Captain Pierre Jean FAUROUX

(SUSSEX team JUSTICE)
March 18, 1921 to October 5, 2010

Pierre FAUROUX was born in St GIRONS in the Ariège on March 18, 1921, the elder son of Paul FAUROUX, a postal officer, and Henriette BOUYSSIÈRES.

He attended high school in FOIX and prepared for the St-Cyr Military Academy entrance examination in TOULOUSE. In 1941 he entered St-Cyr in AIX-en-PROVENCE as a member of the Charles de FOUCAULD promotion (1941-1942). In November 1942, German forces invaded the southern “free zone” of France and the Ecole Speciale Militaire was disbanded. Appointed as a second lieutenant on November 25, 1942, he was granted armistice leave on December 12. Pierre FAUROUX was assigned to the “Chantiers de Jeunesse” n°23 (a youth paramilitary organization dedicated to forestry works) in St PONS in the Hérault district, and then to SYLVANÈS near FAYET in the Aveyron district.

On June 30, 1943, he fled France and arrived in Spain on July 6. He spent about three months there, jailed for the first 25 days in the LERIDA Camp, then waiting two and half months in BARCELONA before he was able to sail to CASABLANCA, which he reached on October 23.

He was assigned to the 4th Moroccan Tirailleurs Battalion in TAZA before his transfer to ALGIERS, where he enlisted in the BCRA (the Free French Bureau for Intelligence and Action) on December 2, so he could take part in special operations. He embarked by ship on December 26 for England; he reached LIVERPOOL on January 4, 1944, and arrived in LONDON the next day. Until May 10, he attended the SUSSEX Intelligence Agent course in St ALBANS, where he was taught by OSS and SIS instructors and was trained to be an intelligence team chief. He received his wings (badge n°4680) at the RINGWAY parachuting school and his first operational mission was supposed to take place on May 11, 1944.

SUSSEX OSSEX Mission JUSTICE in the Loire River area near SAUMUR

At RAF TEMPSFORD, a special operations airbase, on the night of May 11, 1944, first lieutenant Pierre FAUROUX and his radio mate boarded for a mission in occupied France. The mission had to be cancelled in mid-flight due to the absence of visible ground markings.

Their next departure was planned for the next full moon on June 6 (D-Day) for a jump on Drop Zone CHARITY in PREUILLY sur CLAISE, 25 km east of CHATELLERAULT. Pierre FAUROUX, alias Jean Louis CORBIN (badge n°37), and Louis BLANDIN, alias Jean CRÉMIEUX (badge n°38) were embarking on OSSEX Mission JUSTICE. They are to be dropped by Flight Lieutenant CALDWELL, captain of a Halifax of Special Operations Squadron 161 (mission CHARLIE STATIONER 119). They will be met by “Ernest” of the ECARLATE Résistance network and by Jeannette GUYOT of the SUSSEX network’s PATHFINDER mission. Their intelligence gathering mission, originally planned around RENNES (Brittany), proved impossible to carry out due to the distance they would have to travel through an unsafe zone, carrying their equipment and radio sets. They cycled to join Jeannette GUYOT in CHATEAUROUX. She alerted LONDON and they were tasked with a new mission in the Loire River area near SAUMUR.

On July 6 they reach MONTSOREAU (10 km south east of SAUMUR) and start creating their own intelligence network mainly manned by railway agents in the stations close to the Loire River (SAUMUR, DOUÉ-la-FONTAINE, LOUDUN, CHINON and VARENNES/LOIRE). Their first message reached LONDON on July 7. For two months their team transmitted intelligence reports on German troop movements, the location of depots, the condition of roads and railway networks, and bombing damage results in their area. Their work led to the identification of the 17th SS Panzer Division (GOETZ von BERLICHINGEN) and two other divisions.

The OSS assessed the value of their mission: “One of our most intelligent and hard-working teams … in record time they set up an efficient network that allowed them to send most valuable information.” Pierre FAUROUX was awarded the US Silver Star Medal (America’s third-highest decoration for gallantry in action) and he was mentioned in Corps-level dispatches of the French Army and awarded the Croix de Guerre. On September 3, their mission completed, joined by elements of the 83rd Infantry Division, they were sent to the 9th U.S. Army headquarters in RENNES and were integrated into its OSS Cell. From September 7 to October 6, Pierre FAUROUX and his radio mate acted as intelligence officers for the 9th Army between Brittany and the Loire Valley in the ORLEANS sector, serving as liaison officers with the FFI (Free French of Inner France) and providing intelligence on liberated zones.

DGER (French secret service) mission in Indochina 1945-1946

Pierre FAUROUX volunteered for a second clandestine mission in Laos while it was still occupied by Japanese forces. Sent by the DGER to CALCUTTA on March 5, he reconnected with the DGER and the clandestine operations service (SAS), acting under control of Task Force 136 headed by the British SOE. At first he was posted at the French Military Mission (MMF) of KUNMING in Yunnan, China. He returned to CALCUTTA on April 25 and was assigned to SRMS (unknown acronym of the secret service branch). From May 29 on, he rejoined the Task Force 136 headquarters to organize an escape section to liberate allied prisoners jailed in Indochina. On June 14 he went on a British mission in DARJEELING, India. The British had already located the prison camps, most of them in Thailand along the Mekong River or in Burma along the River Kwaï, and had created “E” Section (for escape) to facilitate the prisoners’ escape. They dropped around twenty teams to identify and test escape routes for the prisoners and their parachuted commando liberators.

On July 12 Pierre FAUROUX jumped into the jungle in northern Laos, north of XIENG KHOUANG (a former village in the center of the Plain of Jars that was destroyed by bombing raids in 1970). He was parachuted with his radio operator and their equipment as part of the “GLAZIER/REINETTE 3” mission by flight sergeant McCULLOCH, captain of the B-24 Liberator “W” from Squadron 358 at the RAF Special Operations airbase JESSORE (located 100 km east of CALCUTTA). His radio operator was Georges PEUTAT, another former SUSSEX agent who had served as a radio operator with Jean-Pierre BISSEY. They and their equipment were welcomed by lieutenant DEUVE’s guerilla group.

For almost two months, Pierre FAUROUX, along with his radio mate and their porters, traversed an exhausting route through the jungle during the monsoon season, while actively being sought by the Japanese. He mapped out an escape route for the prisoners to reach the Mekong River and Siam. Once it became known that the Japanese had surrendered on September 2, 1945, he worked in conjunction with the Franco-Laotian guerilla groups of captain FABRE and lieutenant DEUVE, which had been implanted in Laos since January 1945, to facilitate restoration of French authority over the Laotian territory. On September 5, he entered VIENTIANE with captain FABRE. He requested and received air drops of drugs and food for French civilians besieged in VIENTIANE, and he organized their evacuation by river boat and railway through Siam to BANGKOK.

Back in CALCUTTA on October 10, his mission completed, he was posted to SAÏGON on November 20, 1945, in the documentation service of the French Liaison Section for the Far East (SLFEO) of the DGER. From there, he departed for France on February 6, 1946.

On December 14, 1945, he was mentioned in Division-level dispatches by admiral d’ARGENLIEU, High French Commissioner and Commander-in-Chief for Indochina. His terms are purposely imprecise when describing how the mission was accomplished: “Parachuted in Indochina on July 12, 1945. Leader of a clandestine mission to liberate allied prisoners. Sent intelligence reports of high value despite the huge difficulties of working in the jungle during monsoon season, and despite being sought by the enemy. During the whole mission he demonstrated great courage and did not spare any effort.” He reached France on February 26, 1946. He was released from active duty in accordance with the law of 1946 for early retirement of military personnel. Having at first been placed on extended leave for two years, he was dropped from the rolls for the first time in his military career in December 1946.

1947-1952 Return to civilian life.

During this period he got married and began pharmacy studies.

1952-1954 Operational commitment in Indochina

Recalled to service as a captain in January 1952, Pierre FAUROUX joined the 10th Colonial Parachute Battalion (10ème RPC), under the command of major BRÉCHIGNAC, in QUIMPER (Brittany) in May. In January 1953 the battalion was reflagged as the 2nd battalion of the 1st Regiment of Paratroop Chasseurs (II/1er RCP). Embarking on the ship Pasteur in November 1952, the battalion sailed to Indochina where he would be engaged mainly in Tonkin until the fall of DIEN-BIEN-PHU. Serving first as company commander of the command and support company of the battalion, Pierre FAUROUX would later become the battalion’s executive officer.

First committed in NA SAN and in the TAI region from Christmas 1952 until Easter (April 5th) 1953, the battalion took part in operations in the Red River Delta and some other sectors of Tonkin. In July 1953, he was parachuted in Annam during operation CAMARGUE to clear the “Street Without Joy.” Pierre FAUROUX was mentioned in Division-level dispatches for his bold action with the machine-guns of his support company in combat at THON AO on October 31, 1953.

Recalled from operations between HANOÏ and HAIPHONG, the battalion was parachuted into DIEN-BIEN-PHU for the first time on November 20, 1953, during Operation CASTOR to establish the bases of the entrenched camp. Captain FAUROUX later commanded the battalion rear elements in HANOÏ to ensure immediate resupply and replacement for the battalion. The II/1er RCP was taken out of DIEN BIEN PHU on December 10, 1953. During the winter of 1954, the battalion took part in operations in southern Laos in the vicinity of SAVANNAKHET before being recalled to HANOÏ for a night jump into DIEN BIEN PHU during the night from April 1 to 2, 1954. Thirty-five days of fierce fighting for the battalion at the Eliane strongpoint followed, until the May 7, when a cease fire allowed the Vietminh to occupy the entrenched camp.

Taken prisoner by the Vietminh on May 7 at the Eliane strongpoint, Pierre FAUROUX had to undergo captivity until September 2, 1954. For his service at DIEN-BIEN-PHU he was mentioned in French Army dispatches and was named Chevalier of the Legion d’honneur effective May 5, 1954.

1955-1961 Last phase of military career in France and Algeria

In 1955 and 1956 he was assigned first to the 14th Demi-Brigade in TOULOUSE, then to the 18th Paratroop Infantry Assault Regiment (18ème RIPC) in Algeria. After that, he served for a year as commander of the 4th company of the Battalion de Joinville (a unit composed of athletes) in France and in Algeria. Then, after several short assignments, he was assigned to the staff of the COLOMB-BECHAR (Sahara) Operational Sector until October 15, 1959. After a two-year leave he resigned from the service on December 1, 1961, and embarked on a new career path.

1961-2010 Pharmacist, then retiree

March 1963 saw him complete his pharmacy studies and graduate. The following summer, thanks to a replacement in Africa, he bought a pharmacy in AGNIBILEKROU, in the eastern part of the Ivory Coast, and practiced there for several years before returning to France and settling in St-AYGULF in the Var. He retired first in County CORK, Ireland, for eight years before returning to France and settling in AUREILLE in the Alpilles in southern France.

He passed away on October 6, 2010 in MAUSSANE-les-ALPILLES, in the Bouches-du-Rhône district.

Family

Pierre FAUROUX married a pharmacist, Suzanne LIONNET, in PARIS on September 25, 1946. She gave birth to a daughter in 1948. Their daughter married an American officer, now a retired colonel, and they had two children; they all live in the United States.

Suzanne LIONNET died on March 16, 1984, and Pierre FAUROUX married Marguerite CAUQUIL, a pharmacist, in PARIS on January 10, 1986. She survived him and died on September 3, 2016.

Awards and honors

Commandeur of the Légion d’honneur

Croix de guerre 1939-1945 with two mentions in dispatches

Croix de guerre of Overseas Operational Theaters (TOE) with two mentions in dispatches

Escapee medal

Silver Star Medal, for his services in WWII. This medal was finally presented in November 1952 by the US consul of CHERBOURG in QUIMPER, before Pierre FAUROUX departed for Indochina.

References

Pierre FAUROUX’s archives kept by his daughter, Mrs. Anne-Marie SMITH, especially his service record, copies of French Army dispatches mentioning him, and his Silver Star Medal certificate and the text of a lecture given by Pierre FAUROUX in 2004 on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the end of the battle of DIEN-BIEN-PHU, a text in which he described his service in Indochina in detail

SUSSEX records kept by Pierre TILLET (especially a Mission JUSTICE report)

RAF Squadron 358 Report (form 541 for parachute mission in Laos on July 12, 1945)

Book “La guerrilla au Laos” by Jean DEUVE and text “Journal de guerre” [au Laos] by Roger DANEL published on the web site of Philippe MILOUR