farmhouse where he had been hiding after his plane was shot down. And this pilot also had stayed with Suzanne and Henry Rollet in Paris — the same couple who harbored Postel-Vinay for a few days right after his escape.
At two A . M ., the boat that will take them to Gibraltar finally appears offshore, and a smaller boat reaches the beach to pick them up. A Polish sailor loads Postel-Vinay into the first vessel, then helps him on the larger ship a couple hundred yards later. The trip takes three days, and Postel-Vinay suffers from terrible seasickness until the weather finally calms.
A fellow passenger tells him he must make contact with de Gaulle when he reaches London. Some Frenchmen are working directly for the English, but Postel-Vinay must work for the Free French! Postel-Vinay says he had already decided to do that.
On the morning of the third day, they are met by the British vessel that will take them on their last leg to Gibraltar. Calm seas ensure an easy transfer. One of the British officers on board immediately offers Postel-Vinay his cabin; the Frenchman is moved by this “instant act of kindness.”
The following afternoon, he finally reaches Gibraltar — “English territory.” He quickly makes contact with Captain Jacques Vaudreuil (real name: François Thierry-Mieg), who has been de Gaulle’s personal representative in the British colony since October. One of Vaudreuil’s aides warns Postel-Vinay that a vetting awaits him at Patriotic School in England — a prospect that fills him with disgust. After all he has suffered at the hands of the Germans, he must now endure a new challenge from the British.
He understands the necessity of trying to ferret out double and triple agents, but he still resents the idea that he will have to prove himself again.
THREE WEEKS LATER , on October 15, 1942. Postel-Vinay takes off from Gibraltar in a twin-engine DC-3, which delivers him to an airfield in the English countryside. From there, a bus takes him to a police station in a London suburb, where a charming British officer listens to Postel-Vinay’s unbelievable tale of escape.
The Englishman listens politely — and doesn’t seem to believe a single word Postel-Vinay tells him. Then he dispatches him to Patriotic School for further interrogation.
This is the first stop for every self-described
Résistant
arriving in England during the war. Patriotic School has been created to distinguish between genuine Allied sympathizers (“sheep”) and double agents who are really working for the Germans (“goats”).
The London Reception Centre had been established at the Royal Victoria Patriotic School in Wandsworth by the British intelligence agency MI5 at the beginning of 1941. During the course of the war,thirty-three thousand refugees will pass through the center, where they are “questioned about their methods of escape, the routes they had followed, safe houses, couriers, helpers and documentation. Their statements [are] meticulously indexed and cross-checked against those of their companions and earlier arrivals. Intelligence [is] extracted and circulated to Whitehall departments.”
Those identified as “goats” are shipped off to Camp 020, which oversees 440 prisoners during the course of the war. After an early instance of a violent, unauthorized interrogation, a strict rule against torture is enforced — because the British believe non-coercive interrogations are the ones most likely to produce accurate information. This is also the conclusion of more sophisticated Allied interrogators almost everywhere during World War II.
Patriotic School is an austere place, lightened a bit by a library that reminds Postel-Vinay of a London club. It is filled with refugees from every country invaded by the Nazis, many with escape stories just as implausible as his own. After eight days of waiting, his interrogation by the British finally begins.
The examination lasts five days: two or three hours in the morning
At two A . M ., the boat that will take them to Gibraltar finally appears offshore, and a smaller boat reaches the beach to pick them up. A Polish sailor loads Postel-Vinay into the first vessel, then helps him on the larger ship a couple hundred yards later. The trip takes three days, and Postel-Vinay suffers from terrible seasickness until the weather finally calms.
A fellow passenger tells him he must make contact with de Gaulle when he reaches London. Some Frenchmen are working directly for the English, but Postel-Vinay must work for the Free French! Postel-Vinay says he had already decided to do that.
On the morning of the third day, they are met by the British vessel that will take them on their last leg to Gibraltar. Calm seas ensure an easy transfer. One of the British officers on board immediately offers Postel-Vinay his cabin; the Frenchman is moved by this “instant act of kindness.”
The following afternoon, he finally reaches Gibraltar — “English territory.” He quickly makes contact with Captain Jacques Vaudreuil (real name: François Thierry-Mieg), who has been de Gaulle’s personal representative in the British colony since October. One of Vaudreuil’s aides warns Postel-Vinay that a vetting awaits him at Patriotic School in England — a prospect that fills him with disgust. After all he has suffered at the hands of the Germans, he must now endure a new challenge from the British.
He understands the necessity of trying to ferret out double and triple agents, but he still resents the idea that he will have to prove himself again.
THREE WEEKS LATER , on October 15, 1942. Postel-Vinay takes off from Gibraltar in a twin-engine DC-3, which delivers him to an airfield in the English countryside. From there, a bus takes him to a police station in a London suburb, where a charming British officer listens to Postel-Vinay’s unbelievable tale of escape.
The Englishman listens politely — and doesn’t seem to believe a single word Postel-Vinay tells him. Then he dispatches him to Patriotic School for further interrogation.
This is the first stop for every self-described
Résistant
arriving in England during the war. Patriotic School has been created to distinguish between genuine Allied sympathizers (“sheep”) and double agents who are really working for the Germans (“goats”).
The London Reception Centre had been established at the Royal Victoria Patriotic School in Wandsworth by the British intelligence agency MI5 at the beginning of 1941. During the course of the war,thirty-three thousand refugees will pass through the center, where they are “questioned about their methods of escape, the routes they had followed, safe houses, couriers, helpers and documentation. Their statements [are] meticulously indexed and cross-checked against those of their companions and earlier arrivals. Intelligence [is] extracted and circulated to Whitehall departments.”
Those identified as “goats” are shipped off to Camp 020, which oversees 440 prisoners during the course of the war. After an early instance of a violent, unauthorized interrogation, a strict rule against torture is enforced — because the British believe non-coercive interrogations are the ones most likely to produce accurate information. This is also the conclusion of more sophisticated Allied interrogators almost everywhere during World War II.
Patriotic School is an austere place, lightened a bit by a library that reminds Postel-Vinay of a London club. It is filled with refugees from every country invaded by the Nazis, many with escape stories just as implausible as his own. After eight days of waiting, his interrogation by the British finally begins.
The examination lasts five days: two or three hours in the morning
Similar Books
