• Operation Postmaster (1942)
• Special Operations Executive (SOE)

Date of birth:

February 19th, 1911 (Baume les Dames/Franche-Comté, France)

Date of death:

1948

Nationality:

French

Desgranges had 10 years experience in the French Navy and was a certified diver before joining the Small Scale Raiding Force (SSRF) during the Second World War. He escaped to Canada after France's surrender to Germany in 1940, before traveling to England to join the Free French Forces. He was on loan to the SOE. He participated in covert operations such as Savannah and Postmaster.

Captured during the failed SSRF Operation Aquatint near Port-en-Bessin on 13 September 1942, Desgranges was interrogated by the Gestapo and imprisoned in Wilhelmshaven. He escaped on 20 November, traveling by night through Holland, Belgium, and France. After reaching Paris, he continued south, crossed into Spain on 9 March 1943, and was arrested. Released from Miranda internment camp in June, he was repatriated via Portugal, Casablanca, and Algiers, reaching Gibraltar on 4 July. According to Small Scale Raiding Force by Brian Lett, German agents may have aided his escape in hopes of recruiting him as a double agent.

?: Quartier Maitre​

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• Photo 1: National Archives
• - LETT, B.G., Ian Fleming and SOE's Operation POSTMASTER, Pen & Sword Military, 2012.
  - HS 9/426/8

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