Francis Basin LdH CdeG MBE (1903–1975), code named Olive, was an agent of the United Kingdom's clandestine Special Operations Executive in France during the Second World War. The purpose of SOE was to conduct espionage, sabotage, and reconnaissance in countries occupied by the Axis powers, especially Nazi Germany. SOE agents allied themselves with resistance groups and supplied them with weapons and equipment parachuted in from England. Early life François Marcel Basin was born on 6 August 1903 in Grasse, the son of Antoine Basin, a railway employee, and Élise née Vernin. Wartime activities In August 1940, he enlisted in the British army on the advice of Colonel Massip to whom he was secretary and who was close to General de Gaulle. Incorporated as a private soldier with thirty other Frenchmen, he undertook all the classes without thinking of becoming a secret agent. He attended the Liaison Officer course at Wanborough Manor (Guildford) and took the exam on 27 December 1940. He was then visited by the commander Nicolas Bodington, director of Section F prior to Maurice Buckmaster. Bodington offered him special training to go to France on a dangerous mission. "Think about it," he advised. "You will give me your answer tomorrow." Basin replied: "I prefer to say ‘yes’ straight away. If I think, I will deflate." He was one of the first recruits of the SOE. On 14 July 1941, he was promoted to Lieutenant. Mission in France He was head of the URCHIN network on the Côte d'Azur, working under the nom de guerre of "Olive". On 28 August 1941, he sailed from England to Gibraltar in HMS Fidelity in Operation AUTOGYRO and on the night of 19/20 September 1941 landed by submarine at Le Barcarès near Perpignan with Robert Leroy "Louis", Raymond Roche "François", and Georges Duboudin "Alain". The day after his arrival, Basin was arrested by the police at his hotel in Cannes and held in Fort Saint-Nicolas of Marseille. The investigating judge recognised his good faith and released him on 5 October 1941. Then for more than ten months until his arrest in August 1942 he developed the URCHIN network. He made contact with Élie Lévy, whose house in Antibes became a reception centre for many agents in transit. Lévy put him in touch with André Girard, head of the CARTE network. He established his headquarters in Cannes, in the Villa Isabelle. Baron Henri Ravel