Marie Dissard

Who was Marie Dissard?

Marie Dissard, GM, was a member of the French Resistance during the German occupation of France in World War II who took over the escape network of Ian Garrow and Albert Guérisse and arranged for over 250 Allied airmen to return to Britain.

Marie Louise Dissard was born in Toulouse. After the fall of the French Third Republic, Dissard joined the French Resistance using the code name "Françoise". Initially she worked with Ian Garrow arranging his escape route over the Pyrenees. When Ian Garrow and later Albert Guérisse were arrested, Dissard became the new leader of the escape network.

Dissard traveled all around France to arrange escape of Allied airmen back to the United Kingdom. She escorted several of them herself to Toulouse where she found them temporary accommodation and then escorted them to the Pyrenees where they were handed over to local guides.

One of the Pyrenees guides was arrested in January 1944 in Perpignan and he had Dissard's name in his notebook. Dissard went underground in Toulouse until Allied troops liberated France. She still helped 110 more men to escape in this period.