Major Herbert R. Brucker Special Forces Pioneer: Part IV: Special Operations Team HERMIT in France

From Veritas, Vol. 3, No. 2, 2007

To date, the pre-World War II OSS (Office of Strategic Services) and the British SOE (Special Operations Executive) training experiences of a Special Forces pioneer, Major Herbert R. Brucker, have been presented in Part III: SOE Training & “Team HERMIT” into France.1 After his duty with SOE/OSS in France, Brucker volunteered for OSS Detachments 101 in Burma and 202 in China. He was a “plank holder” in the 10th Special Forces Group (SFG) with Colonel Aaron Bank (former OSS ), served in the 77th SFG, taught clandestine operations in the SF Course, and went to Laos and Vietnam in the early 1960s.2

This article will feature SO (Special Operations) Team HERMIT operations in south-central France from May through September 1944, which supported the French Resistance conducting unconventional warfare missions north of the Loire River. During this assignment, Second Lieutenant Brucker, the radio telephone operator (RTO) for a three-man SO team, received the Distinguished Service Cross for extraordinary valor after being caught at a German roadblock. The purpose of this article is to explain what SO team members did operationally and reveal how complicated, demanding, and dangerous their assignments were before and after D-Day in France.

The SOE Type A Mark III suitcase radio (500-mile range) was the smallest available. It still weighed thirty-nine pounds. The small suitcase container was seriously unbalanced for hand-carrying because the heavy battery filled the left side of the container.5

HERMIT was to replace the PROSPER team that had been “rolled up” when its female RTO, Noor Inayt Kahn (an Indian Hindu), codenamed “Madelaine,” was compromised and captured by the Gestapo in March 1944. Since Henri Fucs, a French-Jewish surgeon, had injured his leg in a bicycle accident in England, Team HERMIT was dispatched as a two-man element—2LT Brucker, codenamed “Sacha,” and his team leader, Roger B. Henquet, codenamed “Roland,” the former vice president of Schlumberger Oil in Texas. They jumped into St. Viatre, France, on 28 May 1944, accompanied by another operative, Second Lieutenant Emile Rene Counasse, the new RTO for Team VENTRILOQUIST.3 Unfortunately, all of the Team HERMIT equipment bundles and VENTRILOQUIST supplies were lost in the lakes surrounding the drop zone. Because that had never happened before, the airdropped bundles were not equipped with flotation devices. “Antoine,” the leader of SOE Team VENTRILOQUIST, was initially very hostile. But, when Henquet gave him his team’s money and new operational instructions from London, “Antoine” became friendlier and agreed to give HERMIT a radio.4 That was the most critical item for an SO team.

MAP Team HERMIT’s area of operations — Note that Team HERMIT’s area of operations—the Le Mans, Orleans, Tours “triangle”—is devoid of Resistance Groups and that activity tended to be more prevalent in Vichy Government regions and along mountainous borders.

Radio confirmation within twenty-four hours that Team HERMIT had arrived safely was important, but getting to a “safehouse” that first night was critical. However, once ensconced, the two HERMIT operatives got little sleep. “Combined with our high adrenalin and nervousness, there was a perpetual parade of local people wanting to meet and welcome the American ‘liberators.’ I was wondering, ‘What the heck had I got myself into?’ It was a circus. Talk about not feeling safe,” said Brucker. “But, just after daybreak, Advent Sunday, ‘Antoine’ brought a Mark III radio and gave us the latest version of French ID documents. While he warned Lieutenant Henquet against the Communist FTP [Francs-Tireurs et Partisans] north of the Loire River, I set up my radio, dropping the antenna wire down the stairs. London ‘came in’ like it was next door. After reporting our safe arrival, I helped Counasse encode his message properly. Our next report to London would be to inform them that HERMIT was operational.”6 Then, the pretense of security became ridiculous.

Advent Sunday and the clandestine arrival of two American liberators earlier were the “talk of the town.” “It turned out that we were hiding in the mayor’s house. Mrs. Soutif intended to make the most of the opportunity. Still in our three-piece suits, our hostess insisted that we enjoy the beautiful, sunny spring day with wine and a multi-course dinner set outside in their garden gazebo. As we nervously chit-chatted outside, groups of villagers strolled by on the way to, or coming from, church curiously peeking over the fence. The meal lasted forever. It was an agent’s worse nightmare. We had to get away and find some country clothes,” recalled Brucker.7 At dusk, an escort from the local Resistance arrived.

Finding another safehouse was simpler than acquiring the peasant clothes required to help them blend into the agrarian environment—accessing the black market on Advent was risky. Only the local doctor wore a coat and tie. The average French peasant in the countryside typically owned two sets of denims (one being worn while the other was being washed and dried). His only suit and tie were worn Sundays and for funerals. Thus, a set of cheap denim work clothes (smock-like jacket and trousers) proved to be very costly for Brucker. “I didn’t care what the denims cost. I wanted out of that hot ‘monkey suit.’ I wanted to become invisible by blending in,” said the SO operative. “Thankfully, our new safehouse on the outskirts of another village was empty.”8

“The place was straight out of a Hollywood horror movie. It had an iron gate whose rusty hinges squealed loudly in protest as we entered. The yard was overgrown. The owner, carrying a flashlight, unlocked the back door with a huge old-fashioned key. As he pulled the door open, a flock of bats came rushing out. That gave us a real start,” related Brucker. “All the windows had been shuttered up. A half-inch of dust covered the cloths cloaking the furniture. After guiding us to the bedrooms upstairs, our host, promising to bring breakfast in the morning, left, locking the door behind him. I remember Henquet saying, ‘All we need to make this a set for a horror movie is a graveyard outside.’”9

German Messerschmitt ME-109G fighter plane with belly tank to extend its operating range.

And that is what they discovered the next morning (29 May 1944, Day 2). Opening a window and pushing the shutter aside, 2LT Brucker saw Henquet’s graveyard a short distance away. He then heard airplanes approaching at a low level from the rear of the house. “I stood there somewhat mesmerized as two German Messerschmitt ME-109s buzzed over the house. Fighters overhead were so common in England that I did not react until I noticed that those two planes had black crosses on their wings. They definitely weren’t ours. It hit me that we were overseas on an operation, not back home,” said Brucker. “Opening the window was not smart, especially when we noticed our footpaths through all that dust. We were screwing up like two amateurs and this was serious business.”10 However, more surprises awaited Team HERMIT on the way to its assigned area of operations (AO) north of the Loire River.

Gasoline shortages in Occupied France during WWII forced the French to be creative. This late 1930s French Renault sedan has a charcoal burner installed in the trunk.

After a meal of eggs, sausage, and bread, two French Resistance members with submachineguns (SMGs) arrived to take LTs Henquet and Brucker to their AO. They drove up in an early 1930s sedan. Since gasoline was not routinely available to French civilians, the car had been converted to operate using a charcoal/wood chip boiler system—gasozhen. “Henquet and I clambered in the back with our weapons (pistols), briefcases, and the Mark III radio between us. [As noted earlier, all the bundles with the radios, SMGs, emergency rations, etc., had been lost in the lakes adjacent to the DZ.] The car’s trunk was filled with charcoal. Then, off we puttered at twenty miles per hour like we were going out for a Sunday drive. It was crazy, but we didn’t have much choice. The car was underpowered and slow, but it beat walking. Near Contres, about halfway (twenty-five kilometers from our destination), we had a flat tire, of course. Our two French escorts simply jacked up the car and proceeded to take the tire apart. I hid the radio in some bushes nearby. They had several spare inner tubes covered with patches; one did not leak. Several horse-drawn wagons carrying German troops passed by while we ‘nonchalantly’ busied ourselves with the repair. That was my first glimpse of the ‘mighty Wehrmacht.’ The tire repair took an hour and a half. Anticipating a German checkpoint on the Loire River bridge at Blois, we made plans for a worst case scenario. But luck was with us. The enemy guard posts were unmanned. I’ll never forget that trip,” said Brucker. “I hid my radio in the Blois Forest before they delivered us to our Resistance contact at a third safehouse in Chouzy, six kilometers from Blois.”11

The next challenge for Team HERMIT was transportation. Railways were out of the question for obvious reasons. Cars and trucks were not their transportation of choice. Bicycles were most commonly used by French working people. The two SO men had to blend into their agrarian environs. “A good agent must have good muscles, as our daily average bicycle mileage was between eighty and one hundred kilometers (fifty to sixty miles),” reported Henquet.12 Again the dilemma was availability; there were none to be acquired on the local black market. The alternative was to steal some from a French collaborator with German and criminal connections. Arrangements were made with a local Resistance contact to effect a “midnight requisition” on Night 3 (29 May). Then, the three burglars waited an hour after the collaborator turned off his lights before they approached a storage shed. After breaking the lock and slipping inside, the trio found only two bicycles—a woman’s and a tandem model. Both were taken and the three thieves pedaled off in the night. That accomplished, Team HERMIT was ready for operations.13

The Loire River was a formidable obstacle that Team HERMIT had to cross at Blois to reach its area of operations.

MAP: first two-days movement of Team HERMIT from the St. Viatre drop zone to Chouzy — The map depicts the first two-days movement of Team HERMIT from the St. Viatre drop zone to Chouzy, six kilometers from Blois.

The next day (Day 3, 30 May), Henquet was introduced to the nominal Resistance commander, Baron de Soubeyran; a retired French cavalry officer, Marcel Bozon, the Communist FTP chief for Loire et Cher department; and Raymond Compain. “It was agreed that HERMIT would work exclusively north of the Loire River with the FTP. They would respond to military orders from HERMIT. The FTP, the fighting branch of the Front National (FN), was already organized in the region. Marcel would be the commander of his men and I would work with him acting as advisor and liaison with headquarters rather than as his superior. We would discuss problems of organization with him, but he would pass the orders to the field. He was to obey the orders from headquarters transmitted by me, but would furnish activity reports to his ‘responsibles.’ Baron de Soubeyran was to assist us in mapping guerrilla operations,” said LT Henquet. “I decided … that we would not create our own resistance groups. Instead, we would use those already existing, helping in their organization, their armaments, their direction, and leaving their own entity in the political frame we found them.”14 Marcel said that the Indre et Loire department was in bad shape. The Gestapo had been very successful when they “rolled up” team PROSPER. The FTP groups had been scattered, but though unarmed, they were well organized. Their numbers given as 1,000 were greatly exaggerated (reality was about 500).15

During these discussions, Brucker hired Raymond Compain to serve as his bodyguard and to shelter him in his home in Coulanges, a small hamlet nearby.16 That done, the two retrieved the Mark III radio from its hiding place in the Blois Forest so Brucker could transmit the Team HERMIT operational status message to London.17 Now, Henquet had to coordinate land use for a DZ so that they could be resupplied with arms, additional radios, batteries, and equipment. These were essentials that their money could not buy. Then, they would be truly operational. But, SO Team HERMIT had received too much exposure since its arrival.

Raymond Compain, Second Lieutenant Herbert R. Brucker and Guy Ferrand. — Raymond Compain (left) from Coulanges, France, served as Second Lieutenant Herbert R. Brucker’s bodyguard for the duration of the Team HERMIT mission. Guy Ferrand, the “assistant RTO” is to the right.

Brucker’s suspicions that the Germans were looking for them were confirmed on 31 May, four days after landing at St. Viatre. It was purely chance that he spotted a German Army truck parked just off the Blois Forest road at the Coulanges intersection. The driver, facing away, was smoking a cigarette while sitting on the running board. His comrade, standing in the truck bed, had a “huge pair of aircraft spotting binoculars trained on Raymond’s house in Coulanges, obviously looking for us,” said Brucker.18 As Brucker and Raymond slipped into the forest, they ran into Henquet, who, having spotted the truck, had come from his safehouse nearby to warn them. The three decided that they needed to relocate. Raymond suggested going to his family’s wine aging cave. This turned out to be more like a bunker built into a cliff base nearby. But, it was in the woods and darkness had come. As Henquet and Raymond collected hay for bedding, Brucker used rags to cover up the barred window on the door. They got little sleep that night in the cool cave and awakened at daybreak quite hungry.19

In daylight (Day 5, 1 June), Henquet and Brucker scouted around their new hideout while Raymond, suffering from a toothache, went into the nearby village to buy food. The pair quickly discovered the trail of hay from the adjacent field leading directly to the cave and did what they could to remove the evidence. When Raymond returned with his cap full of eggs, Brucker proceeded to build a fire in an old fireplace at the rear of the cave to boil them. He was down on his knees in the darkness, totally engrossed in the task, when Henquet and Raymond started hollering to put out the fire. Either the damper was closed or the chimney was blocked. Smoke rising above Brucker’s head was pouring out the door. “Talk about being clandestine,” said the SO operative, “we were supposed to be expert agents … but it got worse,” said Brucker.20

“Acting like hobos, I was boiling the eggs on a campfire outside the cave when two kids (a ten-year-old girl with her little brother) came down the path. Children pose the biggest threat to an agent. They innocently answer questions, especially when being interrogated. But that little girl, having looked directly at me, had more sense than I did. She simply turned around and led her brother back down the path without saying a word. We were ‘blown’ but we were still hungry. As soon as we finished those eggs, the three of us hightailed it out of there. So much for being secret agents!”21

Raymond’s mother’s farmhouse was their next destination. After hiding in the Blois Forest during the day, the three bicycled to the farm at Chambon, arriving just before daybreak. It was a long, harrowing trip using a series of bike paths to avoid German sentinels that had been posted every hundred meters along the surrounding roads. It turned out that Guy Ferrand, a gifted radio mechanic and friend of Raymond, was waiting for them at the farmhouse. After Mother Compain fed them, she told them to hide in the barns. They selected the barn nearest to the main gate, adjacent to the road. Henquet and Brucker bunked on one side of the hayloft while Raymond and Guy went to sleep on the other side. Just after dawn (Day 6, 2 June), Brucker was jolted awake by someone speaking German nearby. As he slipped into his shoes, he woke Henquet and alerted the two Frenchmen. Brucker peeked out the hayloft door and saw a six-man German patrol coming down the road. A sergeant was hailing Mother Compain who was washing dishes beside her house when the four “guerillas” managed to slip undetected into the other barn.22

It was apparent that the Germans were conducting a house-by-house search in the area. Brucker lifted up some roof tiles to see what was happening in the yard while Henquet assessed their combined armament: as a minimum, Brucker always carried two guns—a .32 Colt automatic and a M1911 .45 automatic pistol with extra clips, but had scrounged a Marlin submachinegun with 100 rounds and a hand grenade; Henquet had his .32 and .45 pistols; Raymond and Guy had .45 automatic pistols. Mother Compain contributed by scowling at the German soldiers while they fired shots into her bushes and poked around the barnyard. The four fugitives had resolved to use all their “firepower” if the Germans crossed an imaginary line drawn in the middle of the yard. But the enemy soldiers, after a half-hearted cursory search, shrugged their shoulders and walked off. While the four “guerrillas” huddled in the barn waiting for the Germans to leave the area, Brucker passed around his silver-plated flask of rum. After a few shots of rum, everyone’s confidence was restored. That evening, Mother Compain and Raymond’s sister Suzanne brought them a basket of food. Since the farm had just been searched by the Germans, it was deemed safe to stay the night. Henquet left for his backup safehouse to maintain separation between team members. Constant movement and nightly stays at different safehouses throughout the area became routine.24

The 9mm Marlin UD-42 sub-machine gun had two 20-round clip magazines welded together in reverse for quick change-outs; the .32 cal Colt M1903 and .45 cal M1911 automatic pistols had seven and eight-round magazines respectively. LT Herbert R. Brucker habitually carried his firearms with a round chambered and full magazine to give him an extra bullet.23

The 9mm Marlin UD-42 sub-machine gun had two 20-round clip magazines welded together in reverse for quick change-outs; the .32 cal Colt M1903 and .45 cal M1911 automatic pistols had seven and eight-round magazines respectively. LT Herbert R. Brucker habitually carried his firearms with a round chambered and full magazine to give him an extra bullet.23

It was just as well because the Germans returned the next day to check documents and ask questions. The “guerrillas” were long gone and the Mark III radio behind the front door went undetected. “You can do the dumbest things if luck is with you,” said Brucker recalling the experience.25 Until Henquet could coordinate a drop zone for a resupply, Brucker kept moving about, shifting the Mark III hiding place back and forth from Mother Compain’s house to the Blois Forest between transmissions. It was risky because each day he had to recover the radio, listen for messages and transmit from the forest, and conceal it carefully afterward. That radio was a magnet for the Germans and a tether for Brucker until more radios could be dropped.26 While Henquet was meeting with FTP commanders in the department, Brucker and Raymond bicycled around the AO, becoming familiar with bike trail networks and making arrangements to store the additional radios when they arrived from London. The two HERMIT operatives met surreptitiously or communicated using “dead drops” or “cut outs” daily to exchange guidance from London and messages for transmission.27

Frequency crystal for a Type A Mark III radio.

Because SO and SI teams were so small (three to four persons) and operating in the occupied countries of Europe before the Allied invasion on 6 June 1944, and RTOs were the critical link, London would provide as many radios as they requested. This enabled RTOs to conceal radios in a number of different places. That way, all Brucker had to protect were his assigned frequency crystals, one-time pad, and transmission/receive time schedule. Since his window to contact London was different each day, he planned to position radios in a large circle, operating much like a “circuit rider” to confuse the German radio direction-finding elements.

With radios scattered at random intervals (ten to twenty kilometers apart), Brucker and Raymond bicycled around the countryside (thirty to forty km) every day while avoiding German patrols and contact with the Occupation Milice (police) and making “comms” according to schedule (France was one time zone later than England).29

French Milice, a German-sponsored paramilitary police — The French *Milice* were a German-sponsored paramilitary police force to supplement Vichy-controlled Gendarmes that maintained law and order in the countryside.

*Vive la franc!* The Germans issued Occupation francs during WWII.

“Since French patriotism after four years of German domination was pretty strained, those few willing to hide a radio for me were well-reimbursed. Vive la franc!” laughed Brucker. “The same applied to our bodyguards (permanents at 2–3,000 Francs, about $400–600 per month). They had families to support. Henquet paid landowners for permission to use their fields as DZs, and vehicle owners to haul supplies delivered at night. That was to compensate them for any retaliation by the Germans.”30 The reception teams “exploded” (éclaté) the airdropped goods to hiding places all over the place. By the end of its 107-day mission, Team HERMIT had expended 3,220,700 Francs in the accomplishment of its task; about 31,000 Francs per day or, based on the World War II equivalency, $6,200 a day for “patriotic services” rendered.31

The first resupply airdrop directed by LT Henquet was effected the night of 4 June on DZs Aristotle and Catalina. “Team HERMIT used makeshift coordinates on Michelin Map #64 for France to identify DZs. Topo maps would have been a ‘dead giveaway.’ Civilians only used road maps,” said Brucker.32

When trucks were not available to haul equipment and supplies from the drop zones, the farmers used horsedrawn wagons. They were slower, but the Germans rarely probed the heaping piles of manure used to hide the gear.

Two airplanes delivered supplies to HERMIT that evening. Just clearing a DZ before dawn was a major effort that required a lot of coordination, fifty loyal people, and transportation assets on each DZ to remove, distribute, and hide everything in several sites around the department. As was explained by Troy J. Sacquety in “Supplying the Resistance: OSS Logistics Support to Special Operations in Europe,” Veritas Vol 3. No. 1, this was a major logistical undertaking—hiding silk parachutes, containers, packing materials, and contents ranging from weapons and ammunition to generators, fuel, radios, and batteries to load-bearing equipment (LBE) and packs.33

The SSR-5 “Lucy” short-wave radio receiver was small (5” by 8” by 4” thick). It had a single earpiece.

Thus, while Brucker was establishing his network of radio sites, Henquet was making arrangements for multiple DZs scattered throughout the department (Team HERMIT alone received fifty-seven airdrops from 4 June–17 August 1944). All DZs were codenamed alphabetically by the SO team leader. No two teams used the same DZ name. For each DZ, Resistance “reception committees” had to be recruited, organized, and a signalman trained in each of the five regions established by HERMIT. Small, shortwave radios, nicknamed “Lucy’s” by the British, were distributed to the “reception team” leader to monitor the British Broadcasting Company (BBC). Each night at 8 p.m., the program aired in French included a series of “nonsensical” phrases—“Bo Peep’s sheep are all black,” “The monkeys are having a ball,” etc.

When HERMIT DZ “reception committee” members heard their assigned phrase, it alerted them to expect an airdrop sometime that night. Drops were only scheduled on moonlit nights. Only Henquet and the signaler knew the code letter for the DZ. The signal man stood downfield from the drop zone marking lights and flashed the identification letter in Morse Code to approaching aircraft. The day after an airdrop, select members of the “reception committee” would survey the area checking for a German response. In between airdrops, Henquet worked with the FTP to distribute arms, ammunition, and supplies that had been cached all over the area; coordinate activities; meet Marcel and his subordinate commanders; and identify training requirements.35 2LT Henri Fucs, the third member of Team HERMIT, did not join LTs Henquet and Brucker until 10 June. By then, the Allied landings at Normandy had taken place.

The French Resistance elements had been primed for the upcoming Allied invasion of France. But they, like the Germans, did not know exactly where and when it would occur. As Team HERMIT listened to the BBC nightly broadcasts for the codewords associated with the invasion, so did the French Resistance. Premature open warfare by the Resistance and popular uprisings against the German occupation and its Vichy government would be disastrous. A series of different codewords after D-Day steadily upgraded and increased Resistance activities based on the progress of the Allied armies.36 To further complicate matters on the ground, the SOE, OSS and FFI began inserting uniformed small Jedburgh teams and larger Operational Groups (OGs) by OSS into France after D-Day to supply and train the Resistance. Since SOE/OSS had compartmented all these activities, the SO and SI teams already on the ground did not know about each other and were not alerted that more Allied teams from London were coming to France. LTs Brucker and Henquet, unaware of these additional covert activities, did not realize that the number of radio transmissions had suddenly escalated. The Germans responded to the increased “terrorist” threat like bees storming out of an agitated hive.

Pre-D-Day Alert and Action Messages Delivered in BBC Broadcasts

1–3 June	Les sanglots longs des violins de l’automne	D-Day will take place soon.
4 June	Blessent mon Coeur d’une langueur monotone	D-Day will take place within forty-eight hours.
5 June	Il fait chaud à Suez	General mobilization of all Resistance forces.
5 June	Il fait chaud à Suez	General mobilization of all Resistance forces.
7 June	Les dés sont jetés	General uprising throughout the country.
	Plan Vert	Sabotage all rail lines.
	Plan Bleu	Sabotage high tension electrical lines and power stations.
	Plan Violet	Sabotage German underground telephone lines.
	Plan Tortue/Bibendum	Sabotage all road nets; Attack reserve Panzer units; Ambush all German troop movements towards Allied columns.34

To make matters worse, shortly after D-Day, a twenty-five man Maquis (Resistance fighting group) from Blois, armed and led by Hubert Jarry, “Priam,” began attacking local German and Milice targets during the day. Their identities were quickly exposed and the Germans began earnest pursuit. Thorough searches quickly reduced the group to “Priam” and five effectives who, after executing a Gestapo informant, scattered to hide in the Blois Forest.37 Despite increased precautions because of the heightened German alert, Henquet and Brucker were almost killed during their third resupply airdrop on 10 June.

Both Henquet and Brucker were on DZ Bolivar, northwest of Seillac, awaiting an airdrop on 10 June. This was contrary to everything they had learned in SOE training. “We were young and felt invincible. We were living in an exciting atmosphere all the time. We couldn’t resist the temptation,” said the SO RTO.38

Artist rendition of a German twin-engine Ju-88 night fighter attacking the airdrop reception committee on DZ Bolivar, northwest of Seillac, France, on 10 June 1944.

The two HERMIT operatives learned that French “reception party” members regarded these “clandestine” moonlit airdrops as an opportunity for a social affair. After being alerted by their BBC message, “Les sept veuves de Barbe Rousse,” (“The seven widows of Barbarossa”) the “receptionists” brought blankets, bottles of wine, bread, cheese, and sausages to enjoy while they talked, ate, drank, and smoked during their wait for an airdrop scheduled between 1:30 and 3:30 a.m. Numerous aircraft were heard as the thirty-five men and women with a couple of trucks were enjoying their picnic in the warm, moonlit spring night. Fighters roamed the area while bombers passed overhead at high altitudes. Guy Ferrand had light-signaled at numerous planes without a response until at 3:15 a.m. an airplane started to circle the field, dropping its altitude. LT Henquet was running toward the DZ marking lights when the twin-engine German Junkers Ju-88 night fighter, coming from the wrong direction, opened fire. As tracers from the fighter’s two nose machineguns tore into the lights, everyone scattered for cover in the darkness. Bullets kicked up dirt all around. When the plane crossed the DZ marking lights, the belly gunner opened fire. Ferrand, the signaler, was hit several times as bullets cut his boots, trousers, and coat in several places. Only his arm wound proved serious. Everyone was rounded up and sent home for fear that a German ground patrol would be quickly dispatched to investigate. The risk was actually minimal because coordination between German Air Force (Luftwaffe) and Army (Wehrmacht) was notoriously poor. However, German soldiers and French Milice combed the area the following day, made a few arrests in Seillac, and burned the barn of the DZ owner. The only good event that occurred that night was that LT Fucs, the Jewish surgeon and third member of the HERMIT team, had jumped safely into another location.39

The Germans normally employed these radio direction-finding trailer vans in threes to triangulate radio transmission sites. Linked to these radio-tracking units were stand-by teams of Gestapo and SD (Sicherheitsdienst, or Security Service) agents and soldiers to trap unsuspecting RTOs.

With the arrival of Fucs, Henquet divided his advisory duties and assigned Fucs to work in Area 3, Section B (Vendôme) with Robert Beauce while he continued working in Blois because Marcel Bozon was evading the Germans (a result of “Priam’s” premature actions). It was then possible to expand the effort to include the FFI (Force Francaises de l’Interieur) in the department. Fucs became the most involved in Resistance training and combat operations—effecting airdrops, destroying train rails, disrupting highway traffic, sabotage, dropping bridges, and eliminating the Milice.40 Brucker was dealing with challenges of his own.

The HERMIT radioman was encountering more listening and transmitting interference. The Germans, who had moved three mobile radio direction-finding trucks into Vendôme, had begun jamming on multiple frequencies with broadcasts of old news, Morse Code, music, and ringing bells. Brucker persevered and his transmissions never weakened. “When their jamming failed to silence me, they came back a week later with three ultra modern units plus one aircraft. They really started bothering me when they switched on powerful Morse Code broadcasts after my transmissions to block my reception of instructions. Guy Ferrand helped switch frequencies faster and more often than they could monitor and respond. Their aircraft always arrived long after I had finished transmitting, but it was consistently on the correct azimuth. Sometimes, I would retaliate by jamming voice messages. It worked because they would start ‘bitching’ in German, which I understood,” laughed Brucker.41

His radio contacts were working very well until 23 July. Brucker and his bodyguard Raymond were headed south to support Henquet’s planned relocation. “Raymond and I had gotten very confident in our daily routine. The two of us were never stopped for papers. Hence, for this short stay, I was carrying a radio and my crystals. As we pedaled our tandem bicycle around an ‘S’ curve on the D-45 rural road between Coulanges and Onzain, we ran smack into the rear of a German element (near La Cabinette) that had just disembarked from two lorries—about thirty men. We simultaneously jammed on our brakes. The brakes screeched loudly and both cables snapped. Three of the soldiers, intent on setting up the roadblock, turned in surprise at the noise (bicyclists normally jingled their handlebar bell on road curves to alert pedestrians of their approach),” said Brucker. “Two soldiers bolt-actioned rounds into their Mausers and the corporal took out his pistol as he shouted, ‘Halt!’ and told us to come forward. We froze. He shouted again. We then started making gestures asking if they wanted us to turn around and leave. Judging us to be very stupid, scared, and not a threat, they approached us.”42

By then, the rest of the German element had moved into the woods beyond the parked trucks to establish a bivouac. Brucker and Raymond had already dismounted their tandem bike and laid it alongside the road. “They asked for our papers. In keeping with our ‘two country dummies’ act, we nervously fumbled in our pockets for papers. As one soldier began to frisk Raymond, another moved behind me to check the sack (radio and crystals, Webley revolver, and two hand grenades under some food) on our bicycle. With his rifle lowered, the soldier patted Raymond’s pockets. I was gripping the .32 pistol in my jacket pocket, pretending to fumble for my papers. When the soldier discovered a hard lump on my partner’s chest, Raymond seized his rifle and grabbed the corporal’s pistol,” stated Brucker.43 Luckily, the rest of the Germans were unaware that “the fight was on!”

Responding to his greatest threat, the armed soldier behind him, Brucker pulled out his .32 automatic, spun, assumed a two-handed instinctive firing stance, and fired two shots into the enemy’s chest, dropping him. “As the corporal’s pistol went off, wounding Raymond in the hand, I pivoted back around, shot the NCO twice in the chest, and then shifted my line of fire to shoot the other soldier in the chest. It was simply, ‘Pop-pop!, Pop-pop!, and Pop-pop!’ as fast as I could turn, shift aim, and pull the trigger. As the third soldier went down, Raymond broke away running towards the adjacent field. The gunfire brought the rest of those Germans out of the woods on the run towards me. I emptied my magazine (two rounds) to scatter them and bolted after my bodyguard. That’s when it really got funny,” recalled Brucker.44

Brucker was so close behind Raymond Compain that he 'could prod him in the butt with either gun.' — “Two-Gun Pete” Brucker was so close behind Raymond Compain that he “could prod him in the butt with either gun.”

“Raymond was already out of sight when I started running in the direction he had left. I hadn’t gone three steps when my .45 pistol, ‘dummy-corded’ around my neck, slipped out of my waistband dropping down into my trouser leg. I was always lousy at tying knots. Have you ever tried running with a pistol banging against your knee every step and a noose choking you? There were bullets buzzing by and snapping all around me. It must have been comical to the Germans—watching me ‘hip-hopping’ across that field towards the one lone bush. As I dove behind the bush, I crashed into a crouching Raymond, knocking him over. He had lost his .45 in the scuffle. After we sorted ourselves out, I began fumbling to untie my ‘dummy cord’ noose. When I couldn’t get it loose, I slammed another magazine into my .32 and pointed the gun at my neck. Raymond thought that I was going to kill myself as I shot the cord in half to release the pressure on my neck and get to my .45. He didn’t wait to see if I’d succeeded. At the gunshot, he was already up and running towards a distant house. That’s when ‘Two-Gun Pete’ jumped out and started chasing him with a gun in each hand. I remember seeing two children watching the scene from a second story window and a goat tied up at the corner of that house. Then, we were scrambling on all fours through the vineyard behind the house. I stayed so close to Raymond that I could prod him in the butt with either gun,” chuckled Brucker with a grin. “After all, he was supposed to be my bodyguard, not vice versa.”45

The two “terrorists” escaped pursuit, “exchanged” their clothes for a handsome price, and walked to the town of Pray where they hid out until dark on 24 July. Raymond’s identity was “blown” because the Germans had his papers. Worse still, the HERMIT RTO had lost his radio schedule and assigned frequency crystals, the critical radio element, but the two men were free.46

Resourcefulness was the key to survival for a covert operative. When it came time to secure some transportation, this time the two fugitives stole two bicycles before leaving for Mother Compain’s farm. They rode a long, circuitous route to avoid the German patrols that had saturated the area. The two reached the farmhouse by Chabon in the early morning darkness of 28 July to the great relief of Henquet, who had received word late on 24 July of the roadblock incident and that they were “on the run.”47 Alternate means of communication were needed.

Airdropped pigeons were used to carry messages to London during the time Team HERMIT was without a radio. Though Henquet wrote messages using his own code, they were signed “Robert (codename), HERMIT” and were addressed to “U.S. Marine Captain Grell, London,” to insure proper identification. Henquet also sent two pigeons carrying messages on 10 June. HERMIT never received acknowledgement from London.48

Brucker was embarrassed to have lost his crystals, including his emergency frequency. But, he had hidden two others at Moreau. Since the Gestapo had raided the area, it was uncertain whether the two were still available. Raymond went to investigate while Brucker tried to find another Allied radioman in the area. Contact was made with “Pierre,” a Belgian RTO supporting an Allied escape and evasion network for downed airmen (probably an SI team). Using the Belgian’s frequency, Brucker was able to reestablish contact with London. His CW (Morse Code) “fist” (keying style recorded before the mission) provided the necessary bonafides. By the time Raymond returned with Brucker’s remaining two radio frequency crystals, the HERMIT radioman had already made three good transmissions and received instructions from London. “Those last two crystals provided excellent transmissions. You can believe that they never left my person until our mission ended on 11 September 1944,” stated Brucker. “When London provided the punch line, ‘Two bits!’ to my signature message ending, ‘Shave and a haircut,’ I knew that the HERMIT mission was really over.”49

After the city of Vendôme was liberated on 11 August 1944, Team HERMIT was able to establish a “fixed” station. Having captured a mobile radio direction-finding truck, Brucker and his radio team cannibalized the equipment to build a station at Poirier. He built in a capacity to immediately receive message traffic without breaking outgoing transmissions. A German gas-powered generator provided 250 volts AC. The station operated successfully until 30 August, Brucker’s last contact day with London. Between radio transmissions and four pigeons, Team HERMIT sent almost eighty messages from 28 May to 29 August 1944. The use of “cut out” and “dead drop” communications were deemed unsatisfactory for prompt exchange of ideas with headquarters and the RTO. It was most efficient to have direct daily contact between Henquet and Brucker; “cut outs” served Henquet and Fucs when they were working too far apart for daily meetings.50

Team HERMIT accomplished a great deal. LTs Henquet and Fucs organized, equipped, and controlled the operations of numerous Resistance groups on both sides of the Loire River. “Antoine,” the SOE team VENTRILOQUIST chief responsible for the Loire Department south of the river, refused to arm the Communist FTP in his region. HERMIT simply arranged for seven airdrops on DZs close to south side of the Loire when “Antoine” was hiding from the FTP. On 8 August 1944, Henquet and Fucs participated in the liberation of 170 Resistance personnel from the Blois jail on 8 August.51 Telephone lines above and below the ground were constantly cut around Vendôme, Montoire, Herbault, and Blois.52

Sketch depicts employment of four-inch diameter caltrops against truck traffic. These caltrops looked like giant sharpened “jacks” used in the old child’s game of “ball and jacks.”57 Traffic on Route Nationale 152 and 10 was regularly disrupted by the Resistance with tire spikes.

The most amusing operations were those conducted for tobacco. The Resistance would coordinate its “attack” on a tobacco shop just after the highly rationed items were delivered. The owner was reimbursed in full plus the damages that had to be done to reflect an assault. After collecting his pay from Henquet, the owner would provide a glass of very good white wine to everyone before they collected their booty. Then, a few men would “shoot up” the establishment and everyone would disappear.53 Several more after action observations by Team HERMIT’s leader are worth sharing.

Henquet believed that security for a rendezvous was critical for organizing Resistance groups. Punctuality for meetings was impossible when one factored the distances to be ridden by bicycle for most rendezvous, especially when the Germans and Milice were active. The French had little sense of security consciousness. There was too much talking and too much curiosity. Team HERMIT’s survivability was directly related to its constant movement and overnight stays in different places.54 “It was a good thing that open warfare did not start much later than 11 August, as all three of us were too well known by too many people. Evidently we had to expose ourselves toward the end to crystallize all energies and our boldness grew, of course, with the success of our armies.”55 It helped HERMIT to have collaborators eliminated to prevent their exposure. Twenty to twenty-five collaborators (“indicators” as they were called by the French) were executed by the Loire Resistance as well as unknown numbers of Milice. The number of killed collaborators and Milice grew dramatically after they executed two downed American airmen.56

Since bridges were part of the German strategic defense, they were usually well defended and blown by their engineers after the armored units withdrew across them.

The railways were disrupted by manually dismantling the rails from the ties. Two trains were derailed: one between St. Amand and Vendôme, the other at La Chapelle Vendomoise on the Vendôme and Blois section. The Plage River railway bridge at Marbous was collapsed and the Chateaudun–Bonneval rail line closed for good. Heavy demolitions were limited by how much explosive could be transported on bicycles. On 11 August, open warfare started simultaneously in four of HERMIT’s five areas after Henquet verified the presence of American reconnaissance parties. It began in the region north of Route Nationale 776 (Chateaurenault, Blois) and west of road N. 10 (Chateaurenault–Bonneval). Action progressively extended south to the Loire Rover and east to the AO boundary until all Germans had retired or been captured. Vendôme and Chateaurenault were liberated in early August; limited action prevented German reoccupation. Chateaudun was guarded to prevent the Germans from leaving. Only Route Nationale 827 (Chateaudun–Ogeres) remained under the control of German tank forces protecting this evacuation route.58

Blois was evacuated by the Germans on 16 August after being attacked by a combined Resistance–U.S. Army 166th Combat Engineer Battalion the day before. With the exception of the towns Bonneval and Chateaudun and Route Nationale 827, the entire HERMIT territory was liberated by FFI forces alone. The American units were able to move through the northern sector without fighting. They never advanced through the southern sector which had also been liberated.59

The FFI in 1944. Raymond Compain is in the center without a helmet.

There were costs for these successes. HERMIT was responsible for arming 2,225 FTP and FFI (by the end of August 1944, most FTP were integrated into the FFI). These FFI forces suffered thirty killed in action and eighteen wounded and inflicted 122 killed, thirty-one wounded, and captured 263 prisoners of war.60 Henquet organized a twenty-man assault group armed with Sten and Bren guns to act as a reaction force to reinforce Resistance elements in heavy contact. They only saw action on 11 August. As they withdrew, the Germans removed the burden from the Resistance to blow up the last three remaining Loire River bridges.61

The problem of what to do with the Resistance elements organized by the Allies became the responsibility of the Free French Government. Demobilization of the armed 2,200 FFI in late August 1944 was simply done. All men were officially registered as were weapon serial numbers. The FFI would be armed only when they were on guard or on highway patrol duty. These FFI would be kept in barracks, fed, and paid by the Free French commander at Orleans. Those not immediately necessary or having special reasons to return to civilian life (most were peasant farmers) were allowed to go home pending further orders from French authorities. Before departure, their weapons were collected and stored in the barracks. Sunday uniformed assemblies of FFI fighters included weapons marksmanship to maintain morale.62

British PPN67 Eureka air-ground radio beacon. — British PPN67 Eureka air–ground radio beacon.

British S-phone air-ground radio. — British S-phone air–ground radio.

Per instructions of OSS Lieutenant Colonel Paul R. M. van der Stricht, SI France department chief, all available radio and S-phone equipment from the HERMIT circuit was to be left with OSS Major Gerald R. Davis at 79 Avenue des Champs Elysees in Paris. The Frenchmen, Raymond Compain and Guy Ferrand, were told to collect the two British S-phones (air–ground radio sets) and two radio sets still in the field south of the Loire. A British Eureka air–ground radio beacon set, recovered and used by LT Fucs, had already been turned over to elements of the U.S. Army passing through.63 It was a cursory attempt for accountability because only the HERMIT RTO knew where he had stashed his radios, and even he did not know the exact place in houses and barns “rented” for storage. Some years after the war, Captain Herbert R. Brucker, assigned to U.S. Army Counter Intelligence Corps (CIC) in Austria, returned to the HERMIT AO to see his old friend Raymond Compain. The two drove the radio circuits, stopping at the various hide sites. When they were done, Brucker had collected two of his suitcase radios—none the worse for wear—as permanent souvenirs of those wild days in France.64

However, LT Herbert R. Brucker’s adventures with the OSS in World War II did not end in France. He declined further OSS operations in Europe, specifically IRON CROSS being trained by Captain Aaron Bank, because that force was filled with German Communists. Brucker did agree to serve again as an operative in the China-Burma-India (CBI) theater.65 After being debriefed in London, Brucker bade farewell to Roger Henquet and Henri Fucs of HERMIT, and boarded an airplane for Washington. Before going on a short leave, the young lieutenant was presented the Distinguished Service Cross that had been awarded (via telegram) for his extraordinary valor on 23 July 1944, near Coulanges, France. In that action, “ … he displayed great coolness and courage in killing two of the enemy and making his escape without loss of equipment.”66 LT Brucker then attended an OSS survival course on Catalina Island, California, before assignment to OSS Detachments 101 in Burma and 202 in China. That overseas service will be the topic of a forthcoming article on this Special Forces pioneer.

ENDNOTES

Charles H. Briscoe, “Herbert R. Brucker, SF Pioneer: Part II Pre-WWII–OSS Training 1943,” Veritas, Vol. 2, No. 3, 26–35; Charles H. Briscoe, “Herbert R. Brucker, SF Pioneer: Part III SOE Training & “Team HERMIT” into France,” Veritas, Vol. 3, No. 1, 72–87. ^[return]
Charles H. Briscoe, “Major (R) Herbert R. Brucker, DSC: Special Forces Pioneer: SOE France, OSS Burma and China, 10th SFG, SF Instructor, 77th SFG, Laos, and Vietnam,” Veritas Vol. 2, No. 2, 33–35. ^[return]
Major (Retired) Herbert R. Brucker, interview by Dr. Charles H. Briscoe, 14 November 2005, Fayetteville, NC, digital recording, USASOC History Office Classified Files, Fort Bragg, NC; Brucker interview, 27 March 2006. ^[return]
Brucker interviews, 27 March 2006, 24 April 2006, 2 May 2006, and 15 February 2007; History of the London Office of the OSS. F-Section. HERMIT 216: Activity Report of 2nd Lieutenant Roger B. Henquet, AUS (Robert), 104, hereafter cited as War Diary, SO Team HERMIT Report. ^[return]
K. Keith Melton, OSS Special Weapons & Equipment: Spy Devices of WWII (New York: Sterling Publishing Co., 1992), 38. ^[return]
Brucker interviews, 2 May 2006, 9 May 2006, and 2 March 2007. ^[return]
Brucker interviews, 2 May 2006 and 15 February 2007. ^[return]
Brucker interviews, 9 May 2006, 23 May 2006, 30 May 2006, 15 February 2007, and 26 February 2007. ^[return]
Brucker interview, 9 May 2006. ^[return]
Brucker interviews, 9 May 2006 and 2 March 2007. ^[return]
Brucker interviews, 2 May 2006, 9 May 2006, 15 February 2007, and 26 February 2007. ^[return]
War Diary, SO Team HERMIT Report, 113. ^[return]
Brucker interview, 9 May 2006. ^[return]
War Diary, SO Team HERMIT Report, 105; Brucker interview, 9 May 2006. ^[return]
War Diary, SO Team HERMIT Report, 105, 131. ^[return]
War Diary, SO Team HERMIT Report, 134; Brucker interview, 9 May 2006. ^[return]
Brucker interview, 15 March 2007. ^[return]
Brucker interview, 12 March 2007. ^[return]
Brucker interviews, 23 May 2006 and 12 March 2007. ^[return]
Brucker interviews, 23 May 2006 and 12 March 2007. ^[return]
Brucker interviews, 23 May 2006 and 12 March 2007. ^[return]
Brucker interviews, 9 May 2006 and 12 March 2007. ^[return]
Brucker interview, 9 May 2006; Melton, OSS Special Weapons & Equipment, 40; John W. Brunner, OSS Weapons II (Williamstown, NJ: Phillips Publications, 2005), 60. ^[return]
Brucker interviews 9 May 2006, 16 May 2006, 23 May 2006, and 12 March 2007; War Diary, SO Team HERMIT Report, 135–36. ^[return]
Bucker interview, 9 May 2006. ^[return]
Brucker interviews, 9 May 2007 and 15 March 2007. ^[return]
Brucker interview, 9 May 2006; War Diary, SO Team HERMIT Report, 111–12. ^[return]
War Diary, SO Team HERMIT Report, 111–12; Brucker interview, 16 May 2006. ^[return]
Lieutenant Herbert R. Brucker actually established three different circuits in those early days: first, Coulanges, Monteaux, Orchaise, and Marolle on 5 June; second, Orchaise, Pray, Perigny, and Meslay on 17 June; third, Meslay, Chanteloup, Nourray, Sarge, and Coulanges on 26 June. The constant threat of compromise, operational activities in the area, and some paranoia prompted Brucker to randomly change radio hideouts and circuits. War Diary, SO Team HERMIT Report, 135–36; Brucker interviews, 16 May 2006 and 26 September 2006. ^[return]
Brucker interviews, 9 May 2006 and 7 June 2006. Roger B. Henquet reported that, “two percent of the people, at the most, were willing to risk their lives to liberate France...if paid. Eight percent were willing to take minor chances to help the Resistance if compensated. Eighty percent disliked the Germans, but were too scared to do anything about it. Ten percent were working for the Germans.” The French in HERMIT’s area of operations were mostly peasants who were making a lot of money under German occupation. They were well fed and suffered little from the enemy. War Diary, SO Team HERMIT Report, 114. ^[return]
Brucker interviews, 23 May 2006 and 30 May 2006; War Diary, SO Team HERMIT Report, 114, 115. ^[return]
Brucker interviews, 9 May 2006 and 7 September 2006. ^[return]
Troy J. Sacquety, “Supplying the Resistance: OSS Logistics Support to Special Operations in Europe,” Veritas Vol. 3 No. 1, 37–47. ^[return]
Brucker interviews, 16 May 2006 and 23 May 2006; Herbert R. Brucker, copy of personal notes, USASOC History Office Classified Files, Fort Bragg, NC. ^[return]
Brucker interviews, 9 May 2006, 30 May 2006, and 12 March 2007. ^[return]
Brucker interview, 23 May 2006; Brucker, personal notes. ^[return]
War Diary, SO Team HERMIT Report, 106. ^[return]
Brucker interview, 23 May 2006. ^[return]
War Diary, SO Team HERMIT Report, 110–11; Brucker interviews, 16 May 2006, 23 May 2006, and 7 September 2006; Brucker, personal notes. ^[return]
Brucker interview, 16 May 2006; War Diary, SO Team HERMIT Report, 106–109. ^[return]
War Diary, SO Team HERMIT Report, 136–37; Brucker interview, 16 May 2006. ^[return]
Brucker interviews, 16 May 2006 and 23 May 2006; War Diary, SO Team HERMIT Report, 116, 137. ^[return]
Brucker interview, 16 May 2006; War Diary, SO Team HERMIT Report 137–38. ^[return]
Brucker interview, 23 May 2006; War Diary, SO Team HERMIT Report, 138. ^[return]
Brucker interview, 23 May 2006. ^[return]
Brucker interview, 23 May 2006 and 15 March 2007; War Diary, SO Team HERMIT Report, 138. ^[return]
Brucker interview, 23 May 2006; War Diary, SO Team HERMIT Report, 138. ^[return]
Brucker interview, 19 September 2006; War Diary, SO Team HERMIT Report, 111. ^[return]
Brucker interviews, 23 May 2006 and 30 May 2006; War Diary, SO Team HERMIT Report, 138. ^[return]
War Diary, SO Team HERMIT Report, 111, 112, 138. ^[return]
War Diary, SO Team HERMIT Report, 112, 130. ^[return]
War Diary, SO Team HERMIT Report, 125. ^[return]
Brucker interview, 23 May 2006; War Diary, SO Team HERMIT Report, 115. ^[return]
War Diary, SO Team HERMIT Report, 112, 113, 116, 117. ^[return]
War Diary, SO Team HERMIT Report, 114. ^[return]
War Diary, SO Team HERMIT Report, 116. ^[return]
Brucker interview, 16 May 2006; Melton, OSS Special Weapons & Equipment, 88. ^[return]
War Diary, SO Team HERMIT Report, 117, 126. ^[return]
War Diary, SO Team HERMIT Report, 117, 126. ^[return]
War Diary, SO Team HERMIT Report 118–19. ^[return]
War Diary, SO Team HERMIT Report, 119, 122–23. ^[return]
War Diary, SO Team HERMIT Report, 131–32. ^[return]
Brucker interview, 30 May 2006; War Diary, SO Team HERMIT Report, 124. ^[return]
Brucker interview, 24 April 2006. ^[return]
Brucker interview, 17 April 2006. ^[return]
U.S. Army. General Order 32, Headquarters, European Theater of Operations, 11 March 1945, awarded the Distinguished Service Cross to Second Lieutenant Herbert Brucker (then Technician Third Grade) (Army Serial No 02045272), Army of the United States. ^[return]
David K.E. Bruce, “Recommendations for Combat Awards for OSSEX Agents,” report, 21 October 1944, Troy J. Sacquety’s personal files. ^[return]
Kermit Roosevelt, ed., The Overseas Targets: War Report of the OSS; Vol II. (New York: Walker and Company, 1976), 208–209. ^[return]
Justin O’Brien, letter to Lieutenant Colonel Lewis Gable, subject: “Summary of SI activities in the ETO which aided in the liberation of France,” 12 September 1945, Troy J. Sacquety’s personal files. ^[return]
“Sussex Final Summaries,” copy, Troy J. Sacquety’s personal files. ^[return]
“The Arrest and Execution of Teams Salaud and Colere and of the W/T Operator of Team Filan,” USASOC History Office Classified Files, Fort Bragg, NC. ^[return]
Roosevelt, The Overseas Targets, 211. ^[return]

Major Herbert R. Brucker, SF Pioneer

Part IV: Special Operations Team HERMIT in France

ENDNOTES