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André Serot | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1896-07-24)24 July 1896 |
| Died | 17 September 1948(1948-09-17) (aged 52) |
| Cause of death | Assassination |
| Allegiance |  France |
| Branch | French Army (1915–1917) French Air Force (1917–1948) |
| Years of service | 1915–1948 |
| Rank |  Colonel |
| Battles / wars | |
| Awards | Croix de Guerre |
André Sérot (24 July 1896 inXertigny, France[citation needed] – 17 September 1948 inJerusalem) was a French military officer.[1]
Sérot enlisted in the infantry in 1915, then saw action in theBattle of Argonne and received theCroix de Guerre. The following year he was an officer candidate atSaint-Cyr. In 1917 he transferred toaviation, flyingreconnaissance missions.
In 1919, Lieutenant Sérot transferred to the intelligence service. In 1923 he was sent toStrasbourg. In 1933, he became deputy chief of station Belfort, or Military Communications Service (MCS).
He married Berthe Grünfelder (1898–1971).
During the "Phoney War" period (1939–1940), Sérot was sent behind German lines with a series of false identity papers to perform reconnaissance missions. After the 1940 defeat, he helped organize the counter-espionage section of theService de Renseignements de l'Armée de l'Air ("Air Forces Intelligence Service") newly created by ColonelGeorges Ronin. After theAllied landings in North Africa in November 1942, he and Paul Paillole went there to organize the newService de Sécurité Militaire ("Military Intelligence Service").
On June 23, 1943, his wife was arrested by theGestapo inClermont-Ferrand and was deported toRavensbruck in Germany. In 1945,[citation needed] she was rescued and released by CountFolke Bernadotte. This led to a friendship between the two men.[1]
In 1944, Captain Sérot headed the SSM.
Sérot, now a Colonel in theArmee de l'Air, was serving withUN forces inPalestine in 1948, where he commanded a detachment of Frenchpeacekeepers. On September 17, 1948, he was traveling by car in Jerusalem, accompanying Bernadotte, now the United Nations Mediator for Palestine. Both were unarmed, as were their bodyguards andIsraeli Army liaisons, as Bernadotte wanted to project a peaceful, non-combative image.
Their vehicle was ambushed by members ofLehi (also known as the Stern Gang), who were wearing Israeli army uniforms, intent on assassinating Bernadotte. Both Bernadotte and Sérot were killed. The killers were never arrested, but the murders led to the discrediting and disbandment of Lehi.[1][2]
CapitaineAlbert-Charles Meyer, anArmee de l'AirFusilier-Commando officer, arrived in Indochina in 1951. He set up an intelligence and counter-sabotage unit to defend the airbases ofBien Hoa andTan Son Nhut. He used native auxiliaries led by Fusilier-Commandos to patrol the area of operations near the base to prevent sabotage to the planes or raids on the airfields. It also handled informants, infiltrators, and Viet-Minh turncoats who gave information on Viet Minh operations.
The unit,Brigade de Recherches et de Contra-Sabotage (BRCS) ("Intelligence & Counter-Sabotage Brigade") was dubbed theCommando Colonel Sérot in the slain Colonel's honor. Meyer's father had been Sérot's friend and Sérot mentored Meyer when they worked together in the Resistance.
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