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Behind Enemy Lines with the SAS: The story of Amédée Maingard, SOE Agent
Amedee Maingard was a young Mauritian studying in London in 1939 who volunteered for the British Army. After a frustrating spell in the infantry, Maingard joined the Special Operations Executive (SOE), He parachuted into occupied France in 1943 to join the Stationer circuit, initially as radio operator but soon was second-in-command in the circuit, arranging the delivery of weapons, supplies and personnel to the Resistance.
After a year's clandestine work, he narrowly escaped the fate of his organizer who was captured by the Germans in May 1944. Undeterred, Maingard developed his own Shipwright circuit in time to support the Forces Franaises de lIntrieure (FFI) and the arrival of fifty-five men of 1st SAS Regiment for the ill-fated Operation BULBASKET shortly after D-Day. Somehow managing to keep the peace among the Gaullists, communists, British and Americans fighting for the French common cause, Maingard continued his vital work until the liberation of central France, earning recognition from both the British and French governments. He went onto play a leading role in Mauritius.
Behind Enemy Lines With the SAS is more than a story of great bravery and dedication to duty in wartime. Maingard returned to Mauritius and was instrumental in developing the islands tourism and hotel industry. Founder and first Chairman of Air Mauritius, he became one of his country's most successful post-war businessmen before illness cut short his ambition and he died in 1981 at the age of 62.
Readers will be grateful to Amedee Maingard's biographer for making this remarkable man's achievements in peace and war better known.
After a year's clandestine work, he narrowly escaped the fate of his organizer who was captured by the Germans in May 1944. Undeterred, Maingard developed his own Shipwright circuit in time to support the Forces Franaises de lIntrieure (FFI) and the arrival of fifty-five men of 1st SAS Regiment for the ill-fated Operation BULBASKET shortly after D-Day. Somehow managing to keep the peace among the Gaullists, communists, British and Americans fighting for the French common cause, Maingard continued his vital work until the liberation of central France, earning recognition from both the British and French governments. He went onto play a leading role in Mauritius.
Behind Enemy Lines With the SAS is more than a story of great bravery and dedication to duty in wartime. Maingard returned to Mauritius and was instrumental in developing the islands tourism and hotel industry. Founder and first Chairman of Air Mauritius, he became one of his country's most successful post-war businessmen before illness cut short his ambition and he died in 1981 at the age of 62.
Readers will be grateful to Amedee Maingard's biographer for making this remarkable man's achievements in peace and war better known.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published March 26, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 15, 2012
When delving into a study of WWII Resistance, one can be overwhelmed with not only the courage of those who stood up to Fascism but also with the fact that hundreds of thousands of WWII heroes have died in obscurity without leaving any record. And so reading a book like “Behind Enemy Lines with the SAS,” which brings the story of Amédée Maingard to light, gives some real satisfaction on that score.
Born in the French-speaking British colony, Mauritius, Maingard was studying in London when WWII broke out. He volunteered for the British Army but was soon recruited for the French Section of the Special Operations Executive (SOE), the British wartime resistance organization. Before reading this book, I knew only that Maingard was a radio operator for the SOE’s Stationer network, someone who fellow-SOE agent Pearl Witherington, in her memoir, deemed “a gentleman,” but McCue’s book reveals that Maingard’s SOE work was more involved: he was also an organizer for the network and after D-Day he worked closely with the Special Air Services (SAS).
As comfortable with French civilian fighters as he was with British officers (and able to fluently converse with both), Maingard organized and implemented successful Resistance work on many levels and with many different types of people. His sense of fairness was so intense that in the midst of a post-war celebratory dinner speech wherein a French speaker publicly praised de Gaulle, Roosevelt, and Stalin (really!) and failed to mention the names of King George and Churchill, Maingard got up and left the room.
McCue is very keen on getting all the operational details of Maingard’s work with the Stationer Network and the SAS’s Operation Bulbasket and the book would be slightly difficult to break into if one did not already have a foundational understanding of the British role in the French Resistance. But that doesn’t mean the writing is dull -- far from it. While reading a section on a vengeance raid the RAF conducted on an SS camp in occupied France, I could actually feel my pulse quickening as I wondered what the outcome would be. And scattered throughout the book, but especially found in its second half, are quotes from various witnesses involved in the events described and this testimony makes the already-compelling story come to life.
Born in the French-speaking British colony, Mauritius, Maingard was studying in London when WWII broke out. He volunteered for the British Army but was soon recruited for the French Section of the Special Operations Executive (SOE), the British wartime resistance organization. Before reading this book, I knew only that Maingard was a radio operator for the SOE’s Stationer network, someone who fellow-SOE agent Pearl Witherington, in her memoir, deemed “a gentleman,” but McCue’s book reveals that Maingard’s SOE work was more involved: he was also an organizer for the network and after D-Day he worked closely with the Special Air Services (SAS).
As comfortable with French civilian fighters as he was with British officers (and able to fluently converse with both), Maingard organized and implemented successful Resistance work on many levels and with many different types of people. His sense of fairness was so intense that in the midst of a post-war celebratory dinner speech wherein a French speaker publicly praised de Gaulle, Roosevelt, and Stalin (really!) and failed to mention the names of King George and Churchill, Maingard got up and left the room.
McCue is very keen on getting all the operational details of Maingard’s work with the Stationer Network and the SAS’s Operation Bulbasket and the book would be slightly difficult to break into if one did not already have a foundational understanding of the British role in the French Resistance. But that doesn’t mean the writing is dull -- far from it. While reading a section on a vengeance raid the RAF conducted on an SS camp in occupied France, I could actually feel my pulse quickening as I wondered what the outcome would be. And scattered throughout the book, but especially found in its second half, are quotes from various witnesses involved in the events described and this testimony makes the already-compelling story come to life.
June 21, 2025
A fascinating read about actions of a SOR agent in war time France. Whilst the level of detail about individual things, actions or exercises is sometimes limited although the overall level of information is quite something.
Reality the agent involved was something of a hero and what he achieved is actually difficult to comprehend in what was quite unbelievable wartime conditions well behind enemy lines
Reality the agent involved was something of a hero and what he achieved is actually difficult to comprehend in what was quite unbelievable wartime conditions well behind enemy lines
January 22, 2016
An interesting factual account of work done by SOE and the SAS in WW2 in France, and in particular by Amedee Maingard.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews