Unknown Grave location.

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, a cook, and Jean-Baptiste Muthular, a 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 naturalized as an American citizen on July 15, 1943, in Georgia, adopting the name Jean-Maurice MUTHULAR-D'ERRECALDE. As a First Lieutenant in 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 into Vaucluse, near Beaumont-de-Pertuis, as part of an inter-Allied mission preparing for the landing in Provence. His mission was to contact the local Resistance and transmit withdrawal orders to the maquis, who had been severely tested by German repression. He collaborated with figures such as Henry Chanay, head of the "Michel" inter-Allied mission.

Arrest and imprisonment: 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, and then incarcerated in Baumettes prison.

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

Posthumously, he received the Distinguished Service Cross, one of the highest American military decorations, in recognition of his courage and sacrifice. Near La Garde-Freinet, at the Col de Vignon on Departmental Road 74, a memorial stone commemorates his name and that of François Pelletier. The inscription honors their struggle for the survival of France and humanity.

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Sources: https://mvr.asso.fr/derrecalde/, https://maitron.fr/muthular-derrecalde-jean-maurice-pseudonyme-dans-la-resistance-lucas-diriart-jean/, Find a Grave, museedelaresistanceenligne.org

American War Memorials Overseas needs your help. If you have an image of this persons headstone, please email it to us at info@uswarmemorials.org. Your assistance will be greatly appreciated.