THE PROUST PLAN

History Proust Plan

(Published with the kind permission of Serge Larcher)

   The Proust Plan was a creation of circumstance decided in January 1944 while the Sussex Plan had been launched for several months and already entered its operational phase. Being a plan complementary to this last, the first men who will be indicated come from the surplus of manpower recruited for Sussex.

     At the beginning of 1944, the American staff headquarters which expected enormous difficulties after the Normandy landing (D Day), wished to reinforce the number of intelligence teams operating in France. The missions to come were not yet defined but the Normandy landing being announced like a gigantic challenge, the staff estimated that specific needs, not covered by the Sussex agents, would appear at the proper time.

     OSS thus wished to use the surplus of Sussex agents, supplemented by BCRA new recruits from North Africa.

     A secret memo (N° 379D/BCRAL), dated February 11, 1944, from BCRA-London informed the office of Algiers of this new plan and gave the broad outlines.

      Note addressed to the captain Landrieux :

     The Proust plan is an intelligence plan to collect relevant information.

                                                                            Signed: Major Manuel, chief of the BCRAL”.

     Three weeks later, another memo N° 1834/GA/EM/S/A dated March 6, 1944, emanating from the DGSS/BCRAL, and still signed by major Manuel and sent to the general d’Astier’s attention, military delegate of the Committee of Action in France, gave some additional details.

     Subject: Proust Plan
     “In reference to your note D/A4/R of February 24, 1944 relating to the Proust plan, I have the honor to inform you that the American special services wished to have 50 volunteers or more to be put at their disposal from the D-day.
    The Proust Plan which is a derivative of the Sussex Plan has as an aim the training and the later use, on the sector of the operations which will be possibly reserved for the American troops, of the agents whose intellectual background will not have allowed integration into the Sussex plan.
     The Proust Plan of which the principal goal is the preparation of intelligence agents, does not draw aside the action completely.

     In March 1944 the recruitment campaign in North Africa started for Sussex continued with the profit of Proust. These arrived in England by small groups or individually.

     Thus on March 6, some of future Proust agents embarked in Algiers accompanied by the last Sussex recruits.

     They debarked in Liverpool on March 17, attended the traditional circuit of new comers to England while passing the security formalities.

     The increase in importance of this new plan did not go without difficulty. Volunteers “lost themselves” between Algiers and London, others were seen affected to units upon their arrival without relationship with Proust.

     Some recruits were finally refused, not having the level required by the persons in charge of the plan.

     The set-up of the Proust Plan experienced difficulty. Indeed Sussex which was already in operational phase absorbed most part of the means and preserved the priority for training, equipment and transportation.

     Lieutenant-colonel Booth wrote in his book “Proust Mission – “The story of an unusual OSS undertaking” published by Dorrance & Comagny – Philadelphia” about his first contact with Proust while he had just been named responsible for their instruction.

     “There was a problem with some agents already recruited for the Sussex Plan which were isolated due to agent surplus. Although there were not officially other reasons particular to be put them away from this mission, they rather badly lived this situation to which uncertainty reigning on their possible use in this new plan was added. Uncertainty felt like a true frustration, causing a great distress among the selected men who thought of being only one creation of circumstance, a kind of “wall cupboard” for Sussex agents not selected. The agents’ moral was somewhat deteriorated causing some problems of discipline”.

     Fault-finders were affirming that there was the uncertainty on the use of Proust Plan which was at the origin of the code name of this plan, because it was the cause of much “wasted time” (by analogy with the book of the famous writer “To the research of wasted time”), which was false of course, the name having been selected before the appearance of the problems quoted by Booth but which let imagine the “stormy” environment which marked the beginnings of Proust (1).

     A resumption in hand proved to be necessary and it was only after the passage to Ringway to obtain the parachutist badge that the moral improved quickly.

     It was mid-April that the training of about fifty selected agents was able to start.

     The training:

     The deployment of the Sussex Plan in France released some American instructors who from then could devote themselves to Proust. The agents of the two missions will receive the same training.

     The training was conducted at Drungwick Manor (code Area B), splendid residence of XIIIth century restored during the XIXth by its owner Gilbert Miller, famous American theatre producer. The instructors lived in the castle where also were the mess and the various administrative services while the trainees were installed under tents in the vast park which was also used as training ground with various disciplines such as sport, shooting, close combats and handling of the explosives.

     The weekly reports of the commander Dutey French deputy of colonel Neave gave a status of operations with the British secret services and various exercises such as preparation of the individual “covers”, transmission courses, various vehicle driving, study of the armament, identification etc.

     On May 21, Proust manpower counted 65 men. On June 7, Lieutenant-colonel Booth took the command of the Freehold school, Neave being recalled to the London OSS.

     Thanks to the commander Dutey’s notes, we knew that Proust manpower having followed the full training never exceeded 65 men in the best of the cases.

     All did not arrive at the end of the training, some having made only one short passage. To be pointed out that 14 agents were versed in the Sussex Plan, it was the case in particular of Guy Mocquet and Lucien Bignon (Daru mission) or of Mario Faivre (Velours mission).

    Taking into account of the few French BCRA/OSS liaison officers of this Plan, we have a precise idea of French manpower being able to claim to be part of the Proust Plan that was to say less than 80 people.

     The mission infiltration was primarily performed by parachuting except for two teams transported by the OSS maritime section and landed by PT boat and two other teams infiltrated by plane.

     The Proust Missions:

     The first mission "Girafe" was the only mission where one agent was killed in action (KIA), Joseph Jourden aka Jean-Marie Stur:

     He was engaged within the framework of the Sussex Plan under the name of Jean-Marie Stur. Integrated into the "Proust Plan", mission Girafe. On June 25, 1944, He was clandestinely debarked by a MTB with Jean-Marie Robleu (of its true name Robert Reitzer) in the area of Morlaix, close to the point of Beg year Fry, to transmit to London the information collected on the ground on the forces, the positions, the equipment of the German troops likely to be opposed to the allied forces already landed in Normandy on June 6.

     “The girafe got a laryngitis” such was the coded sentence of London Radio to inform Joseph Michel Jourden that a message was going to be addressed to him. It succeeded in escaping the German goniometers until August 9, 1944. The canon Pérenes wrote in "Allied aviators and tragic days of the liberation in some localities of Finistère" (1946) the tragic events which resulted in the death of Joseph Michel Jourden (written starting from the testimony of Mr Ruppe chaplain in Ploujean): "The American troops had crossed Plouigneau without any problem on August 8, 1944.

     On August 9, an isolated column with two hundred Germans with guns and others weapons emerged in the borough of Plouigneau. The FFI fought but they were not numerous enough. Five patriots (Joseph Michel Jourden and four people (Jean-François Le Coz, Jean-Yves Ropars, Albert Perrot and X which had arrived by car) holding up the allied flags and the Lorraine cross were arrested and shot on the church square". The official French and American versions specified in connection with Joseph Michel Jourden “Taken by a German detachment on August 9, he was tortured during four hours on the village square and in spite of abominable sufferings, he refused to speak, showing a very high heroism. Being unable to manage to put him in the upright position, the Germans shot him with a bullet in his head".

     A commemorative plaque can be seen close to the war memorial of Plouigneau.

     The very same day of the drama, Robert Reitzer, team-mate and friend of Joseph Jourden, informed his family of his death and his body was transported to his sister’s house in Morlaix. In front of the door of the burning chapel was standing an armed American soldier. A detachment of American soldiers and FFI accompanied the hearse to the cemetery where the military honours were presented to him. He was made Chevalier of the Legion of Honour (on a purely posthumous basis), awarded with the Military Cross with bar and the medal of French Resistance. The US Distinguished Service Cross was given on June 1, 1945 by an American officer to his father Joseph Jourden on the square of the town hall of Le Conquet.

     The main street of Le Conquet bears his name by decision of the municipal council of June 6, 1945.

     “Midiron” is one of the typical Proust operations.

     In connection with the maquis, the agents had to inform the 3rd US Army about movement of the German Army retreating in direction of Belfort Gap.

 
     The mission leader was Jean-Paul Bougier alias Bricard alias Bartholdi. The mission was parachuted on July 12, 1944 near Doaudic (Indre). Its objectif was supervising and announcing the enemy convoys in the sectors of Angouleme, Poitiers, Le Blanc, Limoges, Château Vieux and Dijon.

     This mission was composed of several teams:

     The Midiron agents sent 151 messages to the Victor station (Radio Central of OSS in England) where they were analyzed and dispatched towards the 7th and 9th US Armies.

     “Jambon” Jean Deschamps alias Alain Aymard parachuted on July 1 in R6, Haute-Loire. Settled in Mayenne to establish an intelligence network there.

     “Mirnaloy” Observer Ablard, parachuted on July 10, worked in the area of Baccarat.

     “Commis / Mayfair” Observer Bazin, infiltrated by landing for a mission in North East of France, search for dropping grounds and committee of reception.

     “Bébé” Observer Bernard Sabouret Garat de Nedde alias Bernard Lenormand & radio operator Michel Faivre alias Jean Montigny parachuted on August 30 with Osne-the-Valley (Haute-Marne) for mission in the area of Joinville.

      “Chat” Observer Raymond Marmande alias Jacques Larcy & radio operator George Brana alias Georges Bussy, parachuted on August 30 at the same time as “Baby” with identical mission.

     “Image” Observer Robert Dupaix alias Robert Dugay & radio operator Pierre Ferry alias Michel Ferry, parachuted in the night of September 1 to 10 km in the North-West of Rambervilliers (with the Sussex team “Velours”) mission in connection with the maquis of Charmes.

     “Marcel” was a team composed of three American OSS officers: Lt.colonel Booth, Lt. Burk & Lt. Kuzmuk plus two French Proust officers: captain André Cornu and Lt Paul Marchadier alias Chamard. The team not having radio (remained on the other aircraft) undertook a ceaseless activity of information, transmitting itsr messages by carrier in direction of the American lines. Under cover of this mission, other agents will be parachuted in the area of Vesoul at the court of the following days. The Marcel mission provided to the 7th US Army, the exact situation of the German forces in the area of Baccarat.

     At the end of the summer 1944, the American bridgehead on the continent was considered to be sufficiently solid so that the allied special services put an end to the missions Proust and Sussex.

     To conclude:

     Proust was used after the Normandy D Day landing, as supply of intelligence agents for operations which could not be covered by Sussex Teams.

          By the end of August, the small number of men still undergoing training at Drungwick Manor was sent to France. They were dispatched either in the “SI/OSS field detachment” to accompany the 3rd and 7th US Armies heading to Germany, to help them in their operations of scouting and information collection; or they were assigned to the US OSS Headquarter of Paris. Nevertheless the majority returned with the DGER (French Secret Service) which proposed other missions to them.

     Sussex, Proust, Jedburgh, all this personnel took various destinations. The DGER (French Secret Service) sent a great number in the nineteen filtering centres of the prisoners and deportees of France and Germany (CPAF) to perform operations of counter-espionage and filtering. All the repatriates whatever their nationality, underwent in these centres, questioning and interrogations of security measures, the special services trying to obtain from them strategic, political or even economic information.

     The Proust and Sussex Plans were completed with good results. Other missions of intelligence and military security (Hébé, Nulton, Nicotine etc) used this personnel.

     Some of Proust and Sussex agents left to the Far East: Conus Commando, Force 136, Kay2 but this was another history.

(1) To completely understand the origin of this singular name, it should be specified that it was given by OSS colonel Justin O' Brien, person in charge of the Sussex & Proust training and French professor at the University of Colombia (USA). He was recognized like an eminent specialist in the French literature in general and of that of Proust in particular, he had actually ensured besides the translation of “The research of wasted time”… back to history

Some agents who participated in the Proust Plan ...