Michael Trotobas led many successful sabotage operations before being betrayed by a member of his network and killed in a gun battle with the German military police.
23 Facts About Michael Trotobas
1.
2.
Michael Trotobas was born 20 May 1914 in Brighton, England the son of Henri Michael Trotobas, originally from the Provence region of France, and Agnes Whelan from near Dublin, Ireland.
3.
Michael Trotobas became a weapons instructor, a good swimmer, and the regiment's light heavyweight boxing champion.
4.
Michael Trotobas commanded a platoon as a Platoon sergeant major and was wounded during the Dunkirk Evacuation in 1940.
5.
Michael Trotobas came to the attention of SOE because of his ability to speak French and on 2 April 1941 became a member of the organization.
6.
Michael Trotobas unfastened the lower strands of the double barbed-wire fence to permit the prisoners to crawl under.
7.
At one point a French guard came within 6 metres of Michael Trotobas, who was prepared to kill the guard if necessary.
8.
Unlike many SOE agents whose priority at that time in the war was to gather intelligence and arm and organize resistance groups, Michael Trotobas's job was explicitly sabotage.
9.
Michael Trotobas's first recruit was Emmanuel Lemercier, a bookseller and a former French soldier with extensive contacts, who he met during a card game.
10.
Michael Trotobas established his headquarters, which became a bee-hive of activity, in a back room of the Aquarium Cafe owned by Madeleine Thirou near the center of Lille.
11.
Michael Trotobas often dressed in the uniform of a French policeman.
12.
Michael Trotobas insisted that each of his recruits be fully informed of the risks he or she was taking, sign an oath pledging to follow orders and never to reveal information about the network and its members, and agree to a 17-item list of duties and obligations.
13.
Michael Trotobas kept his location and travels secret from all but a few sector and group leaders.
14.
In February 1943, Michael Trotobas organized his first successful sabotage mission, derailing 40 railway cars and closing the railroad for two days.
15.
For communication, arms, supplies, and money Michael Trotobas was initially forced to rely on what the Prosper network in Paris would give him.
16.
Michael Trotobas frequented bars, sought out women companions, and spent freely.
17.
Michael Trotobas assigned him to take charge of the Arras sector of the Farmer network, but Reeve upset the tight-knit group heading the Farmer network.
18.
Michael Trotobas was called "the human arsenal" for his habit of carrying two or three revolvers on his person.
19.
Michael Trotobas planned to send Lemercier to England to get him out of the way, but before that could happen, Reeve executed Lemercier on 3 November 1943.
20.
Reeve lasted less than 2 hours between his capture and leading the Germans to the house where Michael Trotobas was staying, although Reeve later said he believed that Michael Trotobas would not be present in the house.
21.
Michael Trotobas was in fact there and at 7 am the German military police broke into the house.
22.
Michael Trotobas resisted and killed the leader of the German raiders and wounded another German before being killed himself.
23.
Michael Trotobas was declared ineligible for a Victoria Cross as no senior officer was present to report on his actions.