SECRET.

M.I.9/S/P.G(-)2773.

EVADED CAPTURE IN FRANCE.

The information contained in this report is to be treated as

SECRET.

STATEMENT BY

13301332 Cpl. EDWARDS, Frank (FEDOSOEEFF, Michael), 2nd Special Air Service Regt.

Left : PARIS, 18 Nov 44. Arrived : CROYDON, 18 Nov 44.

Date of Birth: 16 Oct 15 at KISHINEV, Peacetime Profession: Lawyer.

Bessarabia. (Qualified at LOUVAIN University in 1936).

Army Service : Since Jul 43.

(Previously French Private Address: Not given.

Foreign Legion since 1938).

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15 Sep 44, I left an aerodrome in the U.K. on 15 Sep 44 about

Parachuted from 2130 hours on a special operation in the region of

aircraft near LIXING LES LANNING (Moselle, FRANCE)(GERMANY, 1:250,000,

LIXING LES Sheet K 50, (wQ 24), along with eleven others. I was

LANNING. parachuted from an aircraft about 2350 hours. In coming

down I hit a window in a farmhouse and hurt my back. I

fell into a garden and could not move for about an hour

but although someone looked out of the window no-one

came out of the house.

About 0040 hours (16 Sep) I heard machine gun fire

about 50 metres from me. I listened to single shots and

then a small German lorry crossed the road. Taking my

rations and tommy gun I went away from the firing hoping

to hide till I could reach our r.v. point. About 0400

hours I saw German soldiers in a truck searching the

district and I moved back into the wood. The Germans

searched the wood and I remained there for two days.

Hid in woods It was raining heavily and this reduced the German search.

for several days. I stayed in the wood till 18 Sep.

During the night of 18/19 Sep I went into an

adjoining wood. German patrols were still going round

the farmhouse. I remained in the wood for about three

days being unable to walk. On the third day I heard a

/farmer asking a .....

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INTERVIEWED BY: I.S.9(W). 20 Nov 44. APPENDIX A.

Distribution: I.S.9.

Distribution of this Report by M.I.9: I.S.9(A.B.). I.S.9(W.E.A.).

D.D.M.I.(P/W)(2 copies). M.I.9. M.I.5 I.S.9(W)(File).

I.S.9. I.S.9(W). I.S.9(X).

I.S.9(W.E.A.)(2 copies). I.S.9(A.B.).

M.I.9(d)(12 copies). M.I.19. M.I.5

(Lt.Col. Seymer). M.O.1(S.P.)(Lt.Col.

Butters). A.L.O.,M.I.9.

P.W. & X Det. MIS, ETOUSA.

Lt.Col. H.B.A. de Bruyne (3 copies).

G.S.I. H.Q. Airborne Troops.

Air 2 (2 copies). H.Q. S.A.S.

File.

- 2 -

farmer asking a German soldier if they had got all the

parachutists. The soldier replied they had got nearly

all of them.

I then started to walk to get through the lines.

On 13 Sep, two days before we took off on the operation

the Americans were reported to be in CHATEAU SALINS

(N.W. EUROPE, 1:250,000, Sheet 9, Q 1125). I went

through BRULANGE (Q 1342) to MARTHILLE (Q 1337) walking

1 Oct 44, in easy stages and reaching MARTHILLE about 0200 hours

Reached on about 1 Oct. I got no help at all on the journey

MARTHILLE. and did not approach anyone as we had been told that

the district was full of German peasants. I had a

24-hour ration and a pack of food with which we had been

issued before leaving and I also ate apples and carrots

from the fields.

Hid in barn for When I arrived, MARTHILLE was about half empty. I

five days. went into a barn and hid on top of the straw. About

0400 hours a German supply column arrived at the farm and

two lorries were put into the barn. There were Germans

in the barn all the time and I was unable to leave for

the next five days. On the second morning (2 Oct) I

was able to speak to a Ukranian worker who was with the

German soldiers. I told him I was a Russian P/W from

GERMANY and that I was trying to get through the lines

and asked for his help. He said the Germans would move

in four days. He brought me a civilian suit and every

day gave me half his food. The Ukranian was batman to

a German lieutenant who was sleeping in a French house

in the village. The French owner of this house had

a Russian worker who had been brought from RUSSIA in

1943. The Ukranian had told this Russian who I was and

Contacted farmer when the Germans left I met the Russian who took me to

who provided the farm and introduced me to the farmer. The farmer

shelter. was very pro-Ally and anti-German and agreed to help me.

He gave me a room and allowed me to pass as one of his

workers.

The night after I went to the farm a large German

patrol surrounded MARTHILLE and took all the young men

as a reprisal for the destruction of a bridge and the

cutting of a telephone line. I was among those taken

and at the Kommandantur I was asked for identity papers.

I said I was a Russian worker employed in CHATEAU SALINS,

that my father had been taken prisoner by Americans,

that the village had been bombed and that I had run away

and lost my papers and clothes. The Germans issued me

with a new identity card (8 Oct). I returned to the farm,

the farmer having obtained permission from the Germans on

the plea that he required workers. The Kommandant made him

responsible that I would not run away. I remained at

the farm till 13 Nov. During this time I was issued with

another typewritten identity certificate in which I was

described as a Polish alien worker. I also obtained from

the farmer a French identity card.

At the farm I was employed doing odd jobs including

the cleaning of a threshing machine and wood cutting.

There were German soldiers and officers billeted at the

farm. About three weeks before the arrival of the

American troops we took the threshing machine to the

village of DALHAIN (Q 1433). Twice on Saturday night

I tried to get through the lines but was unable to do so.

/On 8 Nov ....

- 3 -

On 8 Nov the offensive in the METZ area began and

DALHAIN was shelled. The German peasants panicked and

ran away. I returned to the farmer in MARTHILLE and

stayed with him making an air raid shelter in the

cellar. On 12 Nov twelve Germans including one officer

arrived at the farm and went into the cellar saying

they were fed up of the war and would wait till the

Americans arrived.

13 Nov 44, On 13 Nov at 1330 hours the first American soldiers

Contacted arrived. I got them to pick up the twelve Germans.

American troops. The Americans would not believe I was a parachutist.

I was sent to an American colonel to whom I gave

information about the German positions and location

of German mines. I was taken to a large P/W cage in

CHATEAU SALINS. From there I was sent to the American

headquarters at TOULON and then to PARIS (16 Nov). On

18 Nov I was flown from PARIS to CROYDON. I was not

interrogated in FRANCE except by the Americans at

MARTHILLE.