Georges Roger Pierre Bergé was a French Army general who served during World War II. He enlisted in the Free French Forces, where he took command of the 1re compagnie de chasseurs parachutistes. He is mentioned by David Stirling as one of the co-founders of the Special Air Service. In Great-Britain and Egypt, he organised the training for Allied agents sent to France and led the first airborne mission in occupied France, named Operation Savannah. He fought in Syria and Crete. After his capture by the Germans he was imprisoned in Colditz Castle.
Biography
Youth
Georges Bergé was born on January 1909 in Belmont, in the Gers département, France. He was drafted in 1929, and incorporated in the 24thinfantry regiment in Mont-de-Marsan, where he trained as a reserve officer. In April 1930, he demobilised as a second lieutenant. In 1933, he eventually chose a military career and integrated l'école de l'Infanterie et des Chars in Saint-Maixent. He became a lieutenant in 1934.
May. He fought on the frontline. On 18th, while leading a successful counter-attack near Bousies in the North, he was wounded twice and transported to Arras. After hospitalisation in Caen, he was evacuated further south.
September. The 1re Compagnie d'Infanterie de l'Air or 1re CIA was formed with Bergé as its commanding officer.
He trained in the Ringway school.
December. Bergé and his men were now paratroopers.
1941
March.
April. On the 5th, he came back to England by submarine. Mission Savannah was over.
Under the supervision of the Deuxième Bureau and the SOE, he established a special agents school – 36th station of the SOE, Inchmery House, New Forest – where most of the agents sent in France in 1941 and 1942 were trained.
July. On the 25th, with the 1re CIA, he was allocated in Damascus
1942
January. Allocated in Kabret in the Combined Training Center, west bank of the Suez Canal, he formed the French SAS squadron. As the SAS expanded, the French squadron would be the first of a range of units to be 'acquired' by David Stirling.
June.
His unit was tasked to attack enemy airfields in the mediterranean zone. Bergé chose the Heraklion airfield, in Crete. With a group of four men, he managed to destroy 20 enemy planes. 19th. He was captured at the conclusion of his mission. He was imprisoned in XC Oflag in Lübeck, from which he tried in vain to escape.
1943
January. Transferred in Colditz Castle, he found there Major Stirling, captured in a 1943 raid in Tunisia, and captain Augustin Jordan.
