Lt Colonel FH Cardozo, SOE

Frederick Cardozo, who died on October 7 aged 94, was an officer with the Special Operations Executive and played a key role in the organisation and fighting actions of the French Resistance in the Massif Central immediately before and after D-Day.
Cardozo was parachuted on to the snow-clad Mont Mouchet, some 50 miles south of Clermont-Ferrand, on the night of 8-9 May 1944, together with two Frenchmen and an American. His brief was to report to London on the strength and location of the Resistance in the area, to make recommendations about the types of arms that its fighters required, and to integrate its actions with the forthcoming Allied invasion in Normandy.
Cardozo’s first challenge was to overcome the suspicions of Emile Coulaudon, better known by his code-name, Colonel Gaspard, who was the socialist leader of some 2,000 men in the area, many of them communists wary of SOE’s connection with De Gaulle’s Free French. Gaspard’s doubts, however, were dissipated after Cardozo arranged for 28 plane-loads of arms and ammunition to be parachuted in between May 26 and June 9.
Freddy Cardozo’s natural affability and bonhomie, allied to his perfect French, meant that he himself was invariably welcomed by Resistance fighters. He found it harder, however, to appease the rivalries and jealousies of the various Resistance chiefs, who were often reluctant to unite in the common cause.
With the Allied invasion of France clearly imminent, volunteers flooded in to the movement so that, by the end of May, Gaspard commanded some 4,000 well-trained and well-armed men. The problem was that an equal number of eager volunteers remained, whom it was hard to vet and feed. But Cardozo failed to convince Gaspard that there was no point in taking on new recruits while equipment for them was lacking.
He soon, however, distinguished himself in action. When the Germans attacked Mont Mouchet on June 2, Cardozo took part in a well-executed movement to the enemy’s rear, which inflicted some 40 casualties, and forced them into a hasty retreat. The Resistance’s leader in Clermont-Ferrand, meanwhile, warned that another, more formidable German onslaught was forthcoming. Anticipating his own arrest, he asked Cardozo to assure the appointment of his successor – testimony to the esteem in which the British officer was held.
When the Germans again attacked Mont Mouchet on June 10, Cardozo’s skilful use of Browning machine-guns took a heavy toll. Next morning, though, there was no alternative to retreat and, thanks to a rearguard action, the main column reached safety some 17 miles to the west at Truyère. Frustrated, the Germans began murdering and terrorising civilians. In the village of Ruynes-en-Margeride alone, 27 men were shot.
In mid-June Cardozo ensured the drop of a further 25 plane-loads of arms and ammunition. Subsequently he led a successful ambush in which 10 German soldiers, together with two officers, were captured. The Resistance wanted to kill them, but Cardozo’s more merciful counsels prevailed.
Travelling by car on minor roads, Cardozo found his way as far west as Argentat in the Corrèze to co-ordinate Resistance groups, and to arrange for arms drops in that area.
On his return to Truyère on June 20 he found the village being shelled by a heavy German force. Again, it was necessary to beat a retreat; this time, though, some 100 Resistance fighters were killed in the process. The Germans also murdered 60 wounded men on stretchers. Cardozo and his wireless operator hid in the woods near St Martial, and on June 21 watched helpless as the Germans set that village ablaze. Subsequently they managed to escape north-west through enemy lines to Cezens.
Still bent upon uniting the various elements of the Resistance, Cardozo had another narrow escape when he turned up for a meeting with two leaders who, unknown to him, had been arrested. Fortunately he sensed that something was wrong with the rendez-vous, and managed to get away.
Finally, on July 13 at a meeting at the Barrage de l’Aigle on the Dordogne west of Mauriac, Cardozo achieved his purpose when it was agreed to amalgamate the disparate Resistance forces under the titular leadership of Gaspard and the effective command of Colonel Roger Fayard, a former army officer and supporter of De Gaulle. On the morrow, Bastille Day, 36 Flying Fortresses parachuted in some 430 containers of equipment.
Thereafter the Germans came under increasing pressure in the area. In August, when they retreated east from Aurillac, Cardozo led a group of fighters to harry them, to such effect that it took the Germans four days to accomplish a march normally completed in three hours. Meanwhile the garrison guarding the dam nearby at Mur de Barrez was surrounded by Resistance fighters. Cardozo reinforced the cordon, and insisted on negotiations which were responsible for the dam being taken over intact.
In September Cardozo moved north to join Colonel Fayard, who succeeded in cutting off a force of 5,000 Germans south of Nevers, virtually ending the German occupation of central France. His mission more than accomplished, Cardozo returned to London. He was awarded the MC in 1945, and in France the Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur and the Croix de Guerre avec Palme.
Sixty years later Cardozo was still revered for the courage and “sang froid Britannique” he had shown in France, as well as for his humour and humility. To the end of his life he was invited every year to address the village fete at La Forestie in Chalvignac, where he had been based while seeking to unite the Resistance in July 1944.
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Rest in Peace

RIP

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