Louis de La Bardonnie

Louis de La Bardonnie, born October 11, 1902, died in 1987, owner-winemaker at Saint Antoine-de-Breuilh in the Dordogne (South-West of France), was a member of the French Resistance during World War II. His code name was "Isabelle."

Biography
Louis de La Bardonnie joined the resistance in the month of June 1940.

In Saint-Antoine-de-Breuilh, he created what became the Confrérie Notre-Dame (Notre Dame Brotherhood or CND). With his friends Paul Armbruster (alias "Alaric"), du Fleix, Pierre Beausoleil (allias Pierrot) and his wife Simone, Dr. Gaston Pailloux (alias "Alceste"), Paul Dungler and others, he harvested a lot of informations valuable for the allies.

At the end of November 1940, Colonel Rémy recruited him to develop and organize the CND-Castille network.

Louis de La Bardonnie organized checkpoints along the demarcation line. He was responsible for creating sub-networks from Bordeaux and Brest. Its castle of La Roque features a lot of resistance.

The first transmitter of France free zone was set-in at La Roque Castle in February 1941. The first radio link with London took place on March 17, 1941.

Denounced, Louis de La Bardonnie was arrested November 16, 1941. He was interrogated, interned in the camp of Mérignac (center stay guarded CSS Pichey Beaudésert), finally released in spring 1942 for lack of evidence.

He narrowly escaped the Gestapo in 1943 and then led a wandering life until the Battle of Rocamadour, where, wounded in battle, he must rest.

He died in 1987.

Recognition
The town of Bergerac in Dordogne has named a square after Louis de La Bardonnie.