Arthur de Montalembert 1911 - 1944

Born 31.7.1911 in Wezembeek-Oppem
Died 16.12.1944 in Mauthausen

Biography

Arthur de Montalembert, born on July 31, 1911 in Wezembeek-Oppem, is the son of André de Montalembert and Anne de Grunne. Mobilized on September 2, 1939 and promoted to lieutenant in December, he was wounded by shrapnel on May 14, 1940.

In early 1943, he joined the Prosper / PHYSICIAN resistance network of the Special Operations Executive (SOE), Section F (for France). Under the code name Bistouri, he organized a group of resistance fighters in Ancinnes (Sarthe) and received several parachute drops between May and September 1943 in the Orne and Sarthe regions. Following denunciations, Prosper / PHYSICIAN was dismantled by the Gestapo between June and October.

Having let Arthur escape during a raid in Ancinnes on July 9, 1943, the Gestapo arrested his father and held him hostage in Fresnes prison until Arthur's surrender or arrest. Meanwhile, Arthur joined the Belliard / PHONO network (a sub-network of Prosper / PHYSICIAN) active in the Sarthe and Mayenne regions, as deputy to its leader Henry Garry, with whom he received a final parachute drop on the night of September 15 to 16. Arthur was finally arrested in Le Mans (Sarthe) on October 2, 1943, and brought back to Paris the same day by the Gestapo. His father was released three days later.

An SOE document reports that, after being interned at Fresnes, Arthur was put on trial in Vichy in March 1944 “for actions contrary to the interests of France” and that Ireland's representative to the Vichy government intervened on his behalf with the Germans. At the same time, the SOE addressed this request to its hierarchy: “Can we have Arthur de Montalembert promoted to the rank of Captain as soon as possible. He was commissioned in 1943 and is now standing trial for his excellent activities on our behalf”.

Arthur was deported in April 1944 to the Mauthausen camp, where he arrived on April 29 after passing through the Royallieu (Oise) and Neue Bremm (Saar) camps. His file bears the number 64577 and the code NN (Nacht und Nebel, Night and Fog) reserved for deportees who were not to leave the camps alive. In Mauthausen, Arthur was subjected to forced labor in the central camp and in two annex camps, Melk and Peggau, before dying on December 16, 1944 in the camp infirmary as a result of ill-treatment. It was not until September 13, 1945, that British officials were able to confirm his death to his family.

Arthur was posthumously appointed Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur “for exceptional war services” by decree on January 14, 1948. His appointment includes the Croix de Guerre with palm. On August 23, 1948, his death certificate records his death as “Died for France”. He is honored at the Valençay Memorial (Indre) and at the Brookwood 1939-1945 Memorial (England), along with the 104 SOE / Section F officers who died in action or deportation.

 

Arthur de Montalembert, nephew (2025)

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