Roger Grosjean

Roger Grosjean (25 July 1920 – 7 June 1975) was a French Air Force pilot, a double agent during World War II, and one of the founding fathers of Corsican prehistoric archaeology.

Early life Grosjean was born in Chalon-sur-Saône, the son of Joseph Grosjean, a judge. As Joseph was posted to different cities, the family lived in Lunéville, Briey, Lille, and Paris. At age 14, Roger was a boarder at the private Catholic school Collège de Marcq en Baroeul where, in 1936, he became the youth French record-holder in the discus throw. In 1939, at age 18, without completing his exams, Grosjean left school to join the French Air Force.

Military career Grosjean was trained in Clermont-Ferrand and at the Ambérieu-en-Bugey Air Base, graduating second in his class. He was given the rank of Sergeant and, during the Phoney War, became a fighter pilot, based in Étampes, where he flew the Morane-Saulnier M.S.406 and the Dewoitine D.500. In May 1940, his plane was hit by Allied anti-aircraft fire and he was wounded. He was unable to take part in the Battle of France and was elsewhere when German bombers struck the Étampes base, but returned to help dig the graves of his colleagues.

Grosjean then joined the Free French Air Force, obtaining a position through pre-arrangement by MI5. He was promoted to Lieutenant and given a position in the intelligence service. With the knowledge of MI5, but not the French, he was also writing coded letters to his handler in Barcelona. In January 1944, he was given permission to fly again. By March, the Germans had become aware that he was working for the British and he wrote that he was "condemned to death". Both his British and French colleagues no longer trusted him. His handler wrote that it was "necessary to ensure that he got no access to operational information of any kind and that he was as far away from the zone of operations as possible." by his son, François Grosjean, who also wrote an article about him in British Archaeology in 2012. A few years later he wrote a book on his search of his two parents, Roger and Sallie, whom he did not know well as a child.

Selected publications Grosjean, R. (1955). Les statues-menhirs de la Corse I. Études corses, 7–8, 5-36. Grosjean, R. (1961). Filitosa et son contexte archéologique. Monuments et Mémoires Piot T. 52 - Paris: P.U.F. Grosjean, R. (1964). Le complexe torréen fortifié de Cucuruzzu (Levie, Corse). Première campagne de fouilles 1963. Bulletin de la société préhistorique française, LXI, 1, 185–194. Grosjean, R. (1966). La Corse avant l'histoire. Paris: Klincksieck. Grosjean, R. (1966). Recent work in Corsica. Antiquity, XL, 159, 190–198. Grosjean, R. (1967). Le complexe monumental fortifié torréen du Castello d'Araggio (Commune de San-Gavinodi-Garbini. Corse). Bulletin de la société préhistorique française, LXV, 9, cclvj-cclcvij. Grosjean, R. (1968). Nouvelles statues-stèles découvertes en Corse. Bulletin de la société préhistorique française, LXV, 8, 195–198. Grosjean, R. (1972). Les alignements de Pagliaiu (Sartène, Corse). Bulletin de la société préhistorique française, LXIX, 2, 607- 617. Grosjean, R. (1975). Torre et Torréens : Âge du Bronze de l'île de Corse. Collection: Promenades archéologiques, 3. Centre de Préhistoire corse.