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// Workers AI · dad joke modeWho's Joseph Dubar? A barber, he's a cut above.

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Joseph Dubar
Nicknames
  • Jean de Roubaix
  • Jean du Nord
  • Jean de Liège
  • Jean Ballois
  • Simon
  • Robert
Born(1899-12-30)30 December 1899
Roubaix, France
Died3 November 1960(1960-11-03) (aged 60)
Roubaix, France
Rank
  • Lieutenant-Colonel (Forces Françaises Combattantes)
  • Major A.R.A. (Belgian Army)
Known forFrench resistance leader
Awards
Spouses
  • Laure Hennion (m. 1924, d. 1945)
  • Renée Lodewyck (m. 1948)
ChildrenJean Dubar (one son from second marriage)
Other worktextile worker, cabinetmaker, knitwear workshop owner

Joseph Dubar (30 December 1899 – 3 November 1960) was a prominent figure in the French resistance during World War II.[1][2] Operating under various aliases such as "Jean du Nord" or "Jean de Roubaix", he founded and led the Ali-France resistance network, playing a crucial role in the evasion of Allied soldiers, the transmission of secret mail, and intelligence gathering.[1][2][3] His merits were recognized after the war with high military ranks and numerous decorations from Allied countries.[4]

Life

[edit]

Joseph Dubar was born into a modest family on 30 December 1899 in the industrial city of Roubaix, located in the Nord department of France. He displayed a talent for drawing and at the age of thirteen started to work in textile manufacturing, a then major industry in Roubaix. In his spare time, he attended the École des Beaux-Arts in Lille, before becoming a cabinetmaker and setting up his own business.[5] His career was interrupted by the outbreak of World War I in 1914.[5]

As a teenager, Dubar opposed the German occupation in World War I. He sabotaged German communication lines by injecting acid into a telephone relay. Having a particular interest in chemistry and electricity and having studied these subjects, by the age of 15 he was able to manufacture his own explosives. Using potash, he committed his first sabotage by blowing up a pylon that supported all the telephone lines of a German headquarters in the Parc Barbieux in Roubaix.[6][7] In 1915, he was arrested by German troops at the age of sixteen and interned in a camp in the Ardennes until the end of the war.[5]

In 1924, Dubar married Laure Hennion, niece of the Socialist mayor of Roubaix Jean-Baptiste Lebas.[8] After the harsh Depression of the 1930s, he opened with his wife, who specialized in hosiery, a small workshop around 1937/38, which operated until he was drafted in early 1940.[1] He became an activist in the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO).[9] His familial and pre-war political connections served as the bedrock for trust and cooperation in the formation and operation of his future resistance groups.[1]

Following the death of his first wife in 1945, Dubar remarried in 1948 to Renée Lodewyck, with whom he had a son, named Jean.[10]

Joseph Dubar passed away from cancer on 3 November 1960, in Roubaix.[11][12] A street in Roubaix was later named in his honor.[13]

Resistance

[edit]

In the aftermath of the Fall of France in 1940, a diverse array of French resistance groups emerged, comprising individuals who were united in their opposition to the Nazi occupation and the collaborationist Vichy regime. These resistant fighters hailed from various social strata and held diverse political affiliations. Early acts of defiance included sabotage, intelligence gathering, and the establishment of clandestine networks to transmit information on the occupying forces to London or to assist British and Belgian soldiers back to the free world.[14][15] Some 2,000 prisoners of war were being cared for in hospitals in Belgium and northern France, and a further 2,000 were roaming the roads.[16] Since the fall of 1940, Marseille had been home to a branch of MI9 and many escapees took refuge in the British Seaman's Mission headed by Donald Caskie.[17]

Very little is known about Dubar's activities in 1940. In January 1940, he was mobilized into the 3rd Engineering Regiment in Arras and participated in the destruction of bridges near Croix, Wasquehal and Roubaix in May–June 1940. On 28 May 1940, his unit was encircled in Lille. However, Dubar refused to surrender and managed to escape and return to his home in Roubaix. Immediately following his return, in June 1940, Dubar entered into clandestine resistance.[18] His initial actions in the Resistance involved assisting British, Belgian and French soldiers who were stranded, isolated, or had escaped from Belgium and Dunkirk. Dubar provided them with shelter, food, and clothing.[6]

It soon became clear in northern France that there were opportunities to evacuate them back to Britain from Fort-Saint-Jean near Marseilles.[17] He was put in touch with Cécile Hermey,[19] a teacher in Roubaix who had accompanied two English soldiers to Marseille during Christmas 1940 and put them in contact with the Pat O'Leary Line and Donald Caskie. Back in Roubaix, Cécile Hermey immediately passed on the information to Dubar, who would use this escape route until July 1941.[1]

Helped by a group of trusted individuals around him, including his wife, Laure Hennion, his uncle Jean-Baptiste Lebas, his cousin Raymond Lebas, Pierre Joly and others, he started to organize an escape route towards unoccupied Marseille. This resistance network became known by its password "CAVIAR".[20][21] The region Lille–Roubaix–Tourcoing became a hub for Franco-Belgian resistance.[22]

In early 1941, Jules Correntin brought him into contact with the Belgian network "Zero".[23][24] Nearly 3,000 Frenchmen, grouped around him and his Belgian comrades, would set up escape and intelligence networks, mail lines, operations centres for parachuting, the aerial removal of mail and the clandestine landing of the Lysander-type "Lizzies".[25][26] These Frenchmen had chosen to serve in Belgian formations, which without them could not have operated in French territory and were indispensable to relations with Great Britain.[27] Together with Paul Joly, nicknamed "Caviar", Joseph Dubar arranged also the evacuation of Belgian aviators eager to join their comrades in the Royal Air Force squadrons.[28][29][30] Under the name of "Jean du Nord", he personally ensured the evacuation to Marseille of most of the aviators of the Belgian Military Aeronautics who escaped from Belgium to reach Great Britain.[1][2][31] From July 1940 to July 1941, he was personally responsible for the evacuation of around a hundred British soldiers, including a brigadier general.[citation needed]

In July 1941, at the request of Captain Pierre Vandermies, a resistance network was officially set up, initially taking the name "Caviar" then that of Ali-France, and was placed directly under the orders of the Belgian services in London.[3] Dubar was responsible for receiving the so-called "Jean de la Lune" (John of the Moon), the Belgian agents and their equipment parachuted into France. By July 1943, he had flown 21 such missions, picking up a large majority of the Belgians parachuted into France without accident with the help of his associates.[3] With his Belgian comrades, network leaders in France and under the command of "Walter", he participated in the evacuation of escaped death row inmates, undercover agents and Belgian political figures.[2] In 1942, he helped to create a Delbo network in Paris and, in July 1942, to create the Zéro-France network in Roubaix.[25][23]

From the very beginning, the German police hunted Dubar under the name "Jean de Roubaix". On 21 May 1941, his wife, her uncle Lebas and his cousin were arrested.[32] His wife Laure Dubar, also a socialist and resistance activist, died in deportation to Bergen-Belsen on 10 April 1945.[8][33][34]

In 1943, he was responsible for locating and photographing the launch pad and V2 rocket depots, and thanks to René Fonson,[21] he obtained accurate data and photos that would allow the destruction of the V-2 launching blockhaus in the Eperlecques forest in August 1943.[35] At the request of London, following the arrest of Joly in July 1943, Dubar joined the British capital in December 1943.[36]

On 8 May 1944, he parachuted again with radio operator René Bruaux. The two men's mission was to evacuate mail by air, receive containers and parachuted agents. They ensured liaison with the Belgian Courier Command Post (PCC) for all Belgian organisations in France as well as for Zéro-France.[37][38] Joseph Dubar ceased his resistance activities during the summer of 1944. He ended the war with the rank of lieutenant-colonel in the French Combatant Forces, while Belgium promoted him to the rank of Major as an Agent de Renseignement et d'Action (ARA).[2][4]

For the entire duration of the war, official records estimate the number of men, military or civilian, French, Belgian and British, transported to the free zone or Spain by Joseph Dubar at around seven hundred.[39][40][41]

Decorations

[edit]

His merits were recognized after the war with high military ranks and numerous decorations from Allied countries. Dubar received the following decorations:[4][2][10]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Verhoeyen, Etienne (1994). "Un réseau belge du Nord : Ali-France". Revue du Nord (in French). 76 (306): 545–564. doi:10.3406/rnord.1994.4929. Archived from the original on 2024-09-05. Retrieved 2025-04-16.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Coekelbergs, Roger Baron (2015). Cools, Marc; Libert, Robin; Pashley, Veerle; Raes, Jaak; Stans, David; Vandecasteele, Renaat (eds.). Memorial volume intelligence and actions agents. Antwerpen-Apeldoorn: Maklu. ISBN 978-90-466-0786-2.
  3. 1 2 3 Fosty, J. (2017-10-30). "Les réseaux belges de France" (PDF). Cahiers d'Histoire de la seconde guerre mondiale, II, 1972, 1, pp. 79–111. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2024-09-16. Retrieved 2025-04-13.
  4. 1 2 3 "Mort d'un héroïque résistant, M. Joseph Dubar – Press clipping". www.memoire14-45.eu (in French). Retrieved 2025-04-13.
  5. 1 2 3 Piat, Jean (2021-08-03), "DUBAR Joseph", Le Maitron (in French), Paris: Maitron/Editions de l'Atelier, archived from the original on 2024-05-05, retrieved 2025-04-19
  6. 1 2 Martin, Youenn (4 September 2004). "Georges Dubar : "Mon frère ce héros"". Nord-Eclair (in French). Archived from the original on 19 April 2025. Retrieved 7 December 2025.
  7. ↑ Dubar, Georges. "Biographie de Joseph DUBAR". delmax.free.fr. Archived from the original on 2025-04-19. Retrieved 2025-04-20.
  8. 1 2 Piat, Jean (2008-10-25), "DUBAR Laure", Le Maitron (in French), Paris: Maitron/Editions de l'Atelier, retrieved 2025-04-13
  9. ↑ "Joseph Dubar, une figure Roubaisienne". delmax.free.fr. Archived from the original on 2023-03-26. Retrieved 2025-04-13.
  10. 1 2 "Obituary of Joseph Dubar". Joseph Dubar, une figure Roubaisienne. Archived from the original on 2025-04-19. Retrieved 2025-04-20.
  11. ↑ "Les funérailles de M. Joseph Dubar". Nord-Eclair (in French). 7 November 1960. Archived from the original on 19 April 2025. Retrieved 7 December 2025.
  12. ↑ "Mort d'un héroïque résistant M. Joseph Dubar". Nord-Eclair (in French). November 1960. Archived from the original on 2025-04-19. Retrieved 2025-04-20.
  13. ↑ "Rues de Roubaix Rue Joseph Dubar". Nord-Eclair (in French). 31 March 1996. Archived from the original on 19 April 2025. Retrieved 7 December 2025.
  14. ↑ Wieviorka, Olivier (2016). The French Resistance. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-73122-6.
  15. ↑ "Jean du Nord, héros de la résistance franco-belge, est mort à Roubaix". Le Soir (in French). 6 November 1960. Archived from the original on 19 April 2025. Retrieved 7 December 2025.
  16. ↑ Foot, Michael R. D.; Langley, James Maydon; Templer, Gerald (1979). MI 9: the British secret service that fostered escape and evasion 1939–1945 and its American counterpart. London: Bodley Head. p. 63. ISBN 978-0-370-30086-3.
  17. 1 2 Rousseau, Michel (1984). "Deux Réseaux Britanniques Dans La Région Du Nord: Le Réseau « Garrow-Pat O'leary » Et Le Réseau « Farmer »". Revue d'histoire de la Deuxième Guerre mondiale et des conflits contemporains (in French). 34 (135): 87–108. ISSN 0755-1584.
  18. ↑ Caudron, André (1994). "Roubaix « capitale de la Résistance » (été 1940-printemps 1941)". Revue du Nord. 76 (306): 511–517. doi:10.3406/rnord.1994.4924. Archived from the original on 2024-09-05. Retrieved 2025-12-07.
  19. ↑ Vandenbussche, Robert, ed. (2009), "Jugement du Tribunal militaire allemand de Lille", La clandestinité en Belgique et en zone interdite (1940–1944), Histoire et littérature du Septentrion (IRHiS) (in French), Lille: Publications de l’Institut de recherches historiques du Septentrion, pp. 241–244, ISBN 978-2-490296-15-6, archived from the original on 2025-05-03, retrieved 2025-04-20
  20. ↑ Dubar, Joseph. "Historique du Réseau "ALI"". delmax.free.fr. Archived from the original on 2025-04-19. Retrieved 2025-04-20.
  21. 1 2 Piat, Jean (13 March 1985). "René Fonson, il avait espionné le bunker pour les alliés". Nord-Eclair (in French). Archived from the original on 19 April 2025. Retrieved 7 December 2025.
  22. ↑ Caudron, André (1994). "Roubaix « capitale de la Résistance » (été 1940-printemps 1941)". Revue du Nord. 76 (306): 511–517. doi:10.3406/rnord.1994.4924. Archived from the original on 2024-09-05. Retrieved 2025-04-16.
  23. 1 2 Leclère, Françoise (1966). "La Composition D'un Réseau: « Zéro France »". Revue d'histoire de la Deuxième Guerre mondiale. 16 (61): 75–86. ISSN 0035-2314. JSTOR 25730026.
  24. ↑ Van Crombrugge, Yaëlle (2013). Les espions Zéro dans l'ombre du pouvoir, 1940–1944. Bruxelles: Racine. ISBN 978-2-87386-839-0.
  25. 1 2 CRRL (2014-03-07). "Résistance Intérieure : Opération Scénery II – Assais-les-Jumeaux". www.crrl.fr (in French). Archived from the original on 2024-10-10. Retrieved 2025-04-13.
  26. ↑ "Assais-les-Jumeaux. Une stèle en souvenir de 1943". Ouest-France. 2023-06-18.
  27. ↑ CRRL (2007-01-01). "Zéro-France : Opération Scénery I – Périgné". www.crrl.fr (in French). Archived from the original on 2024-07-17. Retrieved 2025-04-13.
  28. ↑ "Les ménapiens sont puissants". www.freebelgians.be. Archived from the original on 2021-12-01. Retrieved 2025-04-13.
  29. ↑ "Personnages historiques – Société d'émulation de Roubaix" (in French). 2023-06-07. Archived from the original on 2025-04-13. Retrieved 2025-04-13.
  30. ↑ Étienne Dejonghe, Yves Le Maner, Le Nord-Pas-de-Calais dans la main allemande, Lille, La Voix du Nord Éditions, 1999, p. 178–179.
  31. ↑ Jean Fosty, historian of Belgian networks in France, notes that eight-tenths of the Belgians parachuted into the Resistance were "picked" without accident by "Jean du Nord" and his associates.
  32. ↑ Louis Lévy (translated by William Pickles): France is a Democracy. Left Book Club Edition, London: Victor Gollancz, 1943, p. 58.
  33. ↑ "Qui est Laure?". www.bn-r.fr (in French). Retrieved 2025-04-13.
  34. ↑ "Le Nord, un observatoire privilégié de la résistance féminine". www.cheminsdememoire.gouv.fr. Archived from the original on 2025-03-26. Retrieved 2025-04-13.
  35. ↑ Piat, Jean (7 September 1984). "Joseph Dubar : Il a même photographié (de l'intérieur) le blockhaus aux "V2" d'Eperlecques !". Nord-Eclair (in French). Archived from the original on 19 April 2025. Retrieved 7 December 2025.
  36. ↑ Lyman, Robert (2014-07-31). The Jail Busters: The Secret Story of MI6, the French Resistance and Operation Jericho. Quercus. ISBN 978-1-78206-538-8.
  37. ↑ Ugeux, William (1979). Histoires de resistants (in French). Paris-Gembloux: Duculot. ISBN 978-2-8011-0240-4.
  38. ↑ "René Bruaux ou l'art du pianiste ". 1939-1945 La Belgique au combat. 2007-09-28. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 2025-04-17.
  39. ↑ Tillet, Pierre (2024). "Tentative de reconstitution de l'historique des in(ex)filtrations d'agents en France de 1940 à 1945" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2010-09-23. Retrieved 2025-04-16.
  40. ↑ Bodson, Herman (2005-09-27). Downed Allied Airmen and Evasion of Capture: The Role of Local Resistance Networks in World War II. McFarland. p. 59. ISBN 978-0-7864-2216-6.
  41. ↑ Bohée, Francis (1 November 2003). "Joseph Dubar Héros méconnu". Nord-Eclair (in French). Archived from the original on 19 April 2025. Retrieved 20 April 2025.
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