In February Passy joined up with the left-wing Pierre Brossolette, sometimes presented as the real hero of the Resistance, in northern France Accompanied by Flight-Lieutenant F.F.E. Yeo-Thomas, in six weeks they made a systematic survey of the situation and made Paris the capital of the Resistance.Once the Liberation of France began Passy turned to combat. In August 1944 he parachuted to Brittany, near to Guincamp, and joined the Breton resistance. They captured the important part of Paimpol and took many German prisoners.In 1945 with one job ended, de Gaulle expressed his admiration for Dewavrin (who in England had been awarded the DSO and MC) by putting him in charge of intelligence, in the Ministry of Defence. His position there became insecure once de Gaulle resigned in 1946, and he left the post.But de Gaulle’s successor listened readily to the story that he had provided a considerable amount of money for the launching of the newspaper France- Soir. For a time Dewavrin was imprisoned, accused of having misused office funds that had been destined for the Resistance. But he was released and nothing was ever proved.From then he interested himself in business, particularly in the Banque Worms.

He was involved in many controversies over events from 1940 to 1945, including a lively quarrel with the eminent British historian M.R.D. Foot (who had had a distinguished military career in the services concerned). Dewavrin did not agree with Foot’s history of the SOE.Andre Dewavrin also shocked many Gaullists when he praised Francois Mitterrand as a resistance leader and urged the French to vote for him in 1981.Andre Lucien Charles Dewavrin (Colonel Passy), soldier and resistance fighter: born Paris 9 June 1911; twice married (two sons, one daughter); died Paris 20 December 1998.. First week in January Muscles are flabby Stomachs are bloated.

Time to get fit! But where? How? Vivienne Heller rounds up the advice of the experts on how best to get in shape for 1999 All together now: bend and str-e-e-tch… 10 BEST HEALTH SPAS
10 BEST GYMS10 BEST ADVENTURE ACTIVITIES10 BEST ALTERNATIVES10 BEST THERAPIESTHE EXPERTSl Sarah Owen, an experienced health and beauty journalist for Cosmopolitan and Marie Claire, is presently acting deputy beauty editor on Woman’s Journal, and is the personification of a healthy, holistic approach to life.l An award-winning athlete in his teens, personal trainer Dave Baptiste now devotes his time to coaxing a star-spangled clientele into a healthier way of life and acting as fitness adviser to magazines.l Intrepid explorer Rupert Isaacson is the author of The Action Guide to Britain (Harvill Press, pounds 12.99), and so is in an ideal position to offer advice on adventurous routes to rude health.l Katie Harris has run a beauty clinic at the Metropolitan Club, Kingly St, W1, for the last 10 years. An ardent alternative-therapy fan, she incorporates the best of those she has experienced into her treatments, resulting in a devoted clientele.l All but one of the gyms listed were finalists in the 1998 Flame Awards, awarded annually by the Fitness Industry Association on the basis of their fitness leadership and management excellence.1CHAMPNEYS, HERTSMore than 60 years have passed since this mansion welcomed its first clients, but Champneys remains, according to Marcelle d’Argy Smith, former editor of Cosmopolitan, the “Rolls-Royce” of health spas. Never mind that they all worship the same gods and eat the same monkeys.Tony Blair is not a tribalist. He does not believe in the mystical superiority of his team over the other lot, and I think that is why he now leans, intellectually, towards electoral reform It is also what the voters (quite rightly) like about him.

OFFICIALS FROM the Financial Services Authority, the City watchdog, yesterday took charge of Griffin Trading, the troubled futures clearing agent, as it emerged that the trader whose losses caused the firm’s difficulties was John Park, a former Credit Suisse First Boston futures dealer who operated independently out of Griffin’s City premises. Even in Gary, only 79 murders have been committed so far this year, down about 15 per cent from last year.California’s population is rising rapidly again as the outflow of emigration to the western states starts to reverse, says to the US Census Bureau.It said that total US population rose by 1 per cent to 270,299,000 at July 1. The national average murder rate is 6.8 per 100,000, which compares with a rate of 2 per 100,000 in Scotland in 1996 and 1 per 100,000 in England.The violent crime rate in the United States fell almost 7 percent in 1997 to the lowest level since standardised records were first collected 25 years ago, the US Justice Department reported earlier in the week.There were an estimated 39 violent crimes per 1,000 US residents 12 years or older, a 21 per cent drop since 1993. Chicago, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, San Antonio and San Diego have all seen a decline, though in most cases it is back to the levels of the 1980s and 1970s, while Dallas and Phoenix saw small increases.New York City police investigated 586 murders from 1 January until 13 December, a staggering drop of nearly 20 per cent from the same period in 1997. Under Turkey’s secular constitution, religious dress is forbidden in public.At St Dimitrios, a beautiful old church full of valuable icons, only four services are held a year “There aren’t enough priests to hold any more,” he says. “We don’t even have enough people left to look after the churches,” says Fr Tarasios “I wish they’d stay, but I understand why they don’t They feel like second-class citizens here.