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Old 7th February 2006, 01:40
Laurent Rizzotti Laurent Rizzotti is offline
Alter Hase
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Paris, France
Posts: 2,932
Laurent Rizzotti will become famous soon enough
Re: Operation Cerberrus

There was a French Navy officer, lieutenant de vaisseau Philippon, that was at the time responsible of the naval base gardens (no joke!) and was a member of the French network "Confrérie Notre-Dame" and was spying the German ships in the port.

In French versions of the story this man was responsible for many loss or damage to German ships (for example informing the Brits of the sortie of July 1941 where Scharnhorst was damaged off La Pallice, he sent a radio message on the 19th saying she was ready to sail, he is also said to have contibuted to the destruction of the Bismarck) but in RAF accounts and books most intelligence seems to be gathered by air recon.

Also Philippon's radio, Bernard Anquetil, was arrested on 31/7/41 by the Germans and executed on 24/10/41.

So maybe the French Resistance was able to provide the Brits with intelligence, but probably too late to be of any value in a onde-day affair like the Cerberus case, and probably was no more able to do it in 1942.
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