Mission Summary and Team
Saturday, May 31, 1941
At the Gare Routiere
Didier, Patrice and Jean disembarked from the train. They considered their options. One the one hand, they needed to meet the other team at 8:00 across the river. On the other hand, they had orders from the Gestapo to make a report at Gestapo headquarters. However, Jean and Patrice realized that the officer who had given them those instructions, had not left the train, which had since departed. Also Gestapo headquarters would take about 45 minutes to get to on foot, which would probably get them there after curfew.
They elected to go to Eglise Saint Germain, which was en route to the meeting place. As they left the station, their papers were inspected by local gendarmes, but they were not harassed. They proceeded toward their destination unmolested until they arrived at another checkpoint at the bridge over the River La Vilaine where Patrice’s papers were inspected more thoroughly.
Patrice attempted to convince the soldier that there was a smudge on the document from a long day’s travel on a hot and crowded train, but the solder was not dissuaded and mustered her over to a gendarme sergeant. Didier casually tossed a packet of cigarettes in the gendarme’s direction, but the officer did not respond. However, a different German soldier pocketed the pack. The sergeant inspected her papers and found nothing out of the ordinary. He wished them a pleasant journey and reminded them that the curfew was be in effect in 90 minutes.
At the Eglise Saint Germain
The arrived at the church around 7:30. Jean entered and approached the priest, who had his back to him. The priest was startled, but friendly. Jean attempted to gain the priest’s permission to stay there for the night. The priest was willing, but informed him that he must report any overnight guests to the the Germans. Patrice then persuaded the priest that she was ill from their long journey. Distracted by her plea, the priest offered them his quarters. Patrice and Jean expressed their gratitude and .
In the mean time, Didier remained in the church yard, where he explored the grave markers. Jean and Didier saw each other through the office window. Didier offered Jean a cigarette through the glass. Jean left office and sat on a pew. Then Didier came inside. He asked an old man where he might get a drink. The man was not amused, but he added that there was a bar down the street toward the Palais Saint Georges that he might find appealing. Didier asked if it was frequented by the Germans. The man replied that if it were, he would not have suggested it.
Patrice explored the priest’s quarters and found a pair of newspapers. One was clearly full of German propaganda. The other was more realistic. She scanned the latter looking for anything unusual that had occurred recently or potential contacts to expand her network.
She found an article about an art theft from a penthouse. No suspects had been identified. The paper suggested that perhaps the Germans were not interested in finding the culprits as they were systematically stealing all the art in France themselves. She also found an article about vandalism of a small church in the village of Chateaugiron. And she found an article about a man gored by a bull in the village of Bruz. After a while, Jean rejoined Patrice in the church office and they went to sleep.