Victor Sauveur Attias

[BrianC]

Hi guys

Can anyone (particularly our French members) provide any information about his service in the RAF? He apparently flew clandestine operations from Malta in early 1941 in conjunction with the French Resistance (?)

Any help appreciated (I have seen the website dedicated to him).


Stay safe
Brian

[MW Giles]

He has a file at the PRO/National Archives in Kew for SOE operatives

HS 9/60/6

Description: Victor Sauveur ATTIAS - born 30.09.1905

Suggests he was an agent and not a flyer

Martin

[BrianC]

Hi Martin

Thanks for that.

Incidentally, he was - or later became an operational pilot.

Stay safe
Brian

[MW Giles]

A couple of sources mention him being part of the unit - Groupe Bretagne in N Africa

The following link is ineresting, but does not mention him specifically

https://www.france-libre.net/groupe-bretagne/


Martin

[Laurent Rizzotti]

I found this website with many details on this guy: https://harissa.com/news555/fr/victo...ttias-dit-baby

According to this website, he did not fly from Malta in early 1941 but was a member from a resistance network in Tunisia from September 1940 to June 1941, when Vichy police discovered and eliminated it. He was evacuated by floatplane/seaplane to Malta (to be checked, possibly one of the He 115 then used in Malta), enlisted in the Free French Air Force in November 1941 (he had a civilian flying licence) and went to Great Britain.
There he trained from January 1942 to March 1943, then moved back to Africa where he joined the bomber group "Bretagne" in May 1943, then a flying school in Syria, back to Bretagne in early 1944 before joining in May 1944 GR 2/33 (a recon unit, to which belonged Saint-Exupery), remaining with it until November 1944.

My comments:
1) according to the above website, he is supposed to have remained at "Soth Cerney" (sic, probably South Cerney) for 14 months. That is a long period, so maybe he was actually used as an instructor here (as he was then 37 years old).
2) when he was member of the groupe Bretagne this unit flew no war operations. When he was member of GR 2/33, operations were flown but I have books detailing a good part of them and I don't remember his name (no index in the books, so can't be sure without reading them all...). But my guess will be he was not an active pilot, or at least that he flew no war operations.

[BrianC]

Many thanks, Laurent

Stay safe
Brian