Xavier: A British Secret Agent with the French Resistance

by Richard Heslop

Colnel Richard Heslop, alias Xavier, was one of Britain's Greatest Special Operations agents in France. Ingeniously orchestrating resistance groups and ruthlessly sabotaging German operations, Xavier played a crucial role in Allied espionage during the war, from late 1942 right through to D-Day. Sent to France in the middle of the conflict, he delicately balanced clandestine missions and dangerous wartime operations on a daily basis, yet his name barely gets a mention in the accounts of the Special Operations Executive (SOE), making this insight all the more fascinating. It is clear that Xavier's role was like no other. it was a job that involved frequent encounters with the terrifying possibilities of capture, torture and death; it was a job where a careless whisper could deliver a man into the hands of the Gestapo; and it was a job that involved acts of sabotage, espionage, theft, and sometimes even murder... Xavier is a dramatic and compelling account of courage and endurance in the face of a merciless enemy - the true story of one of Britain's greatest secret agents.

Genres: Nonfiction

327 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 8, 2014

Reviews

[Dennis Rutzou]

This is an absolute sleeper and at $4.74 is a Kindle bargain. It is also a very exciting action packed book. I happen to particularly like World War 2 spy stories as I consider that those who undertook to travel to wartime France and work undercover had a courage that was well above the norm and this one is about one of those outstanding individuals. Not only had they to battle the Gestapo and the French traitors, but the Milice wh0 were French police who were established by the Vichy regime in 1943 to fight the underground and were even more vicious that the Gestapo, worked undercover, and in uniform, ran prisons, undertook torture. The whole gamut of crimes against their own people and the SOE and they weren't just a handful as at their peak they numbered 43,000. The author Richard Heslop was a British SOE officer who after initially being imprisoned when he first landed in France, managed to get free and worked with the Maquis and managed to tie up a large force of Germans sent to apprehend them. His reflections also portray how politically divided the French were between the different political factions in their war-torn country. I won't spoil it by telling you too much, except to say read it and find out for yourself. I don't think you'll be disappointed as it has that 'I couldn't out it down quality.

[Dennis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an absolute sleeper and at $4.74 is a Kindle bargain. It is also a very exciting action packed book. I happen to particularly like World War 2 spy stories as I consider that those who undertook to travel to wartime France and work undercover had a courage that was well above the norm and this one is about one of those outstanding individuals. Not only had they to battle the Gestapo and the French traitors, but the Milice wh0 were French police who were established by the Vichy regime in 1943 to fight the underground and were even more vicious that the Gestapo, worked undercover, and in uniform, ran prisons, undertook torture. The whole gamut of crimes against their own people and the SOE and they weren't just a handful as at their peak they numbered 43,000. The author Richard Heslop was a British SOE officer who after initially being imprisoned when he first landed in France, managed to get free and worked with the Maquis and managed to tie up a large force of Germans sent to apprehend them. His reflections also portray how politically divided the French were between the different political factions in their war-torn country. I won't spoil it by telling you too much, except to say read it and find out for yourself. I don't think you'll be disappointed as it has that 'I couldn't put it down quality.

[Nicholas Foster · Rating 5 out of 5]

In describing his two SOE missions to occupied France, Richard Heslop has written what is one of the classic textbooks for his line of work. Not least because of what he learnt on-the-job in his almost disastrous first mission. He came away from that knowing that, whatever anyone else said, he would have to define his own rules for how he and those helping him should operate if they were to be successful and survive. On the basis of what Heslop achieved on his second mission, the SOE France historian MRD Foot later rated Colonel Heslop one of the three most successful SOE officers in occupied France.

The book is also a brilliant read.

[Allan Jeavons · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing story.

This is an amazing story of SOE in south eastern France. I had no idea of the size of their operation with the French resistance. I would have loved to interview Richard Heslop but he died so young. A very important person in the SOE story

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible story about a British agent helping to organise the Maquis and other French resistance groups.
A must read for anyone interested in this Genre.

[Amzon_Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding, simply.

I salute and thank all the brave men, women and youngsters, civilian or military who gave any or all to defeat tyranny. Their sacrifice will NEVER be forgotten.

[Lewis Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book, wish the ending had more of a summary feels like quite the cut off

[Carissa Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is told from the point of view of Richard Heslop AKA Xavier. He was a British spy in France during WWII. His job was to coordinate supply drops for the maquis and to help with the fighting when it came near to their camps.

The book was very good it was written in a way that at times you could easily have forgotten that it was non-fiction. The hate for the German army was so heartfelt that it was easy to see why they would risk their lives on a daily basis to save a country that is not their own.

[John Follos · Rating 4 out of 5]

8/14