Early life and career

Bernard Anquetil was born on 20 December 1916 in Bernières d’Ailly, a small town in the Calvados department of northern France. He worked as a secretary in a registration office and later for a notary before joining the French Navy in 1936 as a radio telegraphist.

Service in the French Navy

Anquetil was assigned to the submarine Ouessant in early 1940 as a radio quartermaster. After six months of operations in the Caribbean Sea, the submarine returned to Brest, only to be captured by German forces on 19 June 1940. The crew was taken to the Aisne region and forced into agricultural labor before being demobilized.

Transition to the Resistance

On 1 July 1940, Anquetil retired to Angers, where he found work as a radio repair technician. In April 1941, he was recruited by Colonel Rémy, who was establishing the resistance network "Confrérie Notre-Dame," to serve as a radio operator. This network aimed to gather intelligence on the Atlantic Coast, from Hendaye to Brest.

Contributions to the Resistance

Anquetil began transmitting coded messages from the free zone and, with Rémy, transported a transmitter to Brest. From there, he relayed information on the German navy, including details about the Super Battleship Bismarck, which was sunk off the coast of Brest on 27 May 1941. He continued his transmissions from Saumur, despite the risks involved.

Capture and execution

On 19 July 1941, based on information from Philippon, Rémy had Anquetil transmit a message about the Scharnhorst, a German battleship, preparing to sail. On 25 July, the Royal Air Force bombed and damaged the ship. Despite increasing danger, Anquetil continued transmitting. On 31 July, German security forces stormed his house in Saumur, guided by radio direction finding. He destroyed the message he was typing and threw the transmitter out of the window before being shot during his arrest.

Legacy and honors

Anquetil was imprisoned in Angers and then Fresnes, where he refused to talk. He was sentenced to death by a military court on 15 October 1941 and executed at Mont Valérien on 24 October 1941. He was buried in the Montrouge cemetery, in the "square of the executed." After the war, his body was moved to the family vault in Colleville-sur-Mer. He was posthumously awarded the Companion of the Liberation, the Croix de Guerre 39/45 with palm, and the Resistance Medal with rosette.