Supplies

The Resistance was active everywhere in France, and their fighters didn’t always take up arms. They were often ordinary people slowing, and frustrating the German progress. They were also intermediaries, enabling supplies to be collected and moved to where they were needed.

The Resistance in France didn’t fight their war alone. Friendly nations would fly in supplies to bolster specific actions and ensure the fighters had what they needed. So that these supplies could be picked up quickly and accurately there were specific codes, for the place and time of a drop, that were broadcast via ‘Ici la France’ on Radio Londres, a channel supplied by the BBC to Charles de Gaulle when he arrived in London in 1940. Our village of Viviers-sur-Artaut had its own codes. The closest drop zone was ‘Nicole’.

A typical message would be passed by incorporating a coded phrase, the name of the drop zone, and a specific time all within a sentence spoken during one of these broadcasts. The phrase would indicate the town or village where the drop zone would be closest. This would activate the Resistance member, or team, in that location.

Vivier’s coded phrase was, “Je joue sans atout”, or “I play with no trumps”.