Roger Hourdin was born on 8 August 1922 at Saint-Pierre-sur-Dives, Normandy.
In June 1940, young Roger, taking after his father’s footsteps, became a railway worker. In October 1941, under the occupied France, he refused to accept defeat and went underground in the Resistance, where his mission was to distribute tracts. Identified and hunted by the Gestapo, he succeeded to flee to Spain through the Pyrenean borders, after which he continued, in April 1943, to the British capital.
Having volunteered to serve in the Free French Forces, he was sent to the Camberley 2nd Air Infantry Company, and, after completing a commando training course, he was licensed a SAS parachutist. In the night of June 9 breaking 10, 1944, he was dropped with his stick in Bretagne and participated in the liberation of the Gourin region in the Morbihan while officering members of the Resistance Forces operating in France. Early April 1945, he was dropped in Holland, within the framework of Operation Amherst, one of the biggest airborne operations of World War II. The two SAS regiments of Free France were earmarked to fight the German troops that were putting up fierce resistance and preventing the progress of the Allies. The French parachutists successfully accomplished their mission, thereby enabling Canadian armoured troops to resume their interrupted progression. The casualties the French SAS suffered during this bloody operation stood at 33 dead and 70 wounded.
When the war ended, Roger Hourdin returned to civilian life as an industrial designer before taking a well-deserved retirement. He died on 31 July 2011, at the age of 88, in the Paris region, and a eulogy was delivered for him at the Marly le Roi cemetery, in the Yvelines, where he rests in peace.
This famous volunteer serviceman, who received several commendations, was Knight of the Legion of Honour, holder of the Military Medal, the World War II Cross, the Escapees Medal, and a host of other awards.