Radio Quercy : The Secret Resistance Radio Station Hidden in a French Castle

Radio Quercy, the Incredible Clandestine Radio Station of the Lot Maquis Hidden in a Castle Starting in 1943, a maquis resistance movement developed in the Lot department at the initiative of the Francs-Tireurs et Partisans Français (French Partisans and Snipers), a communist resistance organization. In the spring of 1944, one of its members, a schoolteacher and amateur radio operator, provided a transmitter because the network intended to set up a radio station. The Normandy landings delayed the project, as the resistance fighters then had other priorities, including sabotage operations.

This clandestine station, originally supposed to begin broadcasting in early June, was finally launched a month later. Its story is known thanks to the valuable testimony given after the war to the weekly magazine Radio 45 by Francis Crémieux, who had been appointed head of the station by Jean Cassou, named Commissioner of the Republic for the Toulouse region by General de Gaulle’s Provisional Government after the D-Day landings.

In a Car, Then in a Medieval Tower

At first, Radio Quercy was mobile. It was installed inside a Citroën Traction Avant. However, the first tests were disappointing, and the antenna had to be assembled and dismantled every time. Then Viscountess Annie de Coheix made her Château de Saint-Laurent-les-Tours, near Saint-Céré, available to the FTP resistance fighters. Perched on high ground and flanked by two towers, the medieval fortress was ideal for supporting a radio antenna. In addition to serving as an arms depot, it also became the headquarters of Radio Quercy.

The Most Rustic Studio in the World

But a castle did not necessarily mean comfort. “At first, our broadcasts were made with a microphone consisting of an ice-cream holder, a 1910-model telephone receiver, and a rubber band taken from a strawberry crate. We reached what really had to be called the studio by means of a sort of poorly balanced ladder, recalled Francis Crémieux. We were inside one of the towers, ten meters above the ground, in an atmosphere worthy of Dr. Caligari s office. Two tiny windows with broken panes let the wind through.

A broken glass hanging from a string served as our gong, and when the wind blew and we were not careful, it would hit us in the nose in the middle of a broadcast. During storms, huge sparks formed on the antenna support, which often came loose (… ) Sometimes the power failed. We had a small generator, but the engine made so much noise that it completely drowned out our voices. “

Behind the Microphone of Radio Quercy

Radio Quercy used a one-kilowatt transmitter broadcasting on a wavelength of 36 meters, and a local folk dance tune served as its signature music. “Radio Quercy broadcast twice a day : first a recorded music program around 6 p.m., and then at 10 p.m. a news bulletin (so as not to compete with the London broadcasts), Francis Crémieux remembered. We invited Americans and British members of teams parachuted into the maquis to speak on our microphone. We had the authors themselves sing the songs of the Lot maquis. We interviewed officials responsible for supplies and policing.

We also read many poems Aragon s were especially popular as well as folk tales. André Chamson gave us his first radio commentaries, and we read excerpts from Le Puits du miracle, which still existed only as a manuscript. Jean Marcenac, now editor-in-chief of Le Patriote de Lyon, came personally to read his poems. Jacques Billiet, to whom we owe the exhibition Nazi Crimes, read Aragon s poems. Jean Lurçat (who would later become the owner of the castle), René Huygues, and others sent us unpublished texts. “

A Tragic Accident

Radio reports were produced, notably on August 18 in Brive and August 19 in Cahors, immediately following the liberation of those two cities. The station broadcast every day except for a 48-hour interruption after an accident on August 3. A car carrying a group of resistance fighters and transporting weapons crashed while speeding to avoid the German army.

Three resistance members were killed, including two from the Radio Quercy team (Lacombe and Baland). Annie de Coheix was seriously injured, and Pierre Bordes, the station’s technician, suffered a head injury. Nevertheless, they returned to the airwaves afterward.

From Quercy to Toulouse

At the end of August, new equipment was supposed to increase Radio Quercy‘s broadcasting power. However, following the liberation of Toulouse, the Toulouse-Pyrénées station resumed operations. Francis Crémieux and his team then headed to the Pink City to organize its programming. Radio Quercy stopped broadcasting.