Herman Bodson and Richard Schmidt (editor), Agent for the Resistance: A Belgian Saboteur in World War II — a Book Review

22 March 2016

Outstanding

Herman Bodson’s Agent for the Resistance: A Belgian Saboteur in World War II (Texas A&M University Press, 1994) was written from memory 40 years after the war ended. Editor Richard Schmidt did a superb job of making this account (of one hair-raising exploit after another) hang together in chronologically easily comprehensible fashion.

Bodson’s pre-invasion doctorate in physical chemistry makes this account somewhat unique. He began the war in the Belgian Army’s medical service. But after Belgium was crushed, his chemistry degree made him a logical choice for blowing Nazi things up.

Quickly impressing underground leaders with his intelligence and devotion to freedom, Bodson became an astute cell commander in the Organisation Militaire Belge de Résistance (OMBR). This group coordinated with British (and later American) military authorities across the English Channel.

Agent for the Resistance is almost a manual for thinking like an anti-tyranny insurgent. The book provides a concise overview of leadership, friendship, networking, intelligent terrain use, meticulous planning, trust, raw courage, and cleverly exploiting loopholes in an enemy’s social control.

Bodson's account reads like a “we were there” action novel.

A disclaimer — about my enthusiasm for this book

I am associated with the U.S. military, currently on station a comparatively short drive from the places in Belgium, France and Germany that the events in An Agent for the Resistance took place.

Geographic immediacy may lend an emotional connection to Dr. Bodson’s writing that other readers may not feel. If one pays attention, remembrances of both world wars still swirl across the sweep of Europe into Russia in a way that most Americans, in our isolated distance, cannot relate to.

A few writing samples

Consistently provided historical context

May 16 [1940] — Reports from France tell us that the Germans are pushing hard into the Sedan area. Advance units have already reached Montcornet, sixty miles behind the Sedan front. A fifty-mile gap exists through the French lines . . . .

In the afternoon I have my first conversation with the head of the Pasteur Institute, Dr. Jules Bordet . . . . Dr. Bordet has from the beginning impressed me with his extraordinary calm and soothing attitude toward others. In his wisdom, he faces the world’s absurdity head-on. To him, these current events are just the latest expression of human folly, only the latest outburst of its periodic collective violence.

One of many clever sabotage tricks

A small dose of diamond powder in a crankcase would work marvels on delicate engines. The next question was how to find a covert way for volunteers to carry the abrasive without possible suspicion? I decided on aspirin tablets carried in their original containers, using an aspirin formula of my own making: talcum, stearin, and diamond powder.

On a warrior’s dedication

Some [resistance] prisoners cracked, letting the pieces go, giving names and places. . . .

As soon as I began carrying a gun regularly, I decided that the last bullet would be for me . . . I would take my life and leave the Germans with a speechless body . . . . I vowed that my personal weakness would never endanger the lives of my friends.

Unplanned deadly engagements

They stopped us, shouting, “Papieren!” We produced our orders. They were satisfied with Christian’s, but objected to mine. . . . the feldgendarme lost his cool and hit me with his rifle butt on the left side of my face. I spat three molars out onto the bridge.

I do not know how I kept my head while saying to him in his language . . . “Oh, I see, let me show you this one,” and reached inside the pocket of my tunic.

His stupid mistake, thinking I was going for another document. With my .45, I shot him point-blank . . . .

On the emotional hardening required for successfully opposing tyranny, especially after the death of his best friend under Nazi torture

Although I had been raised to hate guns and reject the use of violence, when I faced those issues now, I came to the conclusion that freedom was of priceless value and well worth fighting for. This cruel war would not be won by pacifists. This was not Gandhi’s war.

German violence demanded our own. The harder they hit, the more determined we became to be part of their destruction.

The key for us today is to distinguish existential threats from those that are not. Americans would be wise to recognize that Bodson wrote this from inside Nazi-oppressed Belgium. The United States, as an entity, has never experienced anything comparable.

Then there is the big stuff

These guys were intrepid. They stole firearms and loads of cash, blew up bridges and power stations, rescued downed Allied airmen, and even ran trains into each other. In one instance, they ambushed four German medium tanks with only two bazookas.

During the Battle of the Bulge, Dr. Bodson assisted at a medical aid station in artillery-splattered Bastogne. His unembroidered account of those days provides a visceral description of what it is like to try to save lives without the necessary medications and medical equipment.

Between exploits, these men often had to hide for days in freezing weather, concealed in patches of drip-wet forest. Getting food and staying out of sight were reliably problematic.

Author Bodson’s closing message

Dr. Bodson became an American citizen after a brief stint in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) with his family after the war. He died in Taos, New Mexico in 2001.

Looking back, he wrote:

I have lived and worked on three continents. I am no longer attached to any particular piece of land. I am more concerned about my rights to live the way I like among people that let me do so, people tolerant enough to respect my person for what it is.

The kind of patriotism I have responded to in the past I consider today narrow and obsolete. . . . I have become an earth patriot. . . . We now must move toward “world patriotism,” going far beyond borders, creeds, races, or places.

Sadly, we seem to be reverting to the homicidal narrowness that caused both world wars.

Deadly stupidity is humankind’s most distinguishing characteristic.

A sign of Dr. Bodson’s unconceited character

Not once in his book does Bodson mention that he received four prestigious citations for his wartime service. Not a trace of narcissism. Instead, an admirable humility that distinguishes his generation from those more recent.

I came away from An Agent for the Resistance wishing that I had had an opportunity to know its author.

The moral? — An Agent for the Resistance is one of the best books that I have ever read

Humanity, inspiring intelligence, and uninterrupted courage — presented in an elegantly written (no fluff) flow that I found challenging to put down.

PeteFree.com

Herman Bodson and Richard Schmidt (editor), Agent for the Resistance: A Belgian Saboteur in World War II — a Book Review