Francis Basin

Francis Basin LdH CdeG MBE (1903–1975), code named Olive, was an agent of the United Kingdom's clandestine Special Operations Executive in France during the Second World War. The purpose of SOE was to conduct espionage, sabotage, and reconnaissance in countries occupied by the Axis powers, especially Nazi Germany. SOE agents allied themselves with resistance groups and supplied them with weapons and equipment parachuted in from England.

Early life François Marcel Basin was born on 6 August 1903 in Grasse, the son of Antoine Basin, a railway employee, and Élise née Vernin.

Wartime activities In August 1940, he enlisted in the British army on the advice of Colonel Massip to whom he was secretary and who was close to General de Gaulle. Incorporated as a private soldier with thirty other Frenchmen, he undertook all the classes without thinking of becoming a secret agent. He attended the Liaison Officer course at Wanborough Manor (Guildford) and took the exam on 27 December 1940. He was then visited by the commander Nicolas Bodington, director of Section F prior to Maurice Buckmaster. Bodington offered him special training to go to France on a dangerous mission. "Think about it," he advised. "You will give me your answer tomorrow." Basin replied: "I prefer to say ‘yes’ straight away. If I think, I will deflate."

He was one of the first recruits of the SOE. On 14 July 1941, he was promoted to Lieutenant.

Mission in France He was head of the URCHIN network on the Côte d'Azur, working under the nom de guerre of "Olive".

On 28 August 1941, he sailed from England to Gibraltar in HMS Fidelity in Operation AUTOGYRO and on the night of 19/20 September 1941 landed by submarine at Le Barcarès near Perpignan with Robert Leroy "Louis", Raymond Roche "François", and Georges Duboudin "Alain".

The day after his arrival, Basin was arrested by the police at his hotel in Cannes and held in Fort Saint-Nicolas of Marseille. The investigating judge recognised his good faith and released him on 5 October 1941. Then for more than ten months until his arrest in August 1942 he developed the URCHIN network.

He made contact with Élie Lévy, whose house in Antibes became a reception centre for many agents in transit. Lévy put him in touch with André Girard, head of the CARTE network.

He established his headquarters in Cannes, in the Villa Isabelle. Baron Henri Ravel of Malval "Antoine", whom he knew at the beginning of the war and whom he met by chance in Cannes, put his house at his disposal. There, Basin received SOE agents landed on the Côte d'Azur. It formed 31 cells covering several departments: Bouches-du-Rhône, Var, Basses-Alpes, Alpes-Maritimes, of which seven cells were assigned to propaganda.

He was in regular contact with American SOE agent Virginia Hall "Marie", based in Lyon. Together, they prepared reports for London.

On 15 January 1942 Peter Churchill arrived by submarine to evaluate his network, provide him with Fr.400,000 and revised guidelines. The Germans, who had invaded the free zone, were searching for him. He was weak and in need of medical care, but had to disappear quickly. With the help of Lazare Rachline (VIC escape network), Virginia Hall took him to Mont-Dore and placed him in a safe house in Auvergne. He then went to Nîmes where a plane came to fetch him, but he broke his leg in an accident on the ground.

On 20 August 1943 he was flown back to London in a Hudson in Operation DYER, organized by Henri Déricourt. Accompanying him were Peter Deman "Paul" from section DF; Marie-Thérèse Le Chêne, Tony Brooks "Alphonse", Robert Boiteux "Nicolas", Octave Simon, Joseph Marchand, Victor Gerson, Robert Benoist, Raymonde Mennessier, Jean-Louis de Ganay. Basin remained in London until the end of the war, firstly as an instructor at the Beaulieu Special Training School, then at the headquarters of Section F in London.

He died in Paris on 20 October 1975.

Awards United Kingdom: Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE), France: Croix de Guerre 1939–1945, Médaille de la Résistance, Légion d'honneur (1946), Officer of the Légion d'honneur(1951).

Légion d'honneur(Chevalier)Croix de GuerreMédaille de la Résistance Member of the Order of the British Empire