Mme.Willborts             Copy of the letter addressed to Mr. Max EDEM           10 April 1947

KER-AVEL                    by Mrs. Willborts

ILE DE BREHAT

Côtes-du-Nord

Dear Sir,

              I can easily answer with precision to your question. I never received any map or paper from Mrs. Christiane SEYDEL. I know she was very devoted to the rescue and lodging of Englishmen, but I did not know that she also provided intelligence. Her boss Jean LEGEAY never told me that.

              At the beginning of the occupation, brother Jean LEGEAY of PLEHEDEL and I created a Resistance group known under the name of bande à Sidonie; a group responsible mostly to save and lodge English refugees, or who fell into our area. When we were able to repatriate that by direct motorboat, we would give them all the intelligence that we were able to collect, assigning them to give it, when they arrived in England, to the appropriate services. I would be thanked via the BBC, with the phrase: "Special mesage for Sidonie." I even sent [intelligence] directly to General de Gaulle in a plush duckie (a child's toy.)

              It was only from July 1941 that we joined up to Group 31 of the Intelligence Service. at the request of engineer Turban of Rennes, who directed that group for Brittany. His secretary André PENLEVEY [sic] [ note handwritten in margin:] P2

came to my house to ask me to only do intelligence for them, with my whole group, which I accepted. Jean LEGEAY did the same when I asked him to.

              Therefore, from that time on, I would give all my papers to TURBAN, bringing them to him myself when I would go to lunch with him in Rennes, of sending them via my daughter, YVETTE who was weekly liaison agent. It is certain that he transmitted them to England under his name, but most often, they were sent by radio transmitter, as they were often very urgent, especially when it was about a bombing request.

              There was for that matter a certificate for all that handed in by André PENLEVEY to General de JUSSIEN: poor Turban having died in Germany. Jean LEGEAY also turned of intelligence to me to send on but didn't tell me who he got it from. Ididn't know all his agents, and he also did not know all of mine. All I can tell you, is that as early as January 1942, Colonel LANGLEY handed over for me in London, to André PEULEVEY the sum of 200,000 francs, as a reimbursement for the expenses I had  incurred [ page 2 ] for the network. so he already knew at that time of our group's activity. That sum never got to me due to the arrest of André Peulevey. Later on, our group still being without funds, I gave out 275,000 francs to help some agents out. The result? the agent I gave that money to had me arrested by the Gestapo and kept the money that I never saw again; fortunately, he admitted as much in French court.

                            To top it off, I had requested of Group 31 a testimonial of my work for the Fighting French, which I was made to wait for for months, then sending it to me and my daughter saying that I had entered the network on the day of my arrest by the Gestapo, so that I had to address myeself directly to General de JUSSIEN. So I don't think you'll get much from Group 31, Madame Louis always saying she got nothing from us, which i normal because she was arrested almost at the very beginning of the occupation, and she could after that know nothing of the activity of the group that now has picked up agents that never worked for it during the war.

              Maybe Colonel LORMEAU will be able to do something for you. I very much hope so, and would be happy if you would keep me updated.

              I am always at your service if necessary.

              Receive, Sir, the assurance of my best regards,

                                                                                    Signed: S. Willborts