SKIP TO MAIN CONTENT

Voice of French wartime resistance dies

Franck Bauer, the voice of French wartime resistance who broadcast from the BBC studios in London during WWII, has died aged 99.

1 min read

Published

Source: AAP


Skip to article content

Franck Bauer, a French radio broadcaster who transmitted coded messages to underground networks in France during the Nazi occupation, has died at 99.

His son, French singer Axel Bauer, said on Twitter that his father had been the last living announcer of a radio broadcast in French by the BBC in London from 1940 to 1944. He died on Friday.

French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted that Bauer's voice "guided so many perilous operations that led to victory" during World War II.

The broadcast that French citizens secretly listened to with wireless radios gave news from the free world, countered Nazi propaganda and transmitted coded instructions to resistance fighters.

"Ici Londres" - "This is London" - became a code word after Charles De Gaulle's appeal for armed resistance in June 1940.


Get SBS News straight to your inbox

Sign up now for daily news from Australia and around the world. You can also subscribe to Insight's weekly newsletter for in-depth features and first-person stories.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Follow SBS News

Download our apps

Listen to our podcasts

Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service

Stream now

Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world