Henri Déricourt
| Henri Alfred Eugène Déricourt | |
|---|---|
| Born |
September 2, 1909 Coulonges-Cohan, Aisne, France |
| Died | November 20, 1962 (aged 53) Laos |
| Buried at | Unknown |
| Service/branch | Special Operations Executive |
| Years of service | 1942–1945 |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
| Other work | Pilot |
Henri Dericourt (September 2, 1909 − November 21, 1962) was a French agent for Special Operations Executive. It is unclear whether he became a double agent for the Sicherheitsdienst (SD), or was working under British instructions when he betrayed all of his comrades.
Henri Alfred Eugène Déricourt was born in Coulonges-Cohan, Aisne, France in September 1909. As an adult he first became a civilian pilot and then French Air Force test pilot.
In August 1942, Déricourt deceived local MI9 agents (Escape Service) in Marseilles and was transported to Britain, where he was investigated by MI5 (Security Service). Despite the group's expressed concerns about him, it would seem that he was subsequently recruited by MI6 (Secret Intelligence Service) before eventually having his name and credentials passed to the Special Operations Executive (SOE). On January 22, 1943, SOE sent him into occupied France, with the task of organising secret aircraft landing operations in the Loire district and the transport of SOE agents to and from Britain. His work brought him into contact with the Prosper Network and others, transporting over 67 SOE agents in and out of France.
In the summer of 1943, the SD arrested several SOE agents and French resistance fighters. It was soon reported to London by some of the remaining agents that Déricourt had had regular contact with senior SD officers. Senior SOE staff members and even Maurice Buckmaster refused to believe the reports and Déricourt continued his work in France until February 1944. Recent evidence makes it clear that Déricourt had indeed established secret contacts with the SD, immediately after SOE parachuted him into France in January 1943.
Déricourt's possible duplicity in the arrests of the SOE agents was revealed after the war, when war crimes investigators (including Vera Atkins) received definite information from German sources that Dericourt had been one of their agents, code-named "BOE48", and that the information he provided had led to the arrest and execution of several SOE agents.
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