Oh là là! A French Farce in the Records of British Intelligence

 

An entry in Guy Liddell's diary for 1 January 1941 (KV 4/187) might lead one to the conclusion that old fashioned farces were not quite as far fetched as I used to think when watching Brian Rix.

Admiral Emile Muselier was in London, attached to General de Gaulle's Headquarters as Commander of Free French Naval Forces. Forged letters suggested he was in secret dealing with the Vichy regime and on New Year's Eve 1940, The Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, ordered his arrest. What happened, or at least the way Liddell told the story of what happened, probably confirmed in a generation of intelligence officers some of the prejudices they had inherited about the French.

"We have now obtained 3 more letters from Collin who says that he has obtained them from the same source. They deal with a variety of matters and all incriminate Muselier. His Chief of Staff, a Lt Villiers, also seems to be involved. We can find nothing wrong with the text of the documents Kenneth is giving them to Desmond Morton under the same safeguards.

At about 10 pm I was rung up at Tring by Harker. He said that the PM had given orders for the arrest of Muselier, Villers and Mlle d’Anjou. I offered to come up but he said he did not think this was necessary. He and Kenneth went to see Morton, when Kenneth once more emphasised our doubts about the source of the information. Morton said that the PM had given his order and there was nothing to be done but to carry it out. Col Angenot was fetched and attempts were made to get hold of Gen de Gaulle. He was away on leave and it was found impossible to get into touch with him. Angenot rather regretfully agreed to the action suggested. Although he thought the documents bore the stamp of genuineness he would have liked Gen de Gaulle to have seen them before the arrests were made.

The Home Secretary was visited by Harker and Morton and gave the necessary orders to the police. Luckily we had already warned Canning during the afternoon that some action might be taken. In deference to Angenot’s wishes no action was taken against Moret, Muselier’s Chief of Staff, but at his request Mlle Herincx was put on the list as it was thought that if there was any conspiracy by Muselier she would be the most likely person to have documents. The police took action during the course of the night. Mlle D’Anjou was found in bed with Lisboa and Mlle Herincx with a Dr de Kerguelen. This is the first occasion on which they had slept together and it was his birthday. The police saw fit to bring in the doctor on the grounds of his association with Mlle Herincx. Lisboa, hearing the police entering Mlle d’Anjou’s flat, thought that they had some complaint about the blackout and hid in the lavatory. He eventually emerged and claimed diplomatic privileges. While he could not object to the flat being searched he refused to allow the police to touch any of his own clothes.

Villers could not be arrested till 8 am as he was on night duty at the Free French headquarters, and it was found that the Admiral was down at Windsor spending the night with a lady friend. He eventually rolled up at about 9 am. By way of precaution the police pulled in his valet and chauffeur. The Admiral protested mildly and said he hoped the matter would soon be cleared up as it would create a very bad impression in the Free French Navy."