Figure 1.--Here two children aboard a fishing boat are taking the German Atlantic Wall plans to Britain and the SOE. Notice how she does not want to let go of her treasure. We are not sure if the their father was Duchez or Renault. But it was important to get the children out of France because the Gestapo could use them to pressure or punish their parents. The liitle girl is holding the priceless plans which was folded up and cocealed in a biscuit tin. She holds in her hands one of gthe most important dicument of World War II. It played an important role in the liberation of France and the defeat of the NAZI tyranny.

The Atlantic Wall was by far the the largest construction project of the War. This of course involved enormous planning. The French, under duress, provided the manpower to build the fortifications. This meant that the French Resistance learned knew a great deal about the fortifications. Ironically, it was a German officer's desire to have a more imposing office that would betray the German plans to the Allies. The British began planning for D-Day, long before it was deven possible. An imprtant Resistanhce unit was the Caen group in Normandy. It had about 40 members. The Germans failing to destroy the Red zarmy (1941), began building the Atlantic Wall (1942). After the failed Dieppe landing (August 1942), the British began to fully realize the enormity of the effort needed to breach the Atlantic Wall. The British Special Operations Executive (SOE) asked Resistance units to obtain information about German construction plans. The Caen group collected all kinds of information many information items, namely about the gateways and the chicanes. Of course this was of special value because it was about the Normandy area. Two members, René Duchez and his wife forged papers that allowed the Resistants to be in the construction area. But the opportunity of a lifetime came when the German Kommandantur advertized for a painter. Duchez applied and while being interviewed, the German commnder left his office momentsarily. On his desk were a heap of documents. Incredably, on top were plans for fortifications in the Normandy area. Duchez quickly thinking, rolled it up and hid behind a mirror. A few days later, he was awarded the job. And while painting, he retrieved the plans and hid it with his painting and wallpaper kit. He reported it to the group commnder, Col. Gilbert Renault who got it to Britain on a fishing boat. The result was the Allies had accurate plans on the design and location of the German defenses, shelters, underwater obstacles, beach barriers, passages, phony mine fields, and much more. Gen. Omar Bradley, the American ground commander, acknowledged the importance of Duchez's find.

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Created: 11:48 PM 7/24/2023
Last updated: 1:15 PM 7/26/2023