Gilbert Renault, also known as Colonel Rémy, was a French secret agent active during World War II. Born on August 6, 1904, in Vannes, France, he was the oldest child of a Catholic family of nine children.
His father was a professor of Philosophy and English, and later the inspector general of an insurance company. Renault studied at the Collège St-François-Xavier in Vannes and later at the Rennes faculty.
Before World War II, Renault was a sympathizer of French Action in the Catholic and Nationalist line. He began his career at the Bank of France in 1924 and later worked in cinematic production and finances.
After the armistice in June 1940, Renault refused to accept Marshal Philippe Pétain and went to London with one of his brothers. He was one of the first men to adhere to the calls of General Charles de Gaulle and was entrusted by Colonel Passy to create an information network in France.
In August 1940, Renault met with Louis de La Bardonnie and together they created the Notre-Dame Brotherhood, which later became NDT-Castille in 1944. The network was one of the most important in the occupied zone, and its information allowed many military successes.
Renault put the French Communist Party in touch with the exiled government of Free France in January 1943. He was awarded the Ordre de la Libération on March 13, 1942, and became a member of the executive committee of the Rally of the French People.
Renault appeared in Carrefour in 1950 and preached the rehabilitation of Marshal Pétain. He later adhered to the Association of defense of the memory of Marshal Pétain and resigned from the Rally of the French People.
In 1954, Renault settled in Portugal and returned to France in 1958. He was refused by de Gaulle and was active in various associations, including ultra-conservative Catholic networks.
Renault wrote many works on his activities in the Resistance, including Mémoires d'un agent secret de la France libre and La Ligne de démarcation. He had the writer Jean Cayrol under his orders.
Renault died on July 29, 1984, in Guingamp, France.
