John Hind Farmer

John Hind Farmer
John Hind Farmer
	John Farmer in later years
Born	12 January 1917; London, United Kingdom
Died	29 October 2012 (aged 95); Saint-Julien-en-Genevois, France
Nationality	British
Known for	French Resistance, MI6

John Hind Farmer (1917–2012) was a member of the

Auvergne from May to June 1944. Subsequently he worked for MI6 and is said to have been involved in a British plot to assassinate President Nasser of Egypt

.

Biography

John Farmer was born in London on 12 January 1917 and educated in

Jesuit College at Godinne-sur-Meuse (now part of the commune of Yvoir) in Belgium. He continued his education at Beaumont College

, Windsor, United Kingdom.

He won many awards for sprinting and hurdles both in and out of school and rugby was a passion for all his life. He was also an actor and dancer having danced in the role of Puck in a production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" by the Bank of England.

Second World War

In 1939, when working in the

Special Forces and went into one of the new Jedburgh Units. During training however he was recruited by Colonel Maurice Buckmaster, head of “F” section of SOE

.

On the night of 29 April 1944 Farmer, under the code name “Hubert” flew from RAF Tempsford in Bedfordshire and parachuted into France near Cosne-d'Allier accompanied by his courier Nancy Wake,^[1] code name "Hélène."

Their radio operator, Denis Rake, had been badly tortured on a previous mission so did not land with them as he was unable to use a parachute. Instead he arrived by Lysander two weeks later.

They were hidden by the family of Jean Villechenon at

Buchenwald

.

Led by Jean Antoine Llorca Villechenon, codenamed "Laurent", from

Mouvements Unis de la Résistance (MUR) which was located at Ligonès Castle, in the commune of Ruynes-en-Margeride (Cantal) to direct the activities and supplies of some 20,000 men in the Chaudes-Aigues region. From 15 May 1944 Farmer was responsible for parachuting weapons to the Maquis in their Redoubt of La Truyère

(Cantal). As a result of these activities, the Maquis groups posed such a serious threat to the Germans that on 21/22 June 1944 the Germans attacked the Redoubt with several infantry battalions supported by armoured cars, tanks, artillery, and aircraft.

Fighting was intense and the Maquis were forced to disperse into the hills. Farmer also had to withdraw and he became separated from Wake and Rake. He had to walk over 200 kilometres to find another radio operator who could request weapons to replace those lost.

Subsequently he organized the parachuting of arms to the Maquis in Allier in the Tronçay forest area and he also took part in the liberation of Montluçon. For this action he was awarded the Military Cross (MC).

Post-War

His wartime marriage to Alyson Impey was dissolved after the war and he married France Fisher in 1947. After her death he subsequently married Margaret Steele in 1992 who died in 2012.

After the war Farmer joined

Suez crisis

.

According to

Egyptian air force, at the Riviera Hotel in Beirut and handed over £1,000 to him with the promise of £100,000 in future for the purpose of organizing a coup or assassinating President Nasser

.

In the 1960s Farmer moved to Paris where he worked in the visa section as a cover then, after retiring from MI6, became a consultant for

Control Risks Group, a London risk assessment company. He lived in America, Beirut, Cyprus, and Istanbul before retiring to Geneva and subsequently to Pougny (Ain

) in France.

He broadcast a daily morning international press review on the English language Radio 74 and became well known in the Geneva region.

He died aged 95 on 29 October 2012 at Saint-Julien-en-Genevois.

Memberships

After the war Farmer was a member of the following organizations:

National Federation of Free Resistance (Fédération Nationale Libre Résistance);
Committee of the Union of the Resistance in Auvergne (CODURA) (Comité d'Union de la Résistance en Auvergne);
Association of Resistance and the Maquis of Cantal (Association de la Résistance et des Maquis du Cantal);
Federation of United Resistance Movements and the Maquis of Auvergne (Fédération des Mouvements Unis de la Résistance et des Maquis d'Auvergne).
Cadets of the Auvergne Resistance (honorary member)
Swiss branch of the Royal British Legion.

Decorations

Issuing authority	Description	Date awarded	Notes/citation
United Kingdom	Military Cross	21 June 1945^[3]
United Kingdom	Territorial Decoration
United Kingdom	Defence Medal
United Kingdom	War Medal 1939-1945
France	Croix de Guerre 1939-1945		Awarded with a Bronze Palm
France	Combatant's Cross

Sources

This article is based on the following sources:

Daily Telegraph Obituary 29 November 2012
La Montagne (in French)

References

^ Her name was Nancy Fiocca but she is better known by her maiden name of Nancy Wake. Nicknamed by the Germans “the White Mouse”. She died in 2011
ISBN 978-0-312-35569-2
, Chapter 1

^ London Gazette Issue 37138 Supplement 3240 p. 24

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=John_Hind_Farmer&oldid=1201186282"

[1] Her name was Nancy Fiocca but she is better known by her maiden name of Nancy Wake. Nicknamed by the Germans “the White Mouse”. She died in 2011

[2] ISBN 978-0-312-35569-2
, Chapter 1

[3] London Gazette Issue 37138 Supplement 3240 p. 24

[1]

[3]