Sussex Exhibition — MM Park (Part 1)
D’Day Live TV — Dominique Soulier (curator at the MM Park Museum)
Sussex Exhibition — MM Park (Part 2)
D’Day Live TV — Dominique Soulier (curator at the MM Park Museum)
Le Figaro — Stories
The “Sussex” — secret agents who helped make the Normandy landings possible
France 3 Alsace
Inauguration of the memorial stele dedicated to Sussex–Proust agents — MM Park