The story of Pierre and Gabrielle GUILBERT,
Resistance fighters from Yerres

They are not the only members of the Resistance from Yerres; our streets also honor the memory of fellow citizens killed during the 1944 uprising: Jean LEGRAND (August 21, 1944), Guy GOTTHELF (August 25, 1944), and Jacques BOUTY (August 25, 1944). However, in Yerres, no woman has left a name associated with her involvement in the Resistance, even though there was at least one: Gabrielle GUILBERT.

In fact, many wives, partners, or relatives joined the networks fighting against the occupiers, but the era made the Resistance, here as elsewhere, an entirely male movement, and as time passed, the memory of these women faded or, at the very least, grew dim. The GUILBERT couple, Pierre and his wife Gabrielle, left their mark on the history of Yerres during World War II through their active participation in the local Resistance, and it is a fitting tribute to them today to tell their story.

In the 1930s, the GUILBERT family settled in Berck (Pas-de-Calais); Pierre was born in Boulogne-sur-Mer in April 1908. A garage owner, he ran a large garage (holding about 100 cars). On July 6, 1932, in Bercy, he married Gabrielle Gossiôme, who was born in Lille on September 13, 1909. They had two daughters, Cécile, born in 1936, and Nicole, born in 1937. Pierre was called up on September 3, 1939, upon the declaration of war, as a medical driver in the 6th Autonomous Artillery Group1, with which he would participate in the 1939–40 campaign. He appears to have received training as a nurse. He was taken prisoner on June 25, 1940, in Étival (near Saint-Dié) in the Vosges region and interned in various stalags2. There, he drew attention to himself by accusing the Germans of violating the Geneva Convention. Employed as a nurse in the camp’s infirmary, he helped his comrades pretend to be seriously ill so they could be evacuated to France. He himself managed to be repatriated and reunited with his family on June 19, 1943.

We will now take a closer look at Gabrielle’s course and then return to the couple’s story once Pierre returns.

Gabrielle joins the Resistance

With the Pas-de-Calais coast under German occupation as part of preparations for a landing in England, she left Berck—most likely in 1940—to go to her grandparents’ estate in Yerres, and she joined the Resistance in July 1940 as part of the OCM (Organisation Civile et Militaire Civil and Military Organization) group3; let’s hear from her. Asked after the war to write an intelligence report, here is an excerpt from what she wrote and signed in her own hand.

There was no armed action in occupied France at that time4, and the resistance movements, beyond the desire to keep the flame alive, were content—and this was a great deal, as it could lead to their members’ deportation—to learn to operate clandestinely, to organize, to gather intelligence, to rescue and smuggle through Spain Allied airmen shot down over France, to forge false papers, and so on. Organizing was likely the first thing Gabrielle set out to do, and she formed what was called the AGRO sector, an acronym whose meaning we do not know. We are, however, somewhat more familiar with her area of responsibility (see appendix), which included the towns of Draveil, Soisy-sur-Seine, Montgeron, Tigery, La Faisanderie (Sénart Forest), Brunoy, Yerres, Crosnes, etc. The Sénart Forest, which houses a branch of the Eaux-et-Forêts at La Faisanderie, is a very convenient place to conceal clandestine activities. We have no information about her contacts, nor about the members of the AGRO sector.

How did she join the OCM? The complete secrecy surrounding the network’s inception suggests a connection through neighbors, but we do not know whether the opportunity arose by chance or whether she volunteered to help one of her relatives. Her daughter Nicole tells us that her mother knew a certain Madame Quesnay (whom we will discuss later), the widow of a renowned economist at the time; the OCM was founded by Maxime Blocq-Mascart, also a renowned economist.

Another hypothesis is that Gabrielle is the niece of Maurice Gossiôme, a bookseller and printer in Paris on rue de Turbigo who belonged to the “Brutus” network, which itself was part of… the OCM. Maurice printed forged documents by counterfeiting rubber stamps supplied to him by another member of the network.

Here is what Nicole, her daughter, wrote on January 4, 2025, and it may be this man she is referring to:

“I knew Mom had a very hard time finding food for us. She went to the farm every day to get the little milk we were entitled to. It was sold by the ladleful and had to be boiled before drinking. She also spent hours standing in line… “Actually, she was in charge of running the household for Grandma and Louise, her elderly maid. I’m sure it was a relief for Uncle Maurice to have her there, given their ages.”

In any case, this early commitment is admirable, especially since she had two very young daughters to care for and her husband was a prisoner in Germany. Let’s also remember that for a woman at the time, taking charge of a resistance group was not a common occurrence!

She worked actively to distribute leaflets and underground newspapers, while organizing the hiding of escaped prisoners, draft dodgers, and hunted-down resistance fighters within forestry and agricultural organizations, never hesitating to shelter them in her own home whenever necessary. But her commitment didn’t stop there: she gathered and passed on crucial military intelligence to her superiors, particularly regarding the coastal defenses of the English Channel (the region where she lived at the start of the war). She also distributed fake identity and ration cards—perhaps the very ones provided by Maurice—and transported weapons and secret Resistance documents. At the start of the occupation, women were less likely to be suspected than men and were checked less often, but this would not last.

Pierre joins the Resistance

Back home, as the saying goes. Pierre would soon join the Resistance as well, his wife having paved the way for him, and he appears to have taken command of the group, continuing the same activities. From then on, Pierre and Gabrielle would work together. Nicole explains that “…when our father returned from captivity, we went to live with Madame Quesnay because of their roles in the Resistance—if not in Yerres, then at least in the region. The headquarters of their network was in Draveil.” The Guilberts thus kept their children safe. Pierre then took on a pseudonym: “Jacques”, as was customary in the networks. The OCM would join the FFI (French Forces of the Interior), a military organization established in February 1944, like nearly all the major resistance movements except the FTP (Freelancers and Partisans).

Pierre was provisionally appointed FFI captain on June 5, 1944, by a certain Colonel Personne, but his rank was not definitively confirmed until July 2, 1945. It should be noted that no archives mention his appointment to the rank of lieutenant, as is usually the case prior to promotion to a higher rank.

The Guilberts and the Château de Villiers in Draveil

In Draveil, at the Château de Villiers5, Viscount François d’Origny—who served during the 1940 campaign as a liaison officer between the French Air Force and the Royal Air Force—and his wife Gilonne, a staunch Gaullist, took up residence; They joined the OCM in October 1940. This network gathered intelligence and arranged for the repatriation to England of Allied airmen shot down over France. The Château de Villiers, where Viscountess Gilonne d’Origny was very active, became a gathering point for these airmen before their evacuation. It was there that the Guilberts worked for the Resistance. They led a largely clandestine life, carrying out all the missions entrusted to them while evading the Gestapo and the Milice. In the spring of 1944, the Gestapo, knowing that the D-Day landings were imminent, intensified its crackdown, and all the networks at that time suffered arrests that would decapitate some of them. The Guilberts managed to escape this. According to some sources6, Pierre then commanded a “reconnaissance group” named “Isle de France”.

With the prospect of the D-Day landings approaching, the resistance movements were focused on transforming themselves into genuine military units. To fight, they needed weapons—and weapons were in short supply across all movements, as the British and Americans were providing only meager supplies to what were known as the maquis. These weapons are airdropped at night after a code indicating the date is received. Finding suitable locations for this type of operation became essential, as weapons could obviously only be airdropped in appropriate areas where the supplies had to be immediately retrieved and camouflaged before redistribution. This task became a major concern for Pierre Guilbert, whose unit was eagerly awaiting the weapons. The search would end tragically.

The Disappearance of Pierre Guilbert

Around August 10, 1944, the local Resistance, through Colonel-Count Chevert (whose real name was Pierre André Chavane), who had established his headquarters at the Château de Villiers, prepared an operation to retrieve weapons promised by a mysterious Captain Jack, supposedly belonging to the British Intelligence Service. To do so, he decided to requisition the trucks from the Water and Forestry Department’s worksite based at the Faisanderie de Sénart and headed by a certain André Labussière. An informant reported to Colonel Chevert that Mr. Labussière spoke perfect German. On Saturday, August 12, in Mr. Labussière’s absence, Colonel Chevert requisitioned the trucks. On Monday, August 14, the latter went to the Château de Villiers to retrieve at least one of the trucks. He was immediately arrested and interrogated. He confessed that his name was Charles Zimmer and that he was born in Würzburg, Germany, a Lithuanian Jewish refugee. His entire family had become naturalized French citizens. Unwilling or unable to reveal his ties to the French Resistance, he was executed on the night of August 14–15, 1944, and buried in the castle grounds. There is therefore a possibility that this man was a Gestapo informant7.

The Ambush on Leroux Street

Plaque commémorative9 on Leroux Street HERE SEVEN PATRIOTS … From the G.R. Ile-de-France French Forces of the Interior Fell into an ambush and were slaughtered On August 17, 1944 By the Gestapo and the SS THE FIRST TO GIVE THEIR LIVES FOR THE LIBERATION OF PARIS

Despite this, on August 16, 1944, a group of seven Resistance fighters set out from the Château de Villiers toward Paris to search for weapons. Among the fighters, Pierre Guilbert, “Captain,” from Yerres, set out on this perilous mission. Other trucks departed from various points in the Île-de-France region heading toward Porte Maillot. The one from Draveil, delayed by a breakdown, arrived later than expected. On board were, among others, Pierre Guilbert and two uniformed gendarmes intended to facilitate passage through the German checkpoints.

Once there, a man posing as a guide leads them to Rue Leroux in the 16th arrondissement. It is actually a trap set by a French Gestapo agent, Guy Marcheret8, alias “Captain Jack”. One of the resistance fighters realizes it is a trap and shoots the guide, triggering a shootout. Pierre Guilbert and his companions found themselves caught in enemy fire. Two men were killed immediately, while the survivors, including Pierre Guilbert, were captured, taken to the courtyard at 14 Rue Leroux, and executed. Their bodies were then transported to the Grande Cascade in the Bois de Boulogne along with those of other Resistance fighters who had been shot.

The news of this tragedy caused a stir among the Resistance fighters gathered at the Château de Villiers. There were fears that the identification of the gendarmes would lead the Gestapo to Draveil to carry out reprisals. This did not happen, however, because the French Gestapo unit to which Marcheret belonged, satisfied with its “feat,” left Paris for Nancy as early as August 17.

Pierre Guilbert was declared “dead for France” and posthumously made a Knight of the Legion of Honor by General de Gaulle on October 29, 1945. This promotion included the award of the Croix de Guerre with palm, and he was also awarded the Medal of the Resistance. His citation begins with the words: “An officer who has always demonstrated the purest patriotism and complete selflessness…” and ends with “…fell gloriously in the line of duty.” He also appears to have received another citation on June 16, 1945, this one signed by Koenig10 on behalf of the army corps.