LES FRANÇAIS PARLENT AUX FRANÇAIS

Twice a day, the BBC would broadcast a series of messages in French - "les messages personnels". These messages were unique in that each one was intended to be received by a particular organisation. The text of a message would have been agreed beforehand and its reception would indicate that a specific operation would happen at a certain time and place, eg a parachute drop.

The following messages broadcast by the BBC were destined to be received by Possum:

• Le soleil ne brille pas pour tout le monde
• L'amour n'est pas aveugle
• René est avare
• Le sous-marin n'aime pas les méduses
• La pêche à la truite est difficile
• Le goujon peut avoir confiance
• Le fils de Roger a vu sa soeur
• Mon grand-père fume sa bonne pipe
• Le canard a les pattes jaunes

(Taken from l'Echauguette de Fismes - 15th July 2004)

It is not clear how accurately these messages have been remembered. In an R/T message to London for the first Brasenose operation, Possum requested that the following message be broadcast:

• Le soleil luira pour tout le monde (not 'Le soleil ne brille pas pour tout le monde')

Interestingly, Raymond Gallet recalled this operation as using:

• L'amour n'est pas aveugle

For the second Brasenose operation, Gallet recalled the message as:

• Le fils de Roger a une soeur (not 'Le fils de Roger a vu sa soeur')

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