Post by Administrator on Dec 7, 2021 4:47:36 GMT
Born on this day 1923 in Swansea, André Hunter Alfred Hue, best remembered for his work as an operative with the Special Operations Executive (SOE) in France during World War II.
André’s father was a French First World War veteran and his mother was Welsh and insisted that her children should learn French. Following his father's death, André’s family moved to Le Havre, where in 1939, he joined the French merchant navy. In 1940, the ship he was sailing on struck a mine and sank. André was in the shower at the time, but he managed to swim ashore, naked.
He then found work as railroad clerk in Guer and joined the French Resistance, providing information about secret timetables to the RAF so they could attack trains carrying German troops and supplies. He also helped to smuggle Allied airmen, shot down over France, back to Britain. André’s courage and his trustworthiness brought him to the attention of the Special Operations Executive and he was invited him to train as an agent.
André succeeded with his training and served as Acting Captain during the Normandy Invasion of 1944. He then organised the local Maquis in guerrilla attacks on communication lines, railroads and roads. He had many close escapes during the liberation of France and was subsequently awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO). At the age of just twenty, he was one of the youngest men to receive this award. By the end of the Second World War, André held the rank of Major in the British Army and later served overseas, in Burma, Palestine, Cyprus and Cambodia. he later worked for MI6, mainly in the Far East.