Raymond Couraud
Nickname(s)Jack William Raymond Lee
AllegianceFrance France
Service/branch Free French Forces
Years of service1939-1945
RankCaptain
UnitSpecial Air Service
Battles/warsBattles of Narvik
AwardsCroix de Guerre with palm
Other workSolicitor
Secretary to the Law Society of Northern Ireland

Raymond Couraud (aka Captain Jack William Raymond Lee, born 12 January, 1920 at Surgères, Charente-Maritime), is a French soldier and gangster, who through his World War Two military exploits became a highly decorated member of the French-section of the British Army's Special Air Service.

Biography

Raymond Couraud was born on the 12 January, 1920 at Surgères, Charente-Maritime, France. Little is known of his early life, or education.

French Foreign Legion

On 19th March, 1938, Couraud joined the French Foreign Legion under his real name, but with a birth date of 12 January, 1916 in Namur, Belgium. This would have made him 22 and old enough to join, where as he was actually just over 18 and too young.

After training, on the 3rd March, 1940, he was assigned to the 5th Company of the 13th Brigade. With this unit he took part in the Battles of Narvik, for which he won the Croix de Guerre with palm, for dislodging two enemy soldiers with a grenade attack:[1]

Expressed volunteered to dislodge a cliff two enemies that impeded the increase of the unit. A grenades killed one of them and injuring another


Juillet 1940 : Il rejoint le dépôt de la Légion de Fuveau près de Marseille où il tente de rejoindre l'Angleterre. July 1940: He joined the filing of the Legion of Fuveau near Marseille where he tries to reach England. Suite à cette tentative manquée, il est incarcéré d'août à décembre 1940 au fort Saint Nicolas à Marseille. Following this failed attempt, he was imprisoned from August to December 1940 at Fort Saint Nicolas at Marseille. Il est acquitté devant le tribunal militaire. He was acquitted before a military tribunal.

Avril 1941 : Deuxième tentative. April 1941: Second attempt. Il passe les Pyrénées et se présente au Consulat britannique de Barcelone. He crossed the Pyrenees and reports to the British Consulate in Barcelona. Arrêté dans la gare de Madrid, il est interné 4 mois à Miranda. Arrested in the Madrid train station, he was interned 4 months to Miranda. Pendant ce temps, il sera condamné par le tribunal militaire de Marseille à 10 ans de prison. Meanwhile, he will be sentenced by a military court of Marseille to 10 years in prison.

Captain Jack William Raymond Lee

On arrival in England on 12 October, 1941, Courard joined the Free French Forces. He was immediately assigned to the Bureau Central de Renseignements et d'Action (English: Central Bureau of Intelligence and Operations; commonly referred as just BCRA), the World War II era forerunner of the SDECE French intelligence service.



changed his personal details again. This was not uncommon during the war, as various people and criminals tried to hide their past while fighting what they saw as a true fight. Couraud became Jack William Raymond Lee.



12 octobre 1941 : Arrivée en Angleterre. October 12, 1941: Arrival in England. Il rejoint les FFL et est affecté au BCRA. He joined the FFL and was assigned to BCRA. Inscrit dans le General Service List, il est intégré à la section Buckmaster du SOE. Enrolled in the General Service List, it is incorporated in section Buckmaster SOE. Il est commissionné sous-lieutenant avec le nom Jack William Raymond Lee en Décembre 1941. He was commissioned a second lieutenant with the name Jack William Raymond Lee in December 1941.

Janvier-Février 1942 : Il effectue divers stages dont celui de parachutiste. January-February 1942: He performs a variety of courses including parachute. Entre temps, il effectue une mission sur les côtes de Bretagne et une autre en région parisienne. Meanwhile, he is visiting the coasts of Britain and another in the Paris region.

28 Mars 1942 : Il est le seul français à participer au raid de commando sur Saint-Nazaire, où il est blessé aux jambes. March 28, 1942: It is the only French to participate in the commando raid on St. Nazaire, where he was wounded in the legs. Il séjourne d'Avril à Juillet 1942 à l'hôpital de Falmouth. He stayed from April to July 1942 at Falmouth Hospital.

Août 1942 : Opération par bateau, débarquement près de Cannes. August 1942: Operation by boat, landing near Cannes.

Novembre 1942 : A Narbonne où il attend la correspondance pour Toulouse, il est forcé de neutraliser trois policiers de Vichy en civil. November 1942: At Narbonne, where he expects the match for Toulouse, it is forced to neutralize three policemen in civilian Vichy. Il rejoint Barcelone à pied, puis Lisbonne. He joined Barcelona on foot, then Lisbon.

Janvier 1943 : Repéré en France, il ne peut rester au SOE. January 1943: Spotted in France, he can stay at SOE. Il est donc affecté au 62 ème commando du Colonel Stirling qui deviendra plus tard le 2 nd SAS Régiment. He is assigned to the 62 th commando Colonel Stirling, who later became the 2nd SAS Regiment.

Février 1943 : Débarquement du régiment à Philippeville, qui restera la base régimentaire jusqu'à leur retour en Grande-Bretagne. February 1943: Arrives at Philippeville regiment, which remains the regimental base until their return to Britain.

Opérations : Operations:

- -- front de Ousseltia. Ousseltia front.

- -- opération avec sur les aérodromes du Sud tunisien (21 avions détruits au sol à Metlaoui). operation with the airports of southern Tunisia (21 aircraft destroyed on the ground Metlaoui).

- -- opération par bateau à l'île de la Galite operation by boat to the island of Galite

- -- opération dur l'île de Lampedusa Operation Hard island of Lampedusa

- -- opération dur l'île de Pantellaria Operation Hard Island Pantellaria

- -- opération par sous-marin sur les aérodromes de la Sardaigne operation by submarine on airfields in Sardinia

Mars 1943 : Le Colonel Stirling, après une entrevue avec le Général Juin, fit détacher une cinquantaine de soldats français qui intégrèrent la section du Capitaine Lee. March 1943: Colonel Stirling, after an interview with General Juin, made off fifty French soldiers who were entering the section of Captain Lee. Cet ensemble formait le French Squadron du 2 ème SAS. This group formed the French 2nd Squadron of the SAS. La section était composée d'un Capitaine et trois lieutenants britanniques, deux officiers français (Lieutenant de Sablet et Aspirant Robert Raillard), des soldats français dont une grosse proportion d'anciens légionnaires. The section consisted of a captain and three lieutenants British, two French officers (Lieutenant Robert Sablet Raillard and Aspiring), French soldiers with a large proportion of former Legionaries.

Mai 1943 : Profitant de la loi Churchill de 1940, il prend la nationalité britannique. May 1943: Taking advantage of the Churchill Act of 1940, he took British citizenship.

Septembre 1943 : Débarquement allié à Tarente. September 1943: Allied Assault at Taranto. Opérations de reconnaissance. Reconnaissance. Destruction d'un important convoi ennemi dans la région de Chieti. Destruction of a large enemy convoy in the area of Chieti. Harcèlement des unités allemandes allant vers le front sur la Sangro. Harassment of German units up to the front on the Sangro.

Avril 1944 : Retour du régiment en Ecosse. April 1944: Return of the regiment in Scotland.

Operation Gaff

After Couraud returned to the UK, he was commanded to set-up a specialist six-man assassination unit in preparation for D-Day and the Invasion of Europe, which would target high-ranking Nazi Wermacht staff.

From March 1943, British Intelligence had been trying to find Field Marshall Erwin Rommel's headquarters in France. Part of the brief looked at creating a timetable for Rommel, to assess how easy it would be to kill him. Much as though he had been against the plan pre-D-Day, with man power losses escalating Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery approved the plan post D-Day, even though they still didn't know where Rommel's base was. In a bizarre coincidence, on 9th June SAS Lieutenant General was heading for a meeting with a French Resistance unit. Resting in a barn, he was approached by a man who lived in La Roche-Guyon, asking for assurances that as Rommel's headquarters was in the village, that the Royal Air Force would not bomb them.

On learning of the location of Rommel's HQ, Couraud and his unit were moved to a flat in London, to wait for a storm to pass and be parachuted into Orleans.[2] Arriving on 18 July, the team radioed in, but found that Rommel had been severely injured the previous day after his staff car had been over turned in an attack by RAF Hawker Typhoon's, and replaced by Günther von Kluge.[2]

Couraud and his team orders regarding Rommel were aborted, and they moved toward advancing US Army lines on foot, while ambushing trains and attacking German units along their route. After an attack on Commandantur Mantes, Couraud disguised as a policeman made his way through the judicial police of Pontchartrain, and joined the American lines on 12 August.

Août 1944 : Il est désigné pour servir de second au Commandant Roy Farran. August 1944: He is appointed to serve second-Commander Roy Farran. Partant de Rennes et par Orléans le Capitaine et ses hommes se dirigent vers le plateau de Langres où ils érigent une base SAS. Starting from Rennes and Orleans the Captain and his men are heading towards the plateau of Langres, where they built a base SAS.

Septembre 1944 : Retour en Angleterre. September 1944: Back in England.

Décembre 1944 : Le Capitaine quitte l'armée britannique. December 1944: The Captain left the British army.[1] Battles of Narvik

Decorations

Courard as Captain Lee was awarded various awards and medals from various countries within the Allied force:[3]

References

  1. ^ a b "Captain Lee". Histoire de Beynes (French). Retrieved 2009-11-07.
  2. ^ a b Daring missions of World War II by William B. Breuer
  3. ^ "Captain Lee". Histoire de Beynes (French). Retrieved 2009-11-07.
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