Madeleine Barclay

Infobox Military Person
name=Madeleine Barclay


caption=
born=birth date|1911|2|21
died=death date|1943|6|1
placeofbirth= Paris
placeofdeath= HMS Fidelity off Azores
nickname=
allegiance=United Kingdom, France
branch=Special Operations Executive, WRNS
serviceyears=1941-1943
rank=First Officer
unit=HMS Fidelity
commands=
battles=
awards=
relations=
laterwork=

First Officer Madeleine Bayard, WRNS, (1911-1943), served as Madeleine Barclay on HMS Fidelity, on agent-running operations into Vichy France. She was lost, with the rest of the crew, when the ship was sunk in 1943.

Madeleine Victorine Bayard was born in Paris on February 21 1911, the daughter of Adele Suzanne Bayard (father unknown). There are also references to 'Madeleine Guesclin', a play on her surname as both Du Guesclin and Bayard were famous warriors in medieval France. She served on the French merchant vessel Le Rhin.

After the fall of France, in 1940, the ship escaped to Britain and was accepted for service with SOE. The ship was therefore re-commissioned as HMS Fidelity and the French crew inducted into the Royal Navy.

Bayard was commissioned into the 'Wrens' (WRNS), the Women's Royal Naval Service, becoming a First Officer. She attended her WRNS Officers' Training Course at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich in January 1941, before rejoining her ship on operations for SOE. At the time, it was extremely rare for a Wren, whether rating or officer, to serve afloat.

In November 1942, the Allies landed in French North Africa and the Germans occupied Vichy France as a precaution. It was no longer appropriate to continue the operations to this part of France. However, a new role was considered for HMS Fidelity in the Far East. Large enough to carry her own torpedo-boats (MTBs) and spotter aircraft, she was ideal as a offshore base to mount Commando operations on Japanese-held coasts in South-East Asia. A company (in reality, more a Troop) of 40(RM) Commando was embarked and Fidelity set off on her new mission, joining a convoy for the dangerous initial part of the voyage through the North Atlantic.

Off the Azores, HMS Fidelity was damaged by an attack from U-615, then sunk by U-435 around January 1 1943. There were reports of survivors of the sinking, but HMS Fidelity had herself been rescuing other survivors and was far behind the convoy. A detached MTB reached safety but otherwise all hands were lost.

A biography "Claude and Madeleine:a True Story of War,Espionage and Passion" by Edward Marriott was published in 2005.

Sources and external links

* [http://www.specialforcesroh.com/browse.php?mode=viewiroll&rollid=9885 Information on and photographs of Madeleine Barclay on the Special Forces Roll of Honour] .