Home > Jack Agazarian

Agazarian was born in London, England, to an Armenian father and French mother. He was educated in both France and England. After joining the Royal Air Force on the outbreak of the Second World War he was recruited as a wireless operator by the SOE.

In December 1942 Agazarian arrived in Paris to join the newly formed Prosper network of the SOE and was joined later by his wife Francine. He occasionally worked for Henri DericourtHenri Dericourt (1909-1962) was a French agent for Special Operations Executive who may have become a double agent for Abwehr. Henri Dericourt was born in France in September 1909. As an adult he first became a civilian pilot and then French Air Force tes, a former French Air Force pilot whose job was to find landing grounds and arrange receptions for SOE agents arriving by air. At this time he began to question Dericourt's loyalty and reported to London his own and other agents' suspicions.

Agazarian became known to the GestapoGestapo is a portmanteau contraction of the name of the official secret police force of Nazi Germany, Geheime Staatspolizei ( German for "secret state police"). History The Gestapo was established on April 26, 1933 in Prussia. With members recruited from and there were several occasions when he narrowly escaped arrest.

SOE Circuit leader Francis Suttill considered Agazarian's continued presence to be a security risk. On June 16, 19431943 is the common year starting on Friday. Events January January 4 End of term for Culbert Olson, 29th Governor of California. He is succeeded by Earl Warren. January 11 The United States and United Kingdom give up territorial rights in China. January 1 Agazarian was returned to England where he reiterated his concerns about Dericourt's loyalty to Nicholas Bodington and Maurice BuckmasterMaurice Buckmaster ( 1910- 1992) was the leader of the French section of Special Operations Executive. Maurice James Buckmaster was born in 1910. He was educated in Eton College but his studies ended when his father went bankrupt. He left school and first, who were nevertheless unconvinced. However, when agent Noor Inyat KhanNoor Inyat Khan ( January 1, 1914 September 11, 1944) was born of an Indian father (Inayat Khan) and an American mother (Ora Ray Baker, who was a relative of Mary Baker Eddy, founder of Christian Science). Princess (she was a descendant of Tipu Sultan, th lost contact with the Prosper group, Baker Street became increasingly concerned. Leo Marks, the SOE's head of codes and ciphers, became convinced that Gilbert Norman, the group's wireless operator, was transmitting under German control.

Agazarian joined Bodington (who was still sceptical) in a mission to France to determine the status of the Prosper network, departing July 22, 1943. Bodington, working through Baker Street, arranged a meeting with Gilbert Norman at a pre-arranged address in the rue de Rome near Gare St-Lazare , but it was Agazarian, not Bodington who went to the meeting.

The concerns about the Prosper network proved well-founded. German forces had indeed compromised the network, and Agazarian was taken prisoner at the meeting. Three members of the network, courier Andrée Borrel, leader Francis Suttill and wireless operator Gilbert Norman, had been in custody since June 23rd and Norman's transmissions had indeed been made by the Germans. Henri Dericourt's role in the loss of the Prosper network remains unclear; after the war he was tried as a double agent but acquitted for lack of evidence.

The arrest of Agazarian, who knew a great deal about the Prosper network, was a massive coup for the Germans. He endured torture for six months at Fresnes prison and was then moved to Flossenbürg concentration camp. After being kept there in solitary confinement, Agazarian was executed on March 29, 1945.

Jack Agazarian is honored on the Runnymede Memorial in Surrey, England and also on the "Roll of Honor" on the Valençay SOE Memorial in the town of Valençay, in the Indre departément of France.