Arcadia Discussion Zone

In 1947, Interior Minister Edouard Depreux revealed the existence of a secret stay-behind army in France codenamed "Plan Bleu". The next year, the "Western Union Clandestine Committee" (WUCC) was created to coordinate secret unorthodox warfare. In 1949, the WUCC was integrated into NATO, whose headquarters were established in France, under the name "Clandestine Planning Committee" (CPC). In 1958, NATO founded the Allied Clandestine Committee (ACC) to coordinate secret warfare.

France

In 1947, Interior Minister Edouard Depreux revealed the existence of a secret stay-behind army in France codenamed "Plan Bleu". The next year, the "Western Union Clandestine Committee" (WUCC) was created to coordinate secret unorthodox warfare. In 1949, the WUCC was integrated into NATO, whose headquarters were established in France, under the name "Clandestine Planning Committee" (CPC). In 1958, NATO founded the Allied Clandestine Committee (ACC) to coordinate secret warfare.

The network was supported with elements from SDECE, and had military support from the 11th Choc regiment. The former director of DGSE, admiral Pierre Lacoste, alleged in a 1992 interview with The Nation, that certain elements from the network were involved with terrorist activities against de Gaulle and his Algerian policy. A section of the 11th Choc regiment split over the 1962 Evian peace accords, and became part of the Organisation armée secrète (OAS), but it is unclear if this also involved members of the French stay-behind network.[43][44]

La Rose des Vents and Arc-en-ciel ("Rainbow") network were part of Gladio. François de Grossouvre was Gladio's leader for the region around Lyon in France until his alleged suicide on April 7 1994. Grossouvre would have asked Constantin Melnik, leader of the French secret services during the Algerian War of Independence (1954-62), to return to activity. He was living in comfortable exile in the US, where he maintained links with the Rand Corporation. Constantin Melnik is alleged to have been involved in the creation in 1952 of the Ordre Souverain du Temple Solaire, an ancestor of the Order of the Solar Temple, created by former A.M.O.R.C. members, in which the SDECE (French former military intelligence agency) was interested.

[snip]

Well, here's what comes up on Melnik.

He appeared in a 1984 film about a chess tournament called Dangerous Moves, in which he portrays a KGB colonel.
http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761 ... moves.html

But he seems to have been a real spook, and not just played one in the movies.

He did a report on the French presidential election (selection?) in 1958 called House without Windows for the RAND Corporation.
http://openlibrary.org/b/OL6246397M/Hou ... ut_Windows

The title seems to suggest that the French National Assembly cuts itself off from the public.

My rough Babelfish'd translation of his Wiki page says:

a) he was the grandson of Tsar Nicholas II's personal physician
b) he had connections to Michel Debre 1959-1962 (interesting time period) and the SDECE
c) many people distrusted him in France because he was Russian, but it looks like because he was descended from White Russians they gave him a pass.

http://www.stormingmedia.us/57/5794/0579428.html

THE FRENCH CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE FLN
Authors: Constantin Melnik; RAND CORP SANTA MONICA CA

Abstract: An analysis of the French military and political offensive against the National Liberation Front (FLN), Algeria, 1958-1960. General de Gaulle's strategy against the Moslem insurgents had a two-fold purpose. Its military goal was first to neutralize and then to destroy the insurrectional apparatus. Its political goal was to gain support of the Moslem populace through economic, political, and social rehabilitation. Contrary to some opinions, the French Army had not devised a new and radical theory of fighting revolutionary wars. The unconventional tactics that were used so successfully were often due to on- the-spot improvisations and to lessons learned in Indochina. The French command wanted not just to neutralize the populace but also to win its support. However, methods swift and terrible enough to demoralize the enemy risked driving the civilians further into the guerrilla camp. The French offensive in Algeria--its successes and its limitations--is still much debated in France.

[snip]

http://www.intelligenceonline.com/Ident ... i_id=65861

Constantin Melnik is probably the man who knows most about the "dirty war" that France conducted against Algeria's FLN between 1959 and 1992 because he largely directed it as advisor to Prime Minister Michel Debré, and in charge of French intelligence services at the time. (...) [ 253 words ] [ 4 € ]

[snip]

OK. He was definitely White Russian. Just look at Mom.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatiana_Botkina

Tatiana Evgenievna Botkina-Melnik, (1898 - 1986), was the daughter of court physician Eugene Botkin, who was killed along with Tsar Nicholas II and his family by the Bolsheviks on July 17, 1918.

In later years, Botkina, along with her brother Gleb Botkin, was a major supporter of Anna Anderson's claim that she was the surviving Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Gladio

Operation Gladio
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Emblem of "Gladio", Italian branch of the NATO "stay-behind" paramilitary organizations. The motto means "In silence I preserve freedom".Gladio (Italian for Gladius, a type of Roman short sword) is a code name denoting the clandestine NATO "stay-behind" operation in Italy after World War II, intended to continue anti-communist resistance in the event of a Warsaw Pact invasion of Western Europe. Although Gladio specifically refers to the Italian branch of the NATO stay-behind organisations, "Operation Gladio" is used as an informal name for all stay-behind organisations, sometimes called "Super NATO".[1]

Operating in many NATO and even some neutral countries,[2] Gladio was first coordinated by the Clandestine Committee of the Western Union (CCWU), founded in 1948. After the creation of NATO in 1949, the CCWU was integrated into the Clandestine Planning Committee (CPC), founded in 1951 and overseen by the SHAPE (Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe), transferred to Belgium after France’s official withdrawal from NATO's Military Committee in 1966 — which was not followed by the dissolution of the French stay-behind paramilitary movements.

The role of the CIA in sponsoring Gladio and the extent of its activities during the Cold War era, and its relationship to terrorist attacks perpetrated in Italy during the Years of Lead and other similar clandestine operations is the subject of ongoing debate and investigation. Italy, Switzerland and Belgium have had parliamentary inquiries into the matter.[3]


General stay-behind structure

Emblem of NATO's "stay-behind" paramilitary organizations.
The command structure of stay-behind forces, as suggested in Field Manual 31-15: Operations Against Irregular Forces.After World War II, the UK and the US decided to create "stay-behind" paramilitary organizations, with the official aim of countering a possible Soviet invasion through sabotage and guerrilla warfare behind enemy lines. Arms caches were hidden, escape routes prepared, and loyal members recruited: i.e. mainly hardline anticommunists, including many ex-Nazis or former fascists, whether in Italy or in other European countries. In Germany, for example, Gladio had as a central focus the Gehlen Org — also involved in ODESSA "ratlines" — named after Reinhard Gehlen who would become West Germany's first head of intelligence, while the predominantly Italian P2 masonic lodge was composed of many members of the neofascist Italian Social Movement (MSI), including Licio Gelli. Its clandestine "cells" were to stay behind (hence the name) in enemy controlled territory and to act as resistance movements, conducting sabotage, guerrilla warfare and assassinations.

However, Italian Gladio was more far reaching. "A briefing minute of June 1, 1959, reveals Gladio was built around 'internal subversion'. It was to play 'a determining role... not only on the general policy level of warfare, but also in the politics of emergency'. In the 1970s, with communist electoral support growing and other leftists looking menacing, the establishment turned to the 'Strategy of Tension' ... with Gladio eager to be involved."[4]

CIA director Allen Dulles was one of the key people in instituting Operation Gladio, and most of Gladio’s operations were financed by the CIA.[citation needed] The anti-communist networks, which were present in all of Europe, including in neutral countries like Sweden and Switzerland, were partly funded by the CIA.[5] Some went as far as claiming that Democrazia Cristiana leader Aldo Moro had been the "founder of (Italian) Gladio".[6] However, whether these allegations are correct or not, his murder in 1978 put an end to the “historic compromise” (sharing of power) attempt between the PCI and the Christian Democrats (DC), thus accomplishing one of the alleged objectives of the strategy of tension.

Operating in all of NATO and even in some neutral countries such as Spain before its 1982 admission to NATO, Gladio was first coordinated by the Clandestine Committee of the Western Union (CCWU), founded in 1948. After the creation of NATO in 1949, the CCWU was integrated into the "Clandestine Planning Committee" (CPC), founded in 1951 and overseen by the SHAPE (Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe), transferred to Belgium after France’s official retreat from NATO — which was not followed by the dissolution of the French stay-behind paramilitary movements.

Ganser alleges that:[7]

Next to the CPC, a second secret army command center, labeled Allied Clandestine Committee (ACC), was set up in 1957 on the orders of NATO's Supreme Allied Commander in Europe (SACEUR). This military structure provided for significant US leverage over the secret stay-behind networks in Western Europe as the SACEUR, throughout NATO's history, has traditionally been a US General who reports to the Pentagon in Washington and is based in NATO's Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) in Mons, Belgium. The ACC's duties included elaborating on the directives of the network, developing its clandestine capability, and organizing bases in Britain and the United States. In wartime, it was to plan stay-behind operations in conjunction with SHAPE. According to former CIA director William Colby, it was 'a major program'.

Coordinated by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), {the secret armies} were run by the European military secret services in close cooperation with the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the British foreign secret service Secret Intelligence Service (SIS, also MI6). Trained together with US Green Berets and British Special Air Service (SAS), these clandestine NATO soldiers, armed with underground arms-caches, prepared against a potential Soviet invasion and occupation of Western Europe, as well as the coming to power of communist parties. The clandestine international network covered the European NATO membership, including Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxemburg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, and Turkey, as well as the neutral European countries of Austria, Finland, Sweden and Switzerland.

The existence of these clandestine NATO armies remained a closely guarded secret throughout the Cold War until 1990, when the first branch of the international network was discovered in Italy. It was code-named Gladio, the Latin word for a short double-edged sword [gladius]. While the press said that the NATO secret armies were 'the best-kept, and most damaging, political-military secret since World War II', the Italian government, amidst sharp public criticism, promised to close down the secret army. Italy insisted identical clandestine armies had also existed in all other countries of Western Europe. This allegation proved correct and subsequent research found that in Belgium, the secret NATO army was code-named SDRA8, in Denmark Absalon, in Germany TD BJD, in Greece LOK, in Luxemburg Stay-Behind, in the Netherlands I&O, in Norway ROC, in Portugal Aginter, in Switzerland P26, in Turkey Ergenekon Counter-Guerrilla, In Sweden AGAG (Aktions Gruppen Arla Gryning, and in Austria OWSGV. However, the code names of the secret armies in France, Finland and Spain remain unknown.

Upon learning of the discovery, the parliament of the European Union (EU) drafted a resolution sharply criticizing the fact (...) Yet only Italy, Belgium and Switzerland carried out parliamentary investigations, while the administration of President George H. W. Bush refused to comment, being in the midst of preparations for war against Saddam Hussein in the Persian Gulf, and fearing potential damages to the military alliance.

If Gladio was effectively "the best-kept, and most damaging, political-military secret since World War II",[8] it must be underlined, however, that on several occasions, arms caches were discovered and stay-behind paramilitary organizations officially dissolved – only to be created again. But it was not until the 1990s that the full international scope of the program was disclosed to public knowledge. Giulio Andreotti, the main character of Italy’s post-WWII political life, was described by Aldo Moro to his captors as "too close to NATO", Moro thus advising them to be wary. Indeed, before Andreotti’s 1990 acknowledgement of Gladio’s existence, he had "unequivocally" denied it in 1974, and then in 1978 to judges investigating the 1969 Piazza Fontana bombing. And even in 1990, "Testimonies collected by the two men [judges Felice Casson and Carlo Mastelloni investigating the 1972 Peteano fascist car bomb] and by the Commission on Terrorism on Rome, and inquiries by the Guardian, indicate that Gladio was involved in activities which do not square with Andreotti's account. Links between Gladio, Italian secret services bosses and the notorious P2 masonic lodge are manifold (...) In the year that Andreotti denied Gladio’s existence, the P2 treasurer, General Siro Rosetti, gave a generous account of 'a secret security structure made up of civilians, parallel to the armed forces' There are also overlaps between senior Gladio personnel and the committee of military men, Rosa dei Venti (Wind Rose), which tried to stage a coup in 1970.”[4]

[edit] European Parliament resolution concerning Gladio
Wikisource has original text related to this article:
European Parliament resolution on Gladio
On November 22, 1990, the European Parliament passed a resolution condemning Gladio, requesting full investigations – which have yet to be done – and total dismantlement of these paramilitary structures – which, as of 2005, has not been proven. The resolution condemned "the existence for 40 years of a clandestine parallel intelligence" as well as "armed operations organization in several Member States of the Community", which "escaped all democratic controls and has been run by the secret services of the states concerned in collaboration with NATO." Denouncing the "danger that such clandestine network may have interfered illegally in the internal political affairs of Member States or may still do so," especially before the fact that "in certain Member States military secret services (or uncontrolled branches thereof) were involved in serious cases of terrorism and crime," the Parliament demanded a "a full investigation into the nature, structure, aims and all other aspects of these clandestine organizations or any splinter groups, their use for illegal interference in the internal political affairs of the countries concerned, the problem of terrorism in Europe and the possible collusion of the secret services of Member States or third countries." Furthermore, the resolution protested "vigorously at the assumption by certain US military personnel at SHAPE and in NATO of the right to encourage the establishment in Europe of a clandestine intelligence and operation network," asking "the Member States to dismantle all clandestine military and paramilitary networks" and to "draw up a complete list of organizations active in this field, and at the same time to monitor their links with the respective state intelligence services and their links, if any, with terrorist action groups and/or other illegal practices." Finally, the Parliament called "on its competent committee to consider holding a hearing in order to clarify the role and impact of the 'Gladio' organization and any similar bodies," and instructed "its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council, the Secretary-General of NATO, the governments of the Member States and the United States Government."

Psychiatrist Jean-Marie Abgrall has alleged[90][verification needed] that the "collective suicides" allegedly committed by various Order of the Solar Temple (OST) members, in December 1995 in the Vercors region of France, were somehow related to Gladio. According to Jean-Marie Abgrall's declarations to Le Point magazine and Nice Matin newspaper in February 2003, which he renewed in official justice documents, the Renewed Order of the Solar Temple cult ("Ordre Rénové du Temple" - ORT[91]), ancestor of the OTS, had relations with Gladio networks. Abgrall also claimed that the AMORC, of which he had been a member, was also related to "Foccart networks" (Jacques Foccart was De Gaulle's spindoctor for African affairs, and retained an important role long after him).

The theory of the mass suicide has been heavily contested by family of the victims Alain Vuarnet, René and Muguette Rostan, Willy and Giséla Schleimer and their lawyer, Alain Leclerc. According to a Reuters cable dated March 22, 2004 (19:03:46), the lawyer explained that he had two documents upholding the theory of a murder, the first one being Jean-Marie Abgrall's juridical declaration above-mentioned. According to the lawyer, psychiatrist Jean-Marie Abgrall "reveals... that the Order of the Solar Temple, as the AMORC and the ORT, were created and controlled by French and foreign secret services". Those information weren't given at the time of investigations; the lawyer thus asked that Dr. Abgrall be heard by the judge, according to a Reuters cable.

One document was a copy of an April 21, 1997 letter addressed by a lawyer office to a bank, concerning the distribution of 17 million French Francs (about 2.5 millions Euros) between various personalities and political parties, the OST and the Rosicrucian Order AMORC (Ancient Mystical Order Rosae Crucis), an organization suspected of links with the OST. In his demand for more investigation, Dr. Leclerc wrote: "If the document is true, it shows that the Order of the Solar Temple was in activity after the last March 22, 1997 massacre (the "collective suicide" of five adepts in Canada) and that the responsibles of this organization are still alive". However, the court refused further expertise: thus, it hasn't been possible to verify the validity of this document.

A third document was sent by the French secret services (RG) to the judge, discrediting the family of the victims' claims and demands for further investigations. If Jean-Marie Abgrall's claims of relationship between the ORT (OST's ancestor) and Gladio may seem far-fetched, Propaganda Due's juridically proven involvement[citation needed] in Gladio's strategy of tension inclines one to keep open various possibilities during investigations. Furthermore, connections between ORT founder Luc Jouret and far-right Belgian activist Jean Thiriart have been alleged by other sources; together, they had found in the 1970s a far-right party which was controlled by Belgium's branch of Gladio. In any case, the mass suicides haven't been clearly explained, let alone financial links concerning those various cults.[92][93][94]

Jacques Foccart
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jacques Foccart (31 August 1913 – 19 March 1997) was French President Charles de Gaulle's and then Georges Pompidou's chief adviser for African policy, who founded in 1959 the Gaullist organization Service d'Action Civique (SAC) with Charles Pasqua, which specialized in shady operations. From 1960 to 1974, he was the president's chief of staff for African and Malgache matters. Henceforth, he played a most important role in French policies in Africa, so much so that he has been said to have been, after de Gaulle, the most influential man of the Fifth Republic. He was considered to be the instigator behind various coups d'état in Africa during the 1960s. He retained his functions during Georges Pompidou's presidency (1969–74) and was replaced by Valéry Giscard d'Estaing by a young deputy whom he had himself trained. He was then rehabilitated in 1986 by new Premier Chirac as an adviser on African affairs for the two years of "cohabitation" with socialist president François Mitterrand. When Chirac finally made it to the presidency in 1995, Foccart was brought back to the Elysée at the age of eighty-one. He died in 1997. According to The National Interest review, "Foccart was said to have been telephoning African personalities on the subject of Zaire right up to the week before his death."




[edit] Before the war
Jacques Foccart was born in Ambrières, in the Mayenne département, to a family of white planters from the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe. During World War II, he represented de Gaulle and the Resistance in the Mayenne département, which would let him become secretary general of the Rally of the French People (RPF) during the Fourth Republic (1946-1958).

[edit] The decolonization
Further information: Decolonization
Foccart was an initiator of what would become known as the Françafrique, a term borrowed from Félix Houphouët-Boigny, president of Côte d'Ivoire, by François-Xavier Verschave. This expression would survive until François Mitterrand's 1981 election and the first socialist government of the Fifth Republic (founded in 1958), in particular with Mitterrand's son, Jean-Christophe, nicknamed "Papamadi" ("Papa-told-me").

According to the US conservative review National Interest, Jacques Foccart played "an essential role" in the negotiation of the Cooperation accords with the newly independent African states, former members of the French Community created in 1958. These accords involved the sectors of finance and economy, culture and education, and the military. There were initially eleven countries involved: Mauritania, Senegal, Cote d'Ivoire, Dahomey (now Benin), Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso), Niger, Chad, Gabon, Central African Republic, Congo-Brazzaville, and Madagascar. Togo and Cameroon, former UN Trust Territories, as well as, later on, Mali and the former Belgian territories (Ruanda-Urundi, now Rwanda and Burundi, and Congo-Kinshasa), together with some of the ex-Portuguese territories, and Comoros and Djibouti, which had also been under French rule for many years but became independent in the 1970s, were also later included.

The whole ensemble was put under a new Ministry of Cooperation, created in 1961, separate from the Ministry for Overseas Departments and Territories (known as the DOM-TOM) that had previously run them all. The National Interest review asserts that this "Cooperation Ministry, focal point of the new evolving French system in Africa, regarded Foccart both as their "guarantor" and their advocate with de Gaulle. If the General had conceived the apparatus (though in fact some of it simply happened by improvisation), Foccart was the machine minder." [1]

Close to Zaire dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, he was, in 1967, an important actor in the French support of the Biafran secession, through the use of mercenaries.

National Interest 's review of his biography goes on with Foccart's admission that the French secret services eliminated the Cameroonian Marxist leader Felix-Roland Moumie in 1960. Furthermore, it quotes "some reports" which "suggested that Foccart and Houphouet spoke on the phone every Wednesday, and there is no doubt that he considered the Ivoirian leader the African centerpiece of his network. They operated together on a number of issues. Interventions such as that in Gabon in 1964 and Chad in 1969 were encouraged by the Foccart-Houphouet tandem. The most significant collaboration between Foccart and Houphouet was the way they tried to persuade de Gaulle to back the Biafran secession from Nigeria in 1967. Despite the pressures they exerted, however, de Gaulle refused to recognize Biafra, and, in retrospect, so guarded and elliptical are some of Foccart's statements that one cannot be sure what he really wanted or expected from de Gaulle at the time."

Jacques Foccart remained in service under Georges Pompidou's presidency (1969-1974). In 1972, Mongo Beti's Cruel hand on Cameroon, autopsy of a decolonization was censored upon its publication by François Maspero by the Ministry of the Interior Raymond Marcellin on the request, brought forward by Jacques Foccart, of the Cameroon government, represented in Paris by the ambassador Ferdinand Oyono.

Foccart was then replaced by president Valéry Giscard d'Estaing (1974-81) by René Journiac, whom he had trained himself. According to National Interest, he was critical of two special operations carried on under Giscard d'Estaing: the fiasco of the mercenary landing in Benin in January 1977 (with which he denies having had any connection, and would not have supported because it was badly conceived and executed); and "Operation Barracuda", the military intervention that deposed Emperor Bokassa in September 1979.

Foccart was then rehabilitated in 1986 by new Premier Chirac as an adviser on African affairs for the two years of the "cohabitation." When Chirac finally made it to the presidency in 1995, Foccart was brought back to the Elysée at the age of eighty-one, in the main because he still had remarkable contacts with African leaders such as President Omar Bongo of Gabon. He would criticize the devaluation of the CFA franc in January 1994 under Balladur's government, a month after Houphouët-Boigny's death.

[edit] Domestic activities
However, his role was not limited to Africa, as he was also charged by De Gaulle with the secret services and with the following of the elections, in particular concerning the choice of the candidates during the 1960s. The SAC (Service d'Action Civique) helped him for those shady missions. Foccart also admitted in Foccart Parle that relations with the SDECE intelligence agency were his concerns. National Interest observes that "His biographer's claim that General de Gaulle asked Foccart to reorganize the SDECE (in view of the tainting of both the armed forces and the intelligence agencies by the movement for Algerie Francaise) is indirectly confirmed, but there is not a clear picture of the organization of the barbouzes."

With François de Grossouvre, Jacques Foccart also helped to create the Department Protection Security (DPS), security organization of the far-right Front National party led by Jean-Marie Le Pen.

[edit] 1990s
In 1995, Jacques Foccart was part of president Jacques Chirac's visit to Morocco, Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire and Gabon, all countries led by friends of the Françafrique.

Such had been his influence on French colonial and post colonial policy that when he died on March 19 1997, "For those involved with what has come to be known nowadays as "Françafrique", denoting the special French sphere of influence in Africa, many, along with Albert Bourgi of Jeune Afrique, saw Foccart's death as 'the end of an epoch.' "[1]

The publication of his memoirs under the format of interviews at the end of his life, and the Journal de l'Elysée also published, in which, starting from 1965, Jacques Foccart transcribed his daily meetings with De Gaulle, have proved an invaluable resource for the knowledge of French policies in Africa.

Furthermore, at his trial in 2006, mercenary Bob Denard, who was tried for his 1995 coup d'état in Comoros, alleged that Foccart had supported him [2].

Is Plantard in the thick of this?

http://quintessentialpublications.com/t ... page_id=77

But in regards to the politics of state, C.I.R.C.U.I.T. did not confine itself to mere statements of opinion. They predicted what they believed would inevitably occur. They argued for the abolition of the French system which carved the country’s geography into departments. They then laid out their own blueprint for the restructuring of the French government – one which would include nine sections: “Council of the Provinces; Council of State; Parliamentary Council; Taxes, Work, and Production; Medical; National Education; Age of Majority; and Housing and Schools.” This doesn’t seem terribly radical. But then, in another article by Plantard, he described plans for the restructuring of the entire world, including:

“…the creation of a Confederation of Lands [becoming] a Confederation of States: the United States of Euro-Africa, which [represents] economically (1) an African and European community of exchange based on a common market and (2) the circulation of wealth in order to serve the well-being of all, this being the sole stable foundation on which peace can be constructed.

[snip]

He's often pointed out as being an early supporter of European Union. But in the 1959 CIRCUIT, he advocated for a Euro-AFRICAN Union. Basically a union of Europe with North Africa, including Algeria. They would be independent states but all in one confederation.

Oh heavens, please don't quote me on that 'cos honestly i havn't a clue if it's made up or not.....it could have been written by anyone.

.....here's more photos from the visit in Feb/march 1981

http://www.rennes-le-chateau.org/storyv ... errand.asp

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Gladio
The Order of the Solar Temple mystery

Perhaps it is worth adding to this that Jean Luc Chaumeil testified in court on the mass suicides of the followers of the Order of the Solar Temple. In case you don't know Henry Lincoln and the BBC used the Art Studio of Jean Luc Chaumeil's mother in order to interview Plantard for the last of the Chronicle programmes. In this interview Plantard was asked, in typical ambush journalist style, by Lincoln

"The geometry's pentagonal isn't it?" and Plantard's reaction is legendary.

Jean Luc Chaumeil is always wheeled out as the mainstream media's resident "expert" on all matters Rennes le Chateau in all of their TV hit pieces.

Jean Luc Chaumeil once threatened to sue me. I'm still awaiting the publicity opportunity.

Yes. It makes a lot of sense, once you know about the fringe so-called "traditionalist" Catholic sects.

Dunkirk evacuation
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[hide]v • d • eWestern Front

Prelude
1939

Phoney War - Saar - The Heligoland Bight - Defence of the Reich in 1939

1940

Luxembourg - The Netherlands - (The Hague - Rotterdam - Zeeland - Rotterdam Blitz) - Belgium - (Fort Eben-Emael - Hannut) - France - (Sedan - Arras - Lille - Calais - Paula - Dunkirk - Dunkirk evacuation - Italian Invasion of France) - Britain - Sealion

1941-1943

The Blitz - Cerberus - St Nazaire Raid - Dieppe Raid - Defense of the Reich in 1942 - 1943

1944-1945

Overlord - Dragoon - Siegfried Line - Market Garden - (Arnhem) - Hürtgen Forest - Aintree - Aachen - Scheldt - Bulge - Nordwind - Colmar Pocket - Invasion of Germany - Defense of the Reich 1944 - 1945


British troops evacuating Dunkirk's beaches. Many stood shoulder deep in water for hours, waiting to board the warships.The Dunkirk evacuation, codenamed Operation Dynamo by the British, was the evacuation of Allied soldiers from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk, France, between 26 May and 4 June 1940, when British, French, and Canadian troops were cut off by the German army during the Battle of Dunkirk in the Second World War. In a speech to the House of Commons ("We shall fight on the beaches"), Winston Churchill called the events in France "a colossal military disaster", saying that "the whole root and core and brain of the British Army" had been stranded at Dunkirk and seemed about to perish or be captured. He hailed their rescue as a "miracle of deliverance."[1]

On the first day, only 7,010 men were evacuated, but by the ninth day, a total of 338,226 soldiers (198,229 British and 139,997 French)[2] had been rescued by the hastily assembled fleet of 850 boats. Many of the troops were able to embark from the harbour's protective mole onto 42 British destroyers and other large ships, while others had to wade from the beaches toward the ships, waiting for hours to board, shoulder-deep in water. Others were ferried from the beaches to the larger ships, and thousands were carried back to England by the famous "little ships of Dunkirk," a flotilla of around 700 merchant marine boats, fishing boats, pleasure craft and Royal National Lifeboat Institution lifeboats — the smallest of which was the 15-foot fishing boat "Tamzine," now in the Imperial War Museum — whose civilian crews were called into service for the emergency. The "miracle of the little ships" remains a prominent folk memory in Britain.[3][4]

Operation Dynamo took its name from the dynamo room in the naval headquarters below Dover Castle, which contained the dynamo that provided the building with electricity during the war. It was in this room that British Vice Admiral Bertram Ramsay planned the operation and briefed Winston Churchill as it was underway.[5]

Contents [hide]
1 Evacuation
1.1 Little ships
2 Losses
2.1 Major ships lost
3 Aftermath
4 In popular culture
5 See also
6 References
7 External links


[edit] Evacuation

British troops escaping from Dunkirk in lifeboats.Due to war-time censorship and the desire to keep up the morale of the nation, the full extent of the unfolding "disaster" around Dunkirk was not publicised. However, the grave plight of the troops led King George VI to call for an unprecedented week of prayer. Throughout the country, people prayed on 26 May for a miraculous delivery.[6] The Archbishop of Canterbury led prayers "for our soldiers in dire peril in France." Similar prayers were offered in synagogues and churches throughout Britain that day, confirming the public suspicion of the desperate plight of the troops.[7]

Initial plans called for the recovery of 45,000 men from the British Expeditionary Force within two days, at which time it was expected that German troops would be able to block further evacuation. Only 25,001 men escaped during this period, including 7,001 on the first day.[8] Ten additional destroyers joined the rescue effort on 26 May and attempted rescue operations in the early morning, but were unable to closely approach the beaches, although several thousand were rescued. However, the pace of evacuation from the shrinking Dunkirk pocket steadily increased.

On 29 May, 47,000 British troops were rescued[9] in spite of the first heavy air attack by the Luftwaffe in the evening. The next day, an additional 54,000 men[10] were embarked, including the first French soldiers.[11] 68,000 men and the commander of the BEF, Lord Gort, evacuated on 31 May.[12] A further 64,000 Allied soldiers departed on 1 June,[13] before the increasing air attacks prevented further daylight evacuation.[8] The British rearguard left the night of 2 June, along with 60,000 French soldiers.[13] An additional 26,000 French troops were retrieved the following night before the operation finally ended.[8]

Two French divisions remained behind to protect the evacuation. Though they halted the German advance, they were soon captured. The remainder of the rearguard, largely French, surrendered on 3 June 1940. The next day, the BBC reported, "Major-General Harold Alexander [the commander of the rearguard] inspected the shores of Dunkirk from a motorboat this morning to make sure no-one was left behind before boarding the last ship back to Britain."

Date Number rescued
27 May 7,669
28 May 17,804
29 May 47,310
30–31 May 120,927
1 June 64,229
2–4 June up to 54,000

[edit] Little ships
Main article: Little ships of Dunkirk

Royal Navy gunner covering retreating troops at Dunkirk (1940).Most of the "little ships" were private fishing boats and pleasure cruisers, but commercial vessels also contributed, including a number from as far away as the Isle of Man and Glasgow. Guided by naval craft across the English Channel from the Thames Estuary and Dover, these smaller vessels were able to move in much closer to the beaches and acted as shuttles between the shore and the destroyers, lifting troops who were queuing in the water, some of whom stood shoulder-deep for many hours to board the larger vessels.

Thousands of soldiers were taken in the little ships back to Britain. The paddle steamer "Medway Queen" made the most round trips — seven — rescuing 7,000 men and earning herself the nickname "Heroine of Dunkirk". Funds are currently being raised for her restoration. Sundowner, owned by Charles Lightoller, former second officer of the Titanic, was requisitioned by the Admiralty on 30 May 1940, Lightoller insisting that, if anyone was going to take her to Dunkirk, it would be him and his eldest son, Roger, together with Sea Scout Gerald Ashcroft. The men transported 130 soldiers back to Ramsgate, reportedly packed together like sardines, almost capsizing when they reached the shore.[14] Another boat, Bluebird of Chelsea, a yacht originally owned by Sir Malcolm Campbell, holder of the world land speed record, made two round trips to Kent, carrying hundreds of men.[15][16]

The term "Dunkirk spirit" still stands for a belief in the solidarity of the British people in adversity.

[edit] Losses

British and French prisoners at Dunkirk, June 1940.Despite the success of the operation, all the heavy equipment and vehicles had to be abandoned, and several thousand French troops were captured in the Dunkirk pocket. Six British and three French destroyers were sunk, along with nine large boats. In addition, 19 destroyers were damaged.[13] Over 200 of the Allied sea craft were sunk, with an equal number damaged.[17] Winston Churchill revealed in his volumes on World War II that the Royal Air Force (RAF) played a most important role protecting the retreating troops from the Luftwaffe. Churchill also said that the sand on the beach softened the explosions from the German bombs. The RAF lost 474 planes, compared to 132 for the Luftwaffe.[13] However, the retreating troops were largely unaware of this vital assistance, and many bitterly accused the airmen of doing nothing to help.

[edit] Major ships lost
The Royal Navy's most significant losses in the operation were six destroyers:

Grafton, sunk by U-62 on 29 May;
Grenade, sunk by air attack off the east pier at Dunkirk on 29 May;
Wakeful, sunk by a torpedo from the Schnellboot (E-boat) S-30 on 29 May;
Basilisk, Havant, and Keith, sunk by air attack off the beaches on 1 June.
The French Navy lost three destroyers:

Bourrasque, mined off Nieuport on 30 May;
Sirocco, sunk by the Schnellboote S-23 and S-26 on 31 May;
Le Foudroyant, sunk by air attack off the beaches on 1 June.
[edit] Aftermath

Rescued British troops gathered in a ship at Dunkirk.
Dunkirk-rescued French troops disembarking in England.Before the operation was completed, the prognosis had been gloomy, with Winston Churchill warning the House of Commons to expect "hard and heavy tidings." Subsequently, Churchill referred to the outcome as a "miracle," and the British press presented the evacuation as a "disaster turned to triumph" so successfully that Churchill had to remind the country, in a speech to the House of Commons on 4 June, that "we must be very careful not to assign to this deliverance the attributes of a victory. Wars are not won by evacuations." Nevertheless, exhortations to the "Dunkirk spirit," a phrase used to describe the tendency of the British public to pull together and overcome times of adversity, are still heard in Britain today.

The rescue of the British troops at Dunkirk provided a psychological boost to British morale, which ended any possibility that the United Kingdom would seek peace terms with Germany, since the country retained the ability to defend themselves against a possible German invasion. Most of the rescued British troops were assigned to the defence of Britain. Once the threat of invasion receded, they were transferred overseas to the Middle East and other theatres and also provided the nucleus of the army that returned to France in 1944. Several high-ranking German commanders (for example, Generals Erich von Manstein and Heinz Guderian, as well as Admiral Karl Dönitz) considered the failure of the German High Command to order a timely assault on Dunkirk to eliminate the British Expeditionary Force to be one of the major mistakes the Germans had made in the Western Theatre.

The more than 100,000 evacuated French troops were quickly and efficiently shuttled to camps in various parts of southwestern England where they were temporarily lodged before quickly being repatriated.[18] British ships ferried French troops to Brest, Cherbourg and other ports in Normandy and Brittany, although only about half of the repatriated troops were deployed against the Germans before the armistice. For many French soldiers the Dunkirk evacuation was not a salvation, but represented only a few weeks' delay before being made POWs by German army after their return in France.[19]

In France, the perceived preference of the Royal Navy for evacuating British forces at the expense of the French led to some bitter resentment. The French Admiral Darlan originally ordered that the British forces should receive preference, but Churchill intervened at a 31 May meeting in Paris to order that the evacuation should proceed on equal terms and the British would form the rearguard.[20] A few thousand French forces eventually surrendered, but only after the evacuation effort had been extended for a day to bring 26,175 Frenchmen to Britain on 4 June.

For every seven soldiers who escaped through Dunkirk, one man was left behind as a prisoner of war (POW). The majority of these prisoners were sent on forced marches into Germany. Prisoners reported brutal treatment by their guards, including beatings, starvation, and murder. In particular, the British prisoners complained that French prisoners were given preferential treatment. Another major complaint was that German guards kicked over buckets of water that had been left at the roadside by French civilians. Many of the prisoners were marched to the town of Trier, with the march taking as long as 20 days. Others were marched to the river Scheldt and were sent by barge to the Ruhr. The prisoners were then sent by rail to POW camps in Germany. The majority then worked in German industry and agriculture for five years.[21][22]

The very significant loss of military equipment abandoned in Dunkirk reinforced the financial dependence of the British government on the United States.

The St George's Cross flown from the jack staff is known as the Dunkirk jack and is only flown by civilian ships and boats of all sizes that took part in the Dunkirk rescue operation in 1940. The only other ships permitted to fly this flag at the bow are those with an Admiral of the Fleet on board.

[edit] In popular culture
The Snow Goose, a 1941 novel by Paul Gallico related the story of a lonely artist who participates in the evacuation at the cost of his life. It was made into an award-winning 1971 film starring Richard Harris and Jenny Agutter.
The 1949 novel Week-end à Zuydcoote by French author Robert Merle tells the story of a French soldier during the evacuation. It won the Prix Goncourt that year. It was adapted to film in 1964 by Henri Verneuil.
The story was the subject of Dunkirk, a 1958 Ealing film (made in collaboration with British MGM).
The evacuation was featured prominently in Ian McEwan's novel Atonement (2001) and the film adaptation of the same name (2007). The film version contains a 4.5-minute continuous shot of Allied troops stranded on the beach of Dunkirk waiting to be evacuated (filmed on Redcar beach, North Yorkshire). The Academy Award-winning 1942 movie Mrs. Miniver also featured the evacuation. Katherine Kurtz's thriller Lammas Night features a character caught up in the evacuation.
The evacuation and the Battle of Dunkirk were re-enacted in the 2004 BBC television docudrama Dunkirk.
The novel Dunkirk Crescendo (2005) by Bodie Thoene features the miracle of Dunkirk starting in the beginning of May, before Churchill becomes Prime Minister, and ending on 4 June, when the evacuation ends.
The evacuation is featured in the Doctor Who novel The Nemonite Invasion (2009).
The story was featured in a "Foyle's War" Episode
[edit] See also
Operation Cycle — the evacuation of 11,000 troops from Le Havre, beginning on 10 June
Operation Ariel — the later evacuation from Normandy and Brittany
Battle of France

Of note in the history of the Rosicruscians and their connection to Rennes-le-chateau is that Father Gaultier, a seventeenth-century Jesuit, attacked the Rosicrucian Order, accusing it of being an offshoot of Lutherism. He wrote: 'It is not of no account that the general Sabbath spoken of in the dreadful pacts made between the devil and the so-called Invisibles in 1623 is held in the neighborhood of the labryrinth that lies in the Pyrenees." What could he have meant by this? To what place was he referring?