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André Dewavrin | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Nickname(s) | Passy |
| Born | (1911-06-09)9 June 1911 Paris,France |
| Died | 20 December 1998(1998-12-20) (aged 87) Paris,France |
| Buried | |
| Allegiance |  France |
| Service | French Army |
| Years of service | 1932–1946 |
| Rank | Major |
| Commands | Bureau Central de Renseignements et d'Action |
| Battles / wars | World War II |
| Awards | |
| Other work | Businessman |
André DewavrinDSO,MC (9 June 1911 – 20 December 1998)[1](colonelPassy) was a French officer who served withFree French Forces intelligence services duringWorld War II.
He was born inParis, the son of a businessman. He graduated as anarmy engineer and in 1938 began to teach as a professor inSaint Cyr military academy.
After the outbreak ofWorld War II, Dewavrin was assigned to Norway in 1940 before he joined GeneralCharles de Gaulle in Britain. He received the rank of major, took charge of the Free French military intelligence unitBureau Central de Renseignements et d'Action (BCRA) and took the codename "Colonel Passy". He began to help organise theFrench Resistance movement and co-operated with theSOE.
Some of Dewavrin's closest colleagues (Captain Fourcaud and Lieutenant Duclos) wereCagoulards (a right-wing group), but Dewavrin always denied being one and insisted that he had supported theRepublic during theSpanish Civil War and had opposed theMunich Agreement.[2]
Dewavrin collated information from the French Resistance and planned operations for 350 agents who were parachuted to France to work with them. He secretly traveled to France on occasion to meet with the Resistance and coordinateintelligence gathering andsabotage. On 23 February 1943 Dewavrin parachuted to France alongsidePierre Brossolette to meet withJean Moulin.
Later in 1943, Dewavrin's organization was merged with the conventional secret service of the Free French Forces to formDGSS underJacques Soustelle. Dewavrin served as Soustelle's technical advisor before he took the lead of the organisation in October 1944. After theNormandy Invasion, Dewavrin became Chief of Staff to GeneralMarie Pierre Koenig, the Commander of theFrench Forces of the Interior.
After the war, Dewavrin was head of intelligence for de Gaulle'sprovisional government until de Gaulle resigned in January 1946. His successor accused Dewavrin of embezzling Free French money for his own purposes. Dewavrin was jailed for four months inVincennes. He was eventually acquitted for lack of evidence. The British historianAntony Beevor suspects that Dewavrin might have tried to collect money to work against a possible communist takeover attempt.
Dewavrin published three volumes of memoirs in 1947, 1949 and 1951 and eventually retired from the army to become a businessman.
He portrayed himself in Jean Pierre Melville's filmL'Armée des ombres.
According toThe Secret War byMax Hastings, aSoviet spy made a claim in a report to Moscow that Dewavrin had been recruited byWilhelm Canaris to work for the Germans. Hastings stated that report was false but supplied no reference to support his statement.
