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A burial in the cemetery.

Jean-Maurice MUTHULAR-D'ERRECALDE was born on May 10, 1911 in the sixth arrondissement of Paris, at 62, rue Monsieur le Prince. He was shot by German forces on August 12, 1944 in the valley of Signes, in the Var department.

Coming from a Basque family, Jean-Maurice was the son of Jeanne-Marie Errecalde, cook, and Jean-Baptiste Muthular, guardian of the peace. After studying law, he became a lawyer in New York. In 1935, he married Édith Maria Hélène Wertheimer, of German Jewish origin. Faced with the rise of Nazism, the family emigrated to the United States in 1939.

Engagement in the Resistance: On October 13, 1942, Jean-Maurice joined the American army. He was a naturalized American citizen on July 15, 1943 in Georgia, adopting the name Jean-Maurice MUTHULAR-D'ERRECALDE. As First Lieutenant of the infantry, he was recruited by the Office of Strategic Services (OSS).

On the night of June 13, 1944, under the pseudonym "Lucas", he was parachuted in Vaucluse, near Beaumont-de-Pertuis, as part of an interallied mission preparatory to the landing in Provence. His mission was to contact the local Resistance and transmit withdrawal orders for the maquis tested by German repression. He collaborated with figures such as Henry Chanay, head of the "Michel" inter-allied mission.

Arrests and escapes: After tensions with Henry Chanay regarding the strategy to be adopted, Jean-Maurice asked to return to Algiers to make a report. He went to Saint-Tropez in mid-July 1944, where he was spotted by the German services, in particular because of the betrayal of Maurice Seignon de Possel-Deydier, a double agent. Arrested on July 24, 1944, he was transferred to the Gestapo headquarters in Marseille, questioned, then incarcerated in Baumettes prison.

He was shot in Signes on August 12 1944 by the Gestapo and summarily buried with 8 other victims in the "second pit". His remains, transported on September 17 to the mortuary of the Saint-Pierre Cemetery in Marseille (coffin 692), among the first 32 corpses identified.

Posthumously, he received the Distinguished Service Cross, one of the highest American military distinctions, in recognition of his courage and sacrifice.

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Sources: https://mvr.asso.fr/derrecalde/

https://maitron.fr/muthular-derrecalde-jean-maurice-pseudonyme-dans-la-resistance-lucas-diriart-jean/

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