Henri Honoré d'Estienne d'Orves
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Henri Honoré d'Estienne d'Orves (3 June 1901 – 29 August 1941) was a French Navy officer, reputed "first martyr of Free France" and one of the major heroes of the French Resistance.
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[edit] Early life
He was born in Verrières-le-Buisson. Educated in a conservative and very Catholic family, and a remote cousin of Antoine de Saint-Exupery and of Louise de Vilmorin, later companion of André Malraux, d'Estienne d'Orves spent the First World War as a high school student at the prestigious Lycée Louis-le-Grand, and entered the École Polytechnique in 1921. He joined the naval school two years later, becoming an enseigne de vaisseau de 2e classe in October 1923 and joining the school ship Jeanne d'Arc. He was then an officer on the battleship Provence, and several other vessels. In 1929, he married Éliane de Lorgeril, with whom he had five children.
In 1930, he was promoted to lieutenant de vaisseau, and made a chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur in 1935. In December 1936, he joined the Naval War School for one year. When World War II broke out in 1939, he was serving aboard the Jaguar, as under-chief of the Headquarter of the 2nd flotilla of torpedo boats in Mediterranean Sea. In December 1939, he was an aid to Admiral Godfroy in the Headquarters of the "Force X" aboard cruiser Duquesne
In July 1940, at the time of the Armistice, he was in Alexandria, Egypt; politically, d'Estienne d'Orves was very right-wing, and had sympathies for Charles Maurras and Catholic Monarchism; nonetheless, while many far-right wing theoricists welcomed the arrival of Marshal Pétain, the strongly patriotic d'Estienne d'Orves was unwilling to accept France's final defeat. He deserted, gathered a group of voluntary sailors and officers, took the nom de guerre (undercover name) "Chateauvieux" (name of one of his ancestors) and came into relations with the Free France authorities. He set sail on cargo ship from Aden to London, sailing all around Africa for two months, and rejoined General De Gaulle in London on 27 September 1940.
He met with Admiral Émile Muselier, but was unable to obtain a command at sea. Promoted to capitaine de corvette on 1 October 1940, he joined the Second Office of the Naval Free French Forces Headquarters; requesting to be sent to occupied France, and after having convinced General De Gaulle, he received the mission to organise an intelligence network in Western France, codenamed Nemrod, which had been created in September 1940 by Maurice Barlier and Jan Doornik, but lacked coordination and development. He was officially assigned to this task on 15 December 1940.
[edit] Role in Occupied France
D'Estienne d'Orves was codenamed "Jean-Pierre Girard"; on 21 December 1940. He set sail from Newlyn to Plogoff on a fishing ship, the Marie-Louise, along with his 20-year-old radio operator Alfred Gaessler, a German-speaking Alsatian, codenamed Georges Marty. He arrived at the Raz the next day.
He set his quarters in Chantenay-sur-Loire, near Nantes, at the Clément's house, and made several trips to Paris and in Brittany, with the notable assistance of Maurice Barlier. He set up the basic organisation of the spying web, and was able to transmit significant information about German forces (coastal defences, submarines, aerodromes and refueling point near Nantes).
From 6 January to 19 January, he was in Paris to set up a second network, meeting with Max André, Jan Doornik and numerous other people from the French Resistance. Back to Nantes on 20 January, he came back to the Clement's, who reported suspicious activities by the radio operator Gaessler, seen hanging around in bars and talking with German soldiers. When interrogated, Gaessler said that this was a good way to gather information. D'Estienne d'Orves decided to lay down Marty at the next trip to London, but two days later, the Gestapo stormed the house and arrested him. After a brief resistance, a wounded and handcuffed D'Estienne d'Orves was brought to Angers, along with his companions.
Marty's treason allowed the Nazis to also arrest Barlier, Doornik and most of the network, totaling 26 people. The small intelligence network created by Max André, however, was untouched, and continued its operations until the Libération of Paris. For several weeks, Gaessler sent false information to London and allowed the Nazis to arrest several other agents. He was evacuated by the Nazis to Austria, and disappeared in 1945.
[edit] Trial and death
On 24 January, the prisoners were sent to Berlin, then brought back to Paris, to Cherche-Midi Prison. D'Estienne d'Orves, was put under a particularly harsh treatment, yet managed to cheer up his fellow prisoners; the moral strength which he would find in his faith would later be testified upon by German chaplain Franz Stock.
He was tried from 13 May onwards, and claimed full responsibility of the network, defending his fellow prisoners. On the 23rd, Court Martial sentenced him to death, along with eight of his companions, and transferred them to Fresnes.
Acknowledging their patriotism, the Court Martial filled a request for grace immediately, and German legal advisor Keyser took upon himself to make the trip to Berlin and request a grace for the prisoners from Hitler himself. But the invasion of USSR by the Third Reich, on 22 June 1941, forced the French Communists to join the Resistance and greatly increased the attacks against German forces, inducing a harshening in the repression. Hence, on 28 August, the execution order was given for D'Estienne d'Orves, Barlier and Doornik. The three were granted to spend their last night together, and to be shot standing and without a blindfold. They were blessed by Chaplain Franz Stock.
D'Estienne d'Orves had an interview with president Keyser, the German military judge who had sentenced him to death, where he said: "Sir, you are a German officer. I am a French officer. We both served our duty. Please allow me to hug you".
The execution took place on 23 June 1941, at dawn, at Fort du mont Valérien. Honoré d'Estienne d'Orves was buried in Verrières le Buisson.
A German poster advertised their death. A number of people joined the Resistance as a consequence of this execution.
The capitaine de corvette d'Estienne d'Orves was later on posthumously promoted to capitaine de frégate ("frigate captain") and made a compagnon de la Libération ("Fellow of the Liberation").
[edit] Honours and awards
- Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur
- Compagnon de la Libération by decree of 30 October 1944
- Officer of Ouissam Alaouite
- Officer of the Romanian Pour la couronne order
- Officer of the Bulgarian Military Merit
- Knight of the Chinese order of the Golden Ear
[edit] Trivia
- Two ships of the French Navy have been named in his honour:
- A Flower class frigate, launched in 1942, which fought in the French Naval Forces
- The lead ship of the A69 type Aviso class, F781 D'Estienne d'Orves
