Editing F. F. E. Yeo-Thomas (section)

===George Cross citation===
[[File:George Cross.jpg|thumb|right|[[George Cross]] and its [[ribbon bar]]]]
The ''[[The London Gazette|London Gazette]]'' 15 February 1946 citation read:<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=37468 |supp=y |page=961 |date=12 February 1946}}</ref>
{{Quotation|The KING has been graciously pleased to award the [[George Cross]] to Acting Wing Commander Forest Frederick Edward YEO-THOMAS, M.C. (89215), Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve.

:This officer was parachuted into France on 25th February 1943. He showed much courage and initiative during his mission, particularly when he enabled a French officer who was being followed by a [[Gestapo]] agent in Paris to reach safety and resume clandestine work in another area. He also took charge of a [[U.S. Army Air Corps]] officer who had been shot down and, speaking no French, was in danger of capture. This officer returned to England on the 15th April 1943, in the aircraft which picked up Wing Commander Yeo-Thomas.

:Wing Commander Yeo-Thomas undertook a second mission on the 17th September 1943. Soon after his arrival in France, many patriots were arrested. Undeterred, he continued his enquires and obtained information which enabled the desperate situation to be rectified. On six occasions, he narrowly escaped arrest. He returned to England on the 15th November 1943, bringing British intelligence archives which he had secured from a house watched by the Gestapo.

:This officer was again parachuted into France in February, 1944. Despite every security precaution, he was betrayed to the Gestapo in Paris on the 21st March. While being taken by car to Gestapo Headquarters he was badly "beaten up". He then underwent 4 days continuous interrogation, interspersed with beatings and torture, including immersions, head downwards, in ice-cold water, with legs and arms chained. Interrogations later continued for 2 months and Wing Commander Yeo-Thomas was offered his freedom in return for information concerning the Head of a Resistance Secretariat. Owing to his wrist being cut by chains, he contracted [[blood-poisoning]] and nearly lost his left arm. He made two daring but unsuccessful attempts to escape. He was then confined in solitude in [[Fresnes Prison|Fresnes prison]] for 4 months, including 3 weeks in a darkened cell with very little food. Throughout these months of almost continuous torture, he steadfastly refused to disclose any information.

:On the 17th July, Wing Commander Yeo-Thomas was sent with a party to Compiègne prison, from which he twice attempted to escape. He and 36 others were transferred to Buchenwald. On the way, they stopped at [[Saarbrücken]], where they were beaten and kept in a tiny hut. They arrived at [[Buchenwald]] on the 16th August and 16 of them were executed and cremated on the 10th September. Wing Commander Yeo-Thomas had already commenced to organise resistance within the camp and remained undaunted by the prospect of a similar fate. He accepted an opportunity of changing his identity with that of a dead French prisoner, on condition that other officers would also be enabled to do so. In this way, he was instrumental in saving the lives of two officers.

:Wing Commander Yeo-Thomas was later transferred to a work [[kommando]] for Jews. In attempting to escape, he was picked up by a German patrol and, claiming French nationality, was transferred to a camp near Marienburg for French [[prisoners of war]]. On the 16th April, 1945, he led a party of 20 in a most gallant attempt to escape in broad daylight. 10 of them were killed by gunfire from the guards. Those who reached cover split up into small groups. Wing Commander Yeo-Thomas became separated from his companions after 3 days without food. He continued alone for a week and was recaptured when only 800 yards from the American lines. A few days later, he escaped with a party of 10 French prisoners of war, whom he led through German patrols to the American lines.

:Wing Commander Yeo-Thomas thus turned his final mission into a success by his determined opposition to the enemy, his strenuous efforts to maintain the morale of his fellow prisoners and his brilliant escape activities. He endured brutal treatment and torture without flinching and showed the most amazing fortitude and devotion to duty throughout his service abroad, during which he was under the constant threat of death.}}