The group, which was based at 93 rue Lauriston in the
16th arrondissement of Paris, was active between 1941 and 1944. It was initiated by
Pierre Bonny (1895–1944), a former policeman. Later it was managed jointly by
Henri Lafont and
Pierre Loutrel, two professional criminals who had been active in the
French underworld before the war.
Name
Carlingue[kaʁ.lɛ̃ɡ] in French means the cabin (or central body of an aircraft). The unit used this as a euphemistic nickname to indicate it was an organisation with structure and strength. The group was also known externally as the Bonny-Lafont gang, after Pierre Bonny and Henri Lafont.
The
Reich Security Main Office (RSHA) officially referred to the Carlingue as Active Group Hesse after the
SS officer "who'd looked after its foundation".[1] It was also known as the Gestapo française de la rue Lauriston or the La Bande Bonny-Lafont.[2]
History
The unit was formed in 1941 by the RSHA. Its purpose was to perform
counterinsurgency operations against the
maquis resistance forces in German-occupied and
Vichy France. The Carlingue recruited its members from the same criminal milieu as that of its founders. Both Henri Lafont and
Pierre Loutrel (alias Pierrot le fou, "Crazy Pete") were criminals in the Parisian underworld before the war. Another member, the former police officer
Pierre Bonny, had been wanted by the French authorities for misappropriation of funds and selling influence in the
Seznec and
Stavisky affairs.
Many others of the Carlingue were from the disbanded North African Brigades. The partly criminal nature of the organisation gave it access to contacts such as informers, corrupt officials, and disreputable businesspeople such as
Joseph Joanovici. Members were also active in the
black market.
According to retired policeman Henri Longuechaud, "one might be scandalised by the numbers of 30,000 to 32,000 sometimes quoted [as members of the Carlingue]. In Paris, when the Germans launched a recruitment drive for 2,000 auxiliary policeman in their service, they received no fewer than 6,000 candidates."[3][4] During the war, infamous French doctor and serial killer
Marcel Petiot allegedly associated with Carlingue. His house was located in the same street as the Carlingue headquarters and he allegedly sometimes helped the group dispose of their victims' bodies.[citation needed]
During January and February 1944, the Carlingue, as members of the paramilitary Légion nord-Africaine [
fr;
it] (LNA) commanded by
Alexandre Villaplane, wore German uniforms as part of Bandenbekämpfung operations against the French Resistance in the area around
Tulle, in central France.
In August 2014, the government of Paris ordered the current owners of 93 rue Lauriston to restore the memorial plaque to the former headquarters of the Carlingue.[5]
Notable members
Georges Pujol, a former resistance fighter who became a double agent for the Gestapo, arrested in August 1944 and shot.[6]
Henri Lafont, executed at Fort Montrouge 26 December 1944.[6]
Raymond Monange, an officer from the North African Brigade, shot on 13 March 1952 at Fort Montrouge.[6]
Auguste Ricord (1911–1985) tried postwar
in absentia for collaboration; served a 10-year sentence 1972–1982 in the
United States for drug smuggling, but not retried for war crimes.[6]
^Jacquemard, Serge (1992). La Bande Bonny-Lafont. Vol. 10. Fleuve noir. p. 217.
ISBN978-2-265-04673-3.
^Longuechaud, Henri. Conformément à l'ordre de nos chefs. p. 58.
^Rajsfus, Maurice (1995). La Police de Vichy. Les forces de l'ordre françaises au service de la Gestapo. 1940/1944 (in French). Le Cherche Midi éditeur. p. 51.
^
abcdefghijklmnopqrOthen, Christopher (2020). The King of Nazi Paris: Henri Lafont and the Gangsters of the French Gestapo. Biteback Publishing. pp. 320–339.
ISBN9781785905926.
Bibliography
Auda, Grégory (2002). Les belles années du "milieu", 1940-1944: le grand banditisme dans la machine répressive allemande en France (in French). Paris: Éditions Michalon.
ISBN2-84186-164-3.
OCLC50493997.
Aziz, Philippe (1972). Au service de l'ennemi: la Gestapo française en province 1940-1944. Paris: Fayard.
OCLC4173712.
Aziz, Philippe. Tu trahiras sans vergogne: histoire de deux collabos, Bonny et Lafont. Paris: Livre de poche.
OCLC1206738.
Patrice Rolli, La Phalange nord-africaine (ou Brigade nord-africaine, ou Légion nord-africaine) en Dordogne: Histoire d'une alliance entre la Pègre et la Gestapo; 15 March-19 August 1944, Éditions l'Histoire en Partage, 2013, (mostly about Alexandre Villaplane and Raymond Monange)
Grégory Auda (2002). Les belles années du "milieu", 1940-1944: le grand banditisme dans la machine répressive allemande en France (in French). Paris: Éditions Michalon.
ISBN2-84186-164-3.
OCLC50493997.
Philippe Aziz (1972). Au service de l'ennemi: la Gestapo française en province 1940-1944. Paris: Fayard.
OCLC4173712.
Philippe Aziz. Tu trahiras sans vergogne: histoire de deux collabos, Bonny et Lafont. Paris: Livre de poche.
OCLC1206738.
Patrice Rolli, La Phalange nord-africaine (ou Brigade nord-africaine, ou Légion nord-africaine) en Dordogne: Histoire d'une alliance entre la Pègre et la Gestapo; 15 March-19 August 1944, Éditions l'Histoire en Partage, 2013, (mostly about Alexandre Villaplane and Raymond Monange)