Nicolas Bodington

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Nicolas Bodington
Nickname(s)Nick
Born(1904-06-06)6 June 1904
Paris, France
Died3 July 1974(1974-07-03) (aged 70)
MI6
Years of service1940–1945
RankMajor
Battles/warsWorld War II
RelationsAudrey Bodington (wife)

Nicolas Redner Bodington

Second World War, he served in the F section of the Special Operations Executive
and took part in four missions to France.

Early life

Nicolas Bodington was the son of

MI6
for a time.

In 1938 his novel Solo was published in England by Gollancz.[1]

His name is misspelt frequently.[citation needed] Records of his birth, military service, marriage and death all show that his first name was Nicolas. This agrees with his name as given on the covers of both of his published books.

Wartime service

In 1940 he joined the F section as its General Staff Officer II,[2] assisting Leslie Humphreys, then, from December, H.R. Marriott. At the start of 1941, he recruited Virginia Hall and at the start of summer that year, Maurice Buckmaster became Section F's head. His various cover identities and code names were "Nick", "Andre Edouard", "Jean Paul", "Pierrot" and "Pedlar".[3]

At the start of 1942 Bodington participated in the landing by boat in Brittany which picked up Pierre de Vomécourt, codename Lucas, head of the 'Autogiro' network, and Mathilde Carré, codename Victoire, the famous spy nicknamed La Chatte.

1942 mission

On the night of 29/30 July 1942, he was sent to France to evaluate the value to F Section of collaborating with

André Girard's Carte network. Landing from the sailing ship Seadog at Golfe-Juan, shortly afterwards he made contact with Girard and Henri Frager at Cannes. He wished to meet with the head of the Vichy Armée d'armistice. Girard put him in contact with colonel Vautrin, formerly head of Paul Reynaud's cabinet, and asked for large quantities of arms, which Bodington promised to supply. He met with Peter Churchill,[4] and also went to Lyon to try to undo the chaos that was then reigning there. On the night of 31 August, Bodington re-embarked on Seadog[5] and sailed for Gibraltar, arriving on 9 September. When he returned to England, his enthusiastic report on Carte (delivered on 12 September) formed the foundation for the use of Carte's file as the basis for recruitment for the Prosper – 'Physician' network by its heads Francis Suttill (Prosper) and Andrée Borrel (Denise) on their arrival in France.[6]

MBE.[7]

1943 mission to France

In 1943 Bodington supported the candidacy of Henri Déricourt a former civil airline pilot, who was engaged by F section and sent to France in February that year, codenamed Gilbert, to organise aerial rendezvous for F Section.

Francis Suttill had been chosen to establish a new network in and around Paris, called "Prosper" (also called "Physician"). In September 1942, Andrée Borrel was parachuted into France to prepare the way for Suttill who arrived on 1 October 1942. A wireless operator, Gilbert Norman and a second operator, Jack Agazarian (codename 'Marcel'), followed. Suttill and Agazarian became increasingly concerned about the loyalty of Déricourt. In May 1943, Francis Suttill returned to London and he passed on his fears to Nicolas Bodington and Maurice Buckmaster. However, they were unconvinced and refused to recall Déricourt to Britain.[citation needed]

Preparing to return to France Bodington discussed the situation with Buckmaster and left a note on record at SOE Headquarters dated 23 June 1943 concerning Dericourt, "we know he is in contact with the Germans and also how and why" (suggesting that he may have been feeding the Germans with false intelligence provided by London.[8] He was decorated with the MBE while temporary major in June 1943.[9]

Bodington, with Agazarian and the Belgian Adelin Marissael[10] were flown into France by a special duties aircraft of No. 161 Squadron RAF which landed near Angers on the night of 22–23 July 1943.[11]

He was to clarify the circumstances surrounding the collapse of the Prosper network in June and the role of Déricourt, who was strongly suspected of having betrayed several agents. Oddly[citation needed], it was Déricourt who welcomed them when they landed, in the field Achille 1 km to the southeast of Soucelles. Bodington and Agazarian travelled to Paris with Dericourt where they tried to establish if Norman was active. Tossing a coin to choose who would visit Norman's address Agazarian lost and when he visited was arrested by the Gestapo.[12] Having escaped the Germans,[13] Bodington exonerated Déricourt (though he was dismissed from SOE) and tried to convince SOE agent Noor Inayat Khan to return to England (she refused)[citation needed], Bodington returned on the night of 16–17 August 1943 by Westland Lysander along with Lise and Claude de Baissac.[14] He did not believe that Déricourt was betraying British agents as he had been active in Paris for some time himself and had not been arrested.[15]

For the following six months he lectured and wrote reports on the intricacies of the French political situation for the forces preparing for the Allied invasion of France.

1944 mission

On 11 February 1944 in London, he interrogated Dericourt who had returned from France, to ascertain his loyalties.[16]

In the spring of 1944 Bodington was due to return to France on an SOE mission to the southwest of France as the organiser of a resistance network but the mission was cancelled at the last moment, possibly due to concerns over an informant in France, later identified as Bousquet, following the arrest of Charles Skepper, Eliane Plewman and Arthur Steele.[17]

SFHQ sent him back to France under the codename Jean. Knowing that the Gestapo had a photograph of him and a price on his head Bodington parachuted on the night of 10 July 1944 into the dangerous

départements between June and December 1944.[19] They were known by codenames which usually were first names (such as "Hugh"), with some names of medicines (such as "Novocaine") and a few random names thrown in to confuse German intelligence.[20]

Bodington was recommended for a gallantry award, the

OBE instead.[22]

1945

Bodington worked for both

MI6, possibly simultaneously, and as the result of internal rivalries appears to have been the victim of an internal smear campaign suggesting that he may have had wartime contact with the German Sicherheitsdienst
(the Nazi intelligence service) which was not always in the best interest of his country. The National Archives in London hold a file documenting an investigation carried out into these claims from February to July 1945 which it classifies as :

Nicholas Redner Bodington: British. Bodington was regarded as a distinguished member of SOE during the Second World War. However this file is mainly concerned with the suggestion that he may have been in touch with German Intelligence and have betrayed SOE agents to them. The allegations were not substantiated.[23]

With rank of captain Bodington resigned his commission on 7 July 1945 and was granted permission to retain the rank of major.[24]

After the war

In June 1948 he was a witness at the trial of Henri Déricourt, who was known to have had contact with the German Sicherheitsdienst and Gestapo and is often regarded as having been a double or triple agent. Bodington's testimony was decisive in bringing about Dericourt's acquittal and suggests that Dericourt may have fed false intelligence to the Germans.[citation needed]

In 1961 his second book, The Awakening Sahara. was published by Andre Deutsch,[25]

Awards

References

  1. ^ "Solo" by Nicolas Bodington,
  2. ^ Foot (1966), p.49
  3. ^ National Archives, London. Document HS 9/171/1 – SOE file Nicholas Redner Bodington
  4. ^ Foot (1966), p.204
  5. ^ "Re-embarkation took place on 31 August 1942 with a certain solemnity in the little bay of Cap Long, in the commune of Agay where we waited for midnight in the house owned there by Germaine Sablon. André Girard and Henri Frager were present, as well as Joseph Kessel." [Source: André Gillois]
  6. ^ Foot (1966), p.206
  7. ^ National Archives, London. Document WO 373/93 – recommendation for award of MBE
  8. ^ Foot (1966), p.303
  9. ^ "No. 36102". The London Gazette. 20 July 1943. p. 3313.
  10. ^ Verity (2012), p.211
  11. ^ Verity (2013), p.113
  12. ^ Foot (1966), p.323-324
  13. ^ Howarth (1980), p.159
  14. ^ Verity (2013), p.119
  15. ^ Foot (1966), p300
  16. ^ "6 March 2003 releases: SOE Agents' Personal Files". National Archives. Archived from the original on 7 December 2016.
  17. ^ National Archives, London. Document WO 373/104 recommendation for award – Nicolas Bodington
  18. ^ Gaujac (1999), p.188
  19. ^ Inquimbert, Les Equipes Jedburgh: Juin 1944 – Décembre 1944, Lavauzelle, 2006[page needed]
  20. ^ Foot (1984), p.127
  21. ^ Gaujac (1998), p.189-191
  22. ^ National Archives, London. Document WO 373/104/96-97 recommendation for M.C. – Major N Bodington
  23. ^ Document releases – see KV2/830 N R Bodington
  24. ^ "No. 37163". The London Gazette (Supplement). 3 July 1945. p. 3502.
  25. ^ Nicolas Bodington, "The Awakening Sahara" (1961), ASIN: B0000CL147
  26. ^ "No. 36102". The London Gazette. 20 July 1943. p. 3313.
  27. ^ "No. 37861". The London Gazette. 21 January 1947. p. 441.

Sources

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