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{{For|the [[Revolutionary Guard]] organization in [[Iran]]|AGIR}}
{{Infobox military unit
{{Infobox military unit
|unit_name = Réseau AGIR
|unit_name = Réseau AGIR
|image = [[File:V-1 1944 - Typical Ski Site.jpg|300px]]
|image = [[File:V-1 1944 - Typical Ski Site.jpg|300px]]
|caption = AGIR provided intelligence on [[V-1 flying bomb]] [[V-1 flying bomb (facilities)|"ski sites"]]. In 1974, the [[Maisoncelle]] site still had this 1944 diagram's treelines and ski-shaped storage buildings.<ref name=AfterTheBattle/>{{Rp|6}}
|caption = AGIR provided intelligence on [[V-1 flying bomb]] [[V-1 flying bomb (facilities)|"ski sites"]].<br>(In 1974, the "[[Maison-Ponthieu]] site" still had the treelines and ski-shaped storage buildings depicted in this "Typical Ski Site" diagram.<ref name=AfterTheBattle/>{{Rp|6}} A [[Talk:Réseau AGIR|German source]] also claims the [[Maisoncelle]] site still had the structures [[post-war]]).{{Citation needed|WHAT WAS THE SOURCE FOR WHICH WAS USED BY User:Chriusha ("In my mind" IS NOT A VALID SOURCE)|date=March 2010}}
|dates = 1941-1944<!--1941 SOURCE: Michel Hollard WIKIPAGE & PER fr.wikipedia.org WIKIPAGE FOR Réseau AGIR-->
|dates = began 1941<!--1941 SOURCE: Michel Hollard WIKIPAGE & PER fr.wikipedia.org WIKIPAGE FOR Réseau AGIR-->
|country = [[Occupied France]]
|country = [[Occupied France]]
|allegiance = [[Allies of World War II]]
|allegiance = [[Allies of World War II]]
|type = [[French Resistance]] <small>(independant of other French Resistance networks}{{Citation needed|THIS CLAIM BY User:Highbury731 IS IRRELEVANT AS THE French Resistance WIKIARTICLE SAYS: "the collective name used for the French resistance movements" (PLURAL)|date=April 2010}}</small>
|type = [[French Resistance]]
|role = [[espionage]]
|role = [[espionage]]
|size = >100 agents<ref name=Lee>
|size = >100<ref name=Lee>


{{cite book |last=Lee |first=Bruce |year=2001 |title=Marching orders: the untold story of World War II |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=CAN54NcnjcMC&pg=PA226 |format=[[Google Books]] |accessdate=2010-02-11 |quote=''Hollard was called by Sir [[Brian Horrocks]], a corps commander for [[Bernard Montgomery|[Bernard] Montgomery]], 'the man who {{sic|literally saved}}{{ref|1}} London'.''}}</ref> by 1944
{{cite book |last=Lee |first=Bruce |year=2001 |title=Marching orders: the untold story of World War II |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=CAN54NcnjcMC&pg=PA226 |format=[[Google Books]] |accessdate=2010-02-11}}</ref> informants and a few agents
}}
}}


{{For|the AGIR organization in [[Iran]]|Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution}}
{{Main|Military history of France during World War II|Resistance during World War II|V-1 and V-2 Intelligence}}
The '''Réseau AGIR'''<!--CAPITALIZED PER fr.wikipedia.org/Réseau AGIR--> ({{lang-en|ACT Network}}) was an [[Spy ring#Espionage in World War II|espionage group]] which operated totally independantly of the French Resistance.
The '''Réseau AGIR'''<!--CAPITALIZED PER fr.wikipedia.org/Réseau AGIR--> ({{lang-en|ACT Network}}) was an [[Spy ring#Espionage in World War II|espionage group]] <!--attached to the [[Secret Intelligence Service#World War II|British SIS]].{{Verification needed|"attached to the S.I.S." WAS IN THE [[Michel Hollard]] WIKIARTICLE, BUT THE WWII SECTION IN Secret Intelligence Service DOESN'T IDENTIFY OR EVEN HAVE A LINK (EVEN INDIRECTLY) REGARDING AGIR|date=February 2010}} F-->founded<ref>


{{fr icon}} {{cite web |title=Michel Hollard: Heros de la Resistance |url=http://www.michel-hollard.com |accessdate=2010-02-09 |quote=''the V1 weapons stored ... in a depot station to the '[[Auffay]] ([[Seine-Maritime]]).''}})</ref> by [[Michel Hollard]] who collected intelligence every 3 weeks{{Citation needed|date=April 2010}} (e.g., [[V-1 and V-2 Intelligence]]) directly from volunteer informants<!--from each agent to reduce risk to other agents, and AGIR used signals (e.g., an open barn door indicated a border was clear of soldiers). Most agents were volunteers--> [[SNCF#Role during World War II|risking intelligence gathering in their normal jobs such as station masters]], barkeepers, hotel managers, dock workers, etc.. To obtain travel permits, a few full-time AGIR agents were registered salesmen of [[Michel Hollard|Hollard's employer]]. Hollard paid the AGIR expenses{{Citation needed|WHAT EXPENSES OTHER THAN HIS OWN?|date=April 2009}} and smuggled information to the British [[military attaché]] in [[Bern]], [[Switzerland during World War II|Switzerland]], from [[Occupied France]] via 48{{Citation needed|date=April 2009}} trips from 1941 through February 1944. On 5 February 1944, Michel Hollard and 4 other AGIR agents (including [[Henri Dujarier]]){{Specify|WHAT HAPPENED TO Dujarier?|date=February 2010}} were arrested during a cafe meeting on the [[Rue du Faubourg-Saint-Denis]].<!--PER fr.wikipedia.org/Réseau AGIR WIKIPAGE-> after a betrayal.{{Specify|WHAT BETRAYAL AND BY WHOM?|date=February 2010}} Hollard did not [[Interrogation#Nazi Germany|reveal any information]]{{Specify|DID ANY OF THE OTHERS REVEAL INFO? WAS HOLLARD EVEN INTERROGATED/TORTURED?|date=February 2010}}--> Hollard received the "bath treatment" [[Milice|torture]]<!--SOURCE: Jones WHO CLAIMS SUBMERGED UNTIL THEY FOUGHT ABOVE WATER, WHEN THEY WERE BEATEN AND THEN HELD UNDER AGAIN--> and was imprisoned until the end of the war. [[Jules Mailly]] died 4 months after the arrest at a [[List of subcamps of Mauthausen|Mauthausen camp]], and [[Joseph Legendre]] lead AGIR{{Specify|DID Legendre DO ANY SMUGGLING?|date=February 2010}} after he and [[Robert Rubenach]] were released.{{Citation needed|date=February 2009}} Captured and executed earleir in 1943 was the network's [[Olivier Giran]]<ref name=Jones/>{{Rp|364}} (on September 7, 1943, an [[Ultra]] intercept identified that an agent tasked with gathering V-weapon intelligence had been captured.)<ref name=Jones/>{{Rp|353}}
Founder[3] Michel Hollard recruited agents who had access to information in the course of their ordinary work. These included station masters, barkeepers, hotel managers, dock workers, etc.. To obtain travel permits, a few full-time AGIR agents were registered salesmen of Maison Gazogène Autobloc (Hollard's employer), a manufacturer of wood gas generators. For most of its history, the expenses of the Reseau were met by Hollard from the profits of this business. Hollard recruited the agents because of their patriotism and access to information, and would personally visit each agent to collect their report every three weeks. With the information collected, he crossed the Swiss border and gave his report to the British Military Attache in Berne - this journey was made a total of 48 times.

The lack of radio communication and dead letter boxes, as used in the French Resistance, was a great aid to security. Each agent communicated only with Hollard, so that betrayal of an agent put only Hollard at risk. Hollard would agree special signals in advance, so that he could be warned if an area was safe - the farmer at his usual crossing point into Switzerland would leave his barn door open at the agreed time if there were no German soldiers nearby.


==V-1 espionage==
==V-1 espionage==
After an AGIR agent (a railway engineer) at [[Rouen]]<!--SOURCE: Michel Hollard WIKIPAGE--> reported{{When|date=February 2010}} unusual construction in [[Upper Normandy]],{{Specify|WHICH SITE?|date=February 2010}} Michel Hollard's September 1943 report identified 6 [[V-1 flying bomb (facilities)|V-1 flying bomb facilities]]: "''{{sic|[[Bennetot|Bonnetot]]}} le [[Faubourg]], {{sic|[[Auffay|Auffray]]}}, [[Tôtes|Totes]], [[Ribeaucourt, Somme|Ribeaucourt]], [[Maison-Ponthieu|Maison Ponthieu]] and Bois Carre''".<ref name=AfterTheBattle/>{{Rp|3}} A "fuller"<!--R.V. JONES' TERM--> October report about Bois Carré (1.4&nbsp;km east of [[Yvrench]])<ref>{{de icon}} {{cite web |title=V1, V2 & V3 |url=http://www.christianch.ch/history/v1_v2_v3.htm |publisher=christianCH.ch |accessdate=2010-02-11}}</ref> claimed it had "''a concrete platform with centre axis pointing directly to London''" ([[R.V. Jones]]).<ref name=Jones>
After an AGIR railway engineer at [[Rouen]]<!--SOURCE: WAS ON Michel Hollard WIKIPAGE--> reported{{When|date=February 2010}} unusual construction in [[Upper Normandy]],{{Specify|WHICH SITE?|date=February 2010}} Michel Hollard's September 1943 report to the British identified 6 [[V-1 flying bomb (facilities)|V-1 flying bomb facilities]]: "''{{sic|[[Bennetot|Bonnetot]]}} le [[Faubourg]], {{sic|[[Auffay|Auffray]]}}, [[Tôtes|Totes]], [[Ribeaucourt, Somme|Ribeaucourt]], [[Maison-Ponthieu|Maison Ponthieu]] and Bois Carre''".<ref name=AfterTheBattle>

⚫
{{cite book |last=Jones |first=R. V. |authorlink=Reginald Victor Jones |year=1978 |title=Most Secret War: British Scientific Intelligence 1939-1945 |location=London |publisher=Hamish Hamilton |isbn=0 241 89746 7 |page=300e,360}}</ref> AGIR reconnoitered<!--ref name=DSO/--> 104<!--http://www.atoc-comms.org/dynamic/toc-press-story/257320/Eurostar-remembers-Michel-Hollard-160-160-the-man-who-saved-London--> V-1 facilities{{Clarify me|NOT A SINGLE ONE WAS OTHER-THAN-FOR-THE-V-1? E.G., DID AGIR PROVIDE INTEL ON THE V-2 SITES SUCH AS [[Le Blockhaus]], [[La Coupole]], OR [[Sottevast]]; OR THE V-3 CANNON AT Mimoyecques?|date=February 2010}} and provided "rough sketches"[http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/the-man-who-saved-london-736312.html] such as one by André Comps of Bois Carré.<ref name=AfterTheBattle>


{{Cite journal |last= |first= |year=1974 |title=The V-Weapons |url=http://www.afterthebattle.com/ab-con1.html#index |magazine=After The Battle |pages=3,14,16}}</ref>{{Rp|3}} Hollard had Comps infiltrate the site as a [[draughtsman]] and Comps "''managed to make copies of the blueprints''",<ref name=AfterTheBattle/>{{Rp|3}} which allowed Hollard to make a scale{{Verification needed|A FULL-SIZE MODEL WAS USED AT EGLIN.|date=February 2010}} model.[http://www.atoc-comms.org/dynamic/toc-press-story/257320/Eurostar-remembers-Michel-Hollard-160-160-the-man-who-saved-London]
{{Cite journal |last= |first= |year=1974 |title=The V-Weapons |url=http://www.afterthebattle.com/ab-con1.html#index |magazine=After The Battle |pages=3,14,16}}</ref>{{Rp|3}} A more detailed October report about Bois Carré (1.4&nbsp;km east of [[Yvrench]])<ref>{{de icon}} {{cite web |title=V1, V2 & V3 |url=http://www.christianch.ch/history/v1_v2_v3.htm |publisher=christianCH.ch |accessdate=2010-02-11}}</ref> claimed it had "''a concrete platform with centre axis pointing directly to London''".<ref name=Jones>


⚫
{{cite book |last=Jones |first=R. V. |authorlink=Reginald Victor Jones |year=1978 |title=Most Secret War: British Scientific Intelligence 1939-1945 |location=London |publisher=Hamish Hamilton |isbn=0 241 89746 7 |page=300e,360-4}}</ref> AGIR reconnoitered<!--ref name=DSO/--> 104<!--http://www.atoc-comms.org/dynamic/toc-press-story/257320/Eurostar-remembers-Michel-Hollard-160-160-the-man-who-saved-London--> V-1 facilities{{Clarify me|NOT A SINGLE ONE WAS OTHER-THAN-FOR-THE-V-1? E.G., DID AGIR PROVIDE INTEL ON THE V-2 SITES SUCH AS [[Le Blockhaus]], [[La Coupole]], OR [[Sottevast]]; OR THE V-3 CANNON AT Mimoyecques?|date=February 2010}} and provided sketches such as one by [[André Comps]] of Bois Carré ({{lang-en|square woods}}) labeled "''La position de Maisons''" and ''B<sup>2</sup>''.<ref name=Jones/>{{Rp|362}} Hollard had the site infiltrated by Comps, who "''managed to make copies of the blueprints''"<ref name=AfterTheBattle/>{{Rp|3}} <!--which allowed Hollard to make a scale{{Verification needed|A FULL-SIZE MODEL WAS USED AT EGLIN.|date=February 2010}} model.[http://www.atoc-comms.org/dynamic/toc-press-story/257320/Eurostar-remembers-Michel-Hollard-160-160-the-man-who-saved-London]-->—a copy of the [[V-1 flying bomb (facilities)|compass swinging building]] blueprint and the Bois Carré sketch are in ''[[Reginald Victor Jones#Books by R. V. Jones|Most Secret War]]'', p. 362-3.
==Arrest==
On 5 February 1944, Michel Hollard and 4 other AGIR agents were arrested during a meeting in a cafe on the [[Rue du Faubourg-Saint-Denis]]<!--PER fr.wikipedia.org/Réseau AGIR WIKIPAGE--> after a betrayal. A man posing as the Comte de Kergoat tricked Hollard's secretary into revealing the location of the meeting. Despite severe torture, Hollard did not [[Interrogation#Nazi Germany|reveal any information]] - rather, he admitted his own guilt in order to protect those arrested with him. He was held at a [[List of subcamps of Neuengamme|Neuengamme camp]]{{Specify|WHICH SUBCAMP?|date=February 2010}} until liberated in 1945. Jules Mailly died 4 months later at a [[List of subcamps of Mauthausen|Mauthausen camp]], and Joseph Legendre lead AGIR after he and Robert Rubenach were released.{{Martelli}} It is not known what happened to Henri Dujarier.


==Post-war==
==Post-war==
AGIR agents received various British and French military awards (including Hollard's [[Distinguished Service Order|DSO]] for V-1 espionage),<ref name=DSO>
AGIR agents received various British and French military awards (including Hollard's [[Distinguished Service Order|DSO]] for V-1 espionage),<ref name=DSO>


{{cite book |author= |year=1945 |title=[[Distinguished Service Order|[Distinguished Service Order]] citation for Michel Hollard] |quote=''Hollard, at great personal risk, reconnoitered a number of heavily guarded V1 sites and reported on them with such clarity that models were constructed which enabled effective{{ref|1}} bombing to be carried out.''}}</ref> and Hollard's 1960 biography serves as an AGIR history.<ref>
{{cite book |author= |year=1945 |title=[[Distinguished Service Order|[Distinguished Service Order]] citation for Michel Hollard] |quote=''Hollard, at great personal risk, reconnoitered a number of heavily guarded V1 sites and reported on them with such clarity that models were constructed which enabled effective{{ref|1}} bombing to be carried out.''}}</ref> and Hollard's biographies provide AGIR history.<ref>


{{cite book |last=Martelli |first=George |year=1961 |origyear=1960 ''Agent extraordinaire'' ('''French''') |title=The man who saved London:{{ref|1}} the story of Michel Hollard, D.S.O., Croix de Guerre |url=http://openlibrary.org/b/OL14120028M/man_who_saved_London |publisher=Odhams Press |accessdate=2010-02-11}}{{Specify|FROM WHAT DOES MARTELLI CLAIM HOLLARD "saved London" (IT WASN'T SAVED FROM THE V-1)?|date=February 2010}}</ref> In 2009, Joseph Brocard was the last surviving AGIR agent.<ref name=RFI>
{{cite book |last=Martelli |first=George |year=1961 |origyear=1960 Agent Extraordinaire ''(French) |title=The man who saved London: the story of Michel Hollard, D.S.O., Croix de Guerre |url=http://openlibrary.org/b/OL14120028M/man_who_saved_London |publisher=Odhams Press |accessdate=2010-02-11}}{{Specify|FROM WHAT DOES MARTELLI CLAIM HOLLARD "saved London" (IT WASN'T SAVED FROM THE V-1)?|date=February 2010}}</ref> In 2009, [[Joseph Brocard]] was the last surviving AGIR participant.<ref name=RFI>


{{cite web |title=Last remaining member of resistance network dies |url=http://www.rfi.fr/actuen/articles/110/article_2898.asp |publisher=radiofranceInternationale |accessdate=2010-02-09}}</ref>
{{cite web |title=Last remaining member of resistance network dies |url=http://www.rfi.fr/actuen/articles/110/article_2898.asp |publisher=radiofranceInternationale |accessdate=2010-02-09}}</ref>

Revision as of 19:21, 8 April 2010

Réseau AGIR
AGIR provided intelligence on V-1 flying bomb "ski sites".
(In 1974, the "Maison-Ponthieu site" still had the treelines and ski-shaped storage buildings depicted in this "Typical Ski Site" diagram.[1]: 6  A German source also claims the Maisoncelle site still had the structures post-war).[citation needed]
Activebegan 1941
CountryOccupied France
AllegianceAllies of World War II
TypeFrench Resistance (independant of other French Resistance networks}[citation needed]
Roleespionage
Size>100[2] informants and a few agents
For the AGIR organization in Iran, see Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution.

The Réseau AGIR (English: ACT Network) was an espionage group founded[3] by Michel Hollard who collected intelligence every 3 weeks[citation needed] (e.g., V-1 and V-2 Intelligence) directly from volunteer informants risking intelligence gathering in their normal jobs such as station masters, barkeepers, hotel managers, dock workers, etc.. To obtain travel permits, a few full-time AGIR agents were registered salesmen of Hollard's employer. Hollard paid the AGIR expenses[citation needed] and smuggled information to the British military attaché in Bern, Switzerland, from Occupied France via 48[citation needed] trips from 1941 through February 1944. On 5 February 1944, Michel Hollard and 4 other AGIR agents (including Henri Dujarier)[specify] were arrested during a cafe meeting on the Rue du Faubourg-Saint-Denis. Hollard received the "bath treatment" torture and was imprisoned until the end of the war. Jules Mailly died 4 months after the arrest at a Mauthausen camp, and Joseph Legendre lead AGIR[specify] after he and Robert Rubenach were released.[citation needed] Captured and executed earleir in 1943 was the network's Olivier Giran[4]: 364  (on September 7, 1943, an Ultra intercept identified that an agent tasked with gathering V-weapon intelligence had been captured.)[4]: 353 

V-1 espionage

After an AGIR railway engineer at Rouen reported[when?] unusual construction in Upper Normandy,[specify] Michel Hollard's September 1943 report to the British identified 6 V-1 flying bomb facilities: "Bonnetot [sic] le Faubourg, Auffray [sic], Totes, Ribeaucourt, Maison Ponthieu and Bois Carre".[1]: 3  A more detailed October report about Bois Carré (1.4 km east of Yvrench)[5] claimed it had "a concrete platform with centre axis pointing directly to London".[4] AGIR reconnoitered 104 V-1 facilities[clarification needed] and provided sketches such as one by André Comps of Bois Carré (English: square woods) labeled "La position de Maisons" and B2.[4]: 362  Hollard had the site infiltrated by Comps, who "managed to make copies of the blueprints"[1]: 3  —a copy of the compass swinging building blueprint and the Bois Carré sketch are in Most Secret War, p. 362-3.

Post-war

AGIR agents received various British and French military awards (including Hollard's DSO for V-1 espionage),[6] and Hollard's biographies provide AGIR history.[7] In 2009, Joseph Brocard was the last surviving AGIR participant.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c "The V-Weapons". After The Battle: 3, 14, 16. 1974.
  2. ^ Lee, Bruce (2001). Marching orders: the untold story of World War II (Google Books). Retrieved 2010-02-11.
  3. ^ Template:Fr icon "Michel Hollard: Heros de la Resistance". Retrieved 2010-02-09. the V1 weapons stored ... in a depot station to the 'Auffay (Seine-Maritime).)
  4. ^ a b c d Jones, R. V. (1978). Most Secret War: British Scientific Intelligence 1939-1945. London: Hamish Hamilton. p. 300e,360-4. ISBN 0 241 89746 7.
  5. ^ Template:De icon "V1, V2 & V3". christianCH.ch. Retrieved 2010-02-11.
  6. ^ [Distinguished Service Order citation for Michel Hollard]. 1945. Hollard, at great personal risk, reconnoitered a number of heavily guarded V1 sites and reported on them with such clarity that models were constructed which enabled effective[1] bombing to be carried out. {{cite book}}: External link in |quote= (help)
  7. ^ Martelli, George (1961) [1960 Agent Extraordinaire (French)]. The man who saved London: the story of Michel Hollard, D.S.O., Croix de Guerre. Odhams Press. Retrieved 2010-02-11.[specify]
  8. ^ "Last remaining member of resistance network dies". radiofranceInternationale. Retrieved 2010-02-09.
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