MUSEUM
1940 - 1945
Huis van het
Belgisch-Franse Verzet
The Lapierre Story
Research an reconstruction of the participation of Armand Lapierre in the
resistance actions of Réseau Alliance, in Paris and moving up to the Normandy
coast in the upcoming events of D-Day.
Published in English : March 27, 2017
All rights reserved.
PUBLICATIES - PUBLICATIONS
Armand Lapierre War Heritage Detection Program
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The Lapierre story
Forgotten resistance at the Normandy coast, a prelude to D-Day.
Historical research by the War Heritage Detection Program
Jo Peeters – Sofie Van Krunkelveldt
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Museum Huis van het Belgisch-Franse Verzet - 2017
Preface
The end of february 2013.
My GPS unit is guiding me into a small street on the right, leaving the N860 between Houffalize
and La Roche-en Ardenne. A small road, cutting slopes between the endless meadows, leading
downhill to one of those typical small villages of the Belgian Ardennes region. The first time I heard
about Filly in those days.
It seemed one of those tiny communities, transformed into “gîtes”, old farms and sheds being
transformed into ‘bed & breakfasts ’ during the years. Cornering the last piece of the road into the
center, I reached my destination.
The former Balthazar farm became the scene of a barnfind that would change my world forever.
The shed in front of the farm was housing the remains of an old demounted motorcycle and
several parts and documents. Simply being interested to find a WWII era French Motobécane to
restore, I didn’t know it would be the start of a 4 year historical trip, becoming a research leading
me into France.
This paper is more then a summary of our research to me. It’s a homage to those, who had chosen
to revolt against the warmachine of a dictator. Some of them, just got lost in time. They never
claimed their actions. No one asked about their whereabouts.
We entered into the reflections of those clandestine lifes we know now by the recorded
testimonials in the years after the war by those who lived it. Some of them even never did – they
kept their memories for themselves. Several of those ‘soldiers of the shadows ’ , never reached
official recognition, they simply got lost by death or their will to forget the horror.
Our resources are supported and based upon profound fieldwork, digging into archives and
comfirming the authenticity of our discoveries, since it has been more then seven decades that
have passed away.
In some stages of the process, my research was refuting some historical facts or shaping them
differently. Introducing them and initiating new facts wasn’t and still isn’t the easiest way. But I
keep in mind that we don’t own history, we have to remain curious and keep it preserved the best
way we can.
Jo Peeters
Curator of the Museum HBFV
and La Roche-en Ardenne. A small road, cutting slopes between the endless meadows, leading
downhill to one of those typical small villages of the Belgian Ardennes region. The first time I heard
about Filly in those days.
It seemed one of those tiny communities, transformed into “gîtes”, old farms and sheds being
transformed into ‘bed & breakfasts ’ during the years. Cornering the last piece of the road into the
center, I reached my destination.
The former Balthazar farm became the scene of a barnfind that would change my world forever.
The shed in front of the farm was housing the remains of an old demounted motorcycle and
several parts and documents. Simply being interested to find a WWII era French Motobécane to
restore, I didn’t know it would be the start of a 4 year historical trip, becoming a research leading
me into France.
This paper is more then a summary of our research to me. It’s a homage to those, who had chosen
to revolt against the warmachine of a dictator. Some of them, just got lost in time. They never
claimed their actions. No one asked about their whereabouts.
We entered into the reflections of those clandestine lifes we know now by the recorded
testimonials in the years after the war by those who lived it. Some of them even never did – they
kept their memories for themselves. Several of those ‘soldiers of the shadows ’ , never reached
official recognition, they simply got lost by death or their will to forget the horror.
Our resources are supported and based upon profound fieldwork, digging into archives and
comfirming the authenticity of our discoveries, since it has been more then seven decades that
have passed away.
In some stages of the process, my research was refuting some historical facts or shaping them
differently. Introducing them and initiating new facts wasn’t and still isn’t the easiest way. But I
keep in mind that we don’t own history, we have to remain curious and keep it preserved the best
way we can.
Jo Peeters
Curator of the Museum HBFV
The first encounter…
Shortly in the afternoon of February 23, 2013, we got the first view on the part of the motorcycle
that was up for sale, a Motobécane type B33. Hidden behind a garagedoor in a small borough of
Houffalize, were the rusty remains of the bike. “It was found by Joseph Balthazard” he said, “ it
was pulled out of the woods here after the war”. I was quiet mistrustful to this arguments,
sounding like a good sales pitch. I decided to get the things and bits in the open, to get a clear
view on the matter under the pale wintersun. A quick refer to the chassisnumber assured me of
it’s production date : 1933.
The main parts pulled out in the open. The ”Cross of Lorraine”
sign on the small plate caught my attention.
The B33 after restoration, on our
historical tour in Poix-du-Nord, where
I drove it in Armand’s trails, 72 years
later !
As claimed by the seller, the motorcycle was pulled apart in the 80’s to get it restored. Put it
was a project that never got further then this. It was kept in the small shed, on the other side
of the street. The small bits where collected in two wooden boxes, also containing plastic bags
with papers, giving a very moldy impression. A kind of wooden box, transformed with metal
hooks to be attached to the bikes frame was also there.
The man reached into one of them and said : “ it’s a bike from a French guy, during the war .
Look here ! “ Taking the small document in my hand, it was the first time I got a view of this
man, on a tiny black and white picture.
The picture I took of a drivers license in the garage. With German stamps and the Seine-et-Oise
indication, refering to the Paris region.
Lapierre – Armand – Jean on the top, dated 19/02/1942
I got convinced of the fact, this was a real war relic. The other documents were kind of stuck in
the plastic, due to the mold, so I deceided not to make effort to get them out on the spot.
The deal was done and I started loading my purchase on the trailer. Driving home, I was excited
and wondered who was this man on the picture.
The diary and other documents.
Lots of the sheets inside the plastic bags where not recoverable. Destroyed by rats and mice,
matted by the results of water and mold. In the second bag, I found even newspapers from the
70’s, an old telephonebook and christmascards. A small booklet containing molded paper sheets.
Several of them had some pencil writing on it. Hard to read. Only the first sheets inside were
accessable. I still remenber the feeling and thrill, when I managed to read a ‘1944 date’. Some
sheets were still attached to the cover, most of them were loose and mixed up.
But I realised it was the diary of this ‘Lapierre 477 ’
The selection of 9 sheets essential to the Normandy sabotage.
Due to the nature of the old wartime paper and the writing in pencil, a serious restoration was
needed. I wanted this to be preserved as best as possible. Also to get as much of information as
possible.
In the second bag, I went through the contents piece by piece.
About 8 sheets with the same diary-style, but typed with a typewriter. By the nature of them, they
had always been folded in to a small shape. They became the start of my research, during the
resoration of the ‘pencil-papers ‘ , unaware at that moment of the fact they would play a key role in
the link between Armand’s whereabouts, his link to the Réseau Alliance and the Réseau PTT at the
Normandy region, introduced by ‘Guillot’.
After research of this sheet I call ‘the KEY’ , this document puts Armand in the 16th district of Paris at
the end of May 1944. The ‘BV’ stands for Boulainvilliers. He seems to be hiding with Maurice and
Marie at number 19, probably Rue de Boulainvilliers, giving him access to a typewriter. The link to
Tadorne( Jean Truffaux ) is mentioned.
Keys of the research
The diary and added sheets would be my guideline throughout my investigation. I always wondered:
how did this motorcycle and papers end up in Belgium ? This Lapierre ending up in the Filly maquis ?
The restoration of the “pencil papers” pretty much solved that question and shaped my vision on
this matter on how he ended up in Belgium, attached to the US 83th Rec Armored Batallion of the
BIG RED ONE, 1st ID.
His identity was hard to find. Armand Lapierre remained a mistery in matters of Paris population
registers.
A small paper, attached tot he last page with a staple indicates his name and “MALESTROIT – 23
Hataile“. This gave a lead to the family branch of Gaston Lapierre, who gave shelter to several
downed airmen in his home in Malestroit and organised evasion for them to Paris. This so called
“Pat O’Leary“ network got compromised and Gaston Lapierre was arrested in 1943. The same
moment Armand arrives in Paris permanently. We can presume the arrests made Armand move to
the capital, away from the Morbihan region to continue his work.
Armand knew the city of Paris very well. His limited recovered writing shows good local
knowledge and probability however. I decided it to be an open trail. Secondly his recovered
citation, dating September 22, 1944 on the French-Belgian border, executed by commander Point
of the FFI, shows his courage during the liberation period. Most important were the facts that
were written or typed, a logical deduction of the facts by continued analysis.
Three years later in september 2016, a second and unexpected ‘lifeline’, as I call it, came from de
village of Noville in Belgium, by a testimony from mister Bastin, 9 years old and neighbour of this
Balthazar family in 1944. They used to shelter resistance members at that time… he had seen this
‘rather small postured man in the shed’. He brought food to him several times, in december 1944.
Suddenly, this story led us into the Battle of the Bulge, resistance members back to the maquis,
real close to where I found the motorcycle remains.
“Liaison” to the intelligence network
The lack of access to his original and complete writing made it harder to determine the fact of his
collaboration with intelligence networks. Everything was reduced to 32 pages, often not
combined by the loss of pages or destruction by moisture.
Studying the timeline of the Réseau Alliance, making it’s third revival after the heavy losses due to
betrayal , Gestapo retaliations and moving to Paris on July 16th 1943, poses a link to this service.
Armand is the “letterbox”, designated as the ‘Relais de Muette ‘, for one of the agents from the
‘FERME’ region, situated at the Calvados sector of Normandy. His contact with "Tadorne" from
Alliance is well written in his diary, but not the other side he was transferring the information for...
During our research, one name of a street in Paris gave it away, combined with this "E.H.", being a
mistery figure for us all the time.
The key paper is the testimony by Jean Louis Vigier, written in 1968 ( Historique du Réseau
Maurice, Les Portes de la Liberté - PRIVAT. EAN : 9782708986046 ).
Jean tells about the "Réseau Maurice" and it's section in Paris called "Group Maurice 9 ",
organised by HUMBERT. Jean explains about the several "boîtes aux lettres” and the new
members attached to the service when they moved from Toulouse to Paris. In the last months
before D-Day, about 11 of these "boîtes aux lettres" were listed in the 16th and 11th district of
Paris.
But one place in the list, is the "Rue Charles Tellier nr 4 ". The "Charles Tellier" is mentioned in
Armand's diary, where he meets this "E.H.", giving him instructions. And it's only 1.5 km from his
hidingplace in the Rue de Boulainvilliers.
As mentioned before, in the earlier writings he mentions ‘TADORNE’, refering to Jean Truffaux,
attached to the Ferme section and Jean Caby in Villers-Bocage. He made several trips to Paris during
1943 and 1944. Armand tells in his writing about March 16th 1944, the fact of him not showing up
at the rendez-vous point, presumably in the surroundings of Boulainvilliers railwaystation.
Consultating the history of the Alliance timeline, that was quiet logical : Jean Truffaux got caught by
the Gestapo, together with several other agents.
The beginning of the end of the offical Alliance network. The Ferme region will be the scene of
multiple arrests in the days after, beheading the network and leading up to captivity for it’s
members in Caen. In his ‘pencil-papers’ Armand refers to them just before D-Day as “our heros
in Caen, about to be set free”. Sadly – wishfull thinking, since the prisoners were executed by the
Germans on the morning of D-Day, leaving their bodies never to be recovered…
Page 30 from the “Pencil papers”, written on June 5, 1944. Armand says: “ Et, pas oublier nos
héros à Caen, leur libérté s’approche ! He was well aware of their enprisonment.
Our presence at the commemoration at the formar prison of Caen on June 6th, 2016 for the first
time. A very emotional moment… We saw Jean Caby’s picture on the wall.
Tadorne presumably carried vital information on the entire structure of the FERME network of the
Calvados region. One should ask the question why – as it seems an irrational act to carry this
critical information to Paris.
One plausible explanation is a demand by the Alliance headquarters. The ‘Conseil Nationale de la
Résistance’ ( CNR ) planned a secret meeting on March 15, 1944.
Armand never mentions any contact with the higher command of Réseau Alliance at the
“garçonnerie”. If we consider the 19/BV at Maurice and Marie as his hideout, he was very close to
the place.
The only contacts that confirm are the meetings at “ Café de Cluny “, situated at the Boulevard
St. Michel in Paris ( 5th district ) .
The agent he calls E.H. is still unknown, but he or she remained active and influenced Armand to
go the Calvados region .
The complete network diagram, linking Armand to the Réseau Maurice, the CND , Réseau PTT and Réseau Alliance.
Directe link naar andere publicaties
Direct links to other publications