Jocelyn Fulke Dalrymple Radice

This story and photos are shared by the Trust with kind permission from Ali Chaudhry, Second World War Historian based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Photo source: DCB, FindaGrave.com

Jocelyn Radice was born on the 8th of September 1918 in Bedford, Bedfordshire to Fulke Rosavo Radice and Katherine Stella Mary Radice (née Speck.) They married at St Paul’s Church, Bedford in November 1917 and their wedding was officiated by her father, Canon Speck. Katherine Stella Mary, known affectionately as “Stella,” was the daughter of Canon Jocelyn Henry G. Speck, vicar of St Paul’s Church, Bedford, and Rosalie Hughes Dalrymple, who was born in St Vincent, West Indies. Stella served with the Queen Alexandra Imperial Military Nursing Service during the First World War, reflecting the family’s long tradition of service.

Jocelyn was the first born child to Fulke and Katherine Stella, followed by younger brothers Henry Lally Tolendal Radice on June the 13th 1921 and Roger Neill Ponsonby Radice on July 24th 1925. Their choices of middle names for the boys reflected those of their family, especially Dalrymple and Ponsonby, the family were clearly proud of their lineage.

Jocelyn's father, Fulke, was born in Naples, Italy, on the 8th of February 1888, the youngest son of Alberto Hampden Radice and Adele Visetti, of Thistleborough, County Antrim, and of Naples. His grandfather was Colonel Evasio Radice, a patriot in the Sardinian Army and Professor of Italian from 1824 to 1849.

Fulke Rosavo Radice had a distinguished post-war career in the civil service, becoming a senior official at the Post Office before being appointed Vice-Director of the Universal Postal Union in Berne in 1946. He was later awarded the C.B.E. for his contributions to international postal cooperation. He and Stella remained in Switzerland for many years before she passed away in Berne on the 16th of May 1974, aged 82. Fulke returned to England in his later life and died in Cheltenham on the 18th of January 1987, aged 98. His death notice in The Times recorded him as the “devoted husband to Stella and father of Jocelyn, Henry, and Roger.”

In an article in the Bedfordshire Times and Independent, of Friday 15 September 1944, we find much information about Jocelyn's life before joining up and his time in the Army.

Capt. Jocelyn Radice was the grandson of the late Canon Jocelyn Speck, of St. Paul’s, Bedford and he was born at St. Paul’s Vicarage on 8th September 1918. He was educated at Cheam Preparatory School and at Marlborough College, where he was Head of his House. He was a keen rugger player (late Blackheath), and excelled at cricket and rowing, and his house became cock house for the college.
During his two years at Brasenose College, Oxford, he boxed for the University. When the war came and he volunteered for service he received the war-time B.A. degree, and this year his M.A. Being a member of the University Cavalry O.T.C. on the outbreak of war, he was posted as a cadet officer to the Equitation School at Weedon, with a commission in the Wiltshire Yeomanry; he later transferred to the Queen’s Bays Royal Armoured Corps and went with the Regiment to the Middle East.
A MISSION TO RUSSIA
In November 1941 Capt. Radice went with a mission to the Russian Army, returning to his regiment to take part in all the Eighth Army desert campaigns. He was wounded in the Battle of Knightsbridge. Returning to the desert in time to take part in the Battle of El Alamein, he received further wounds, but recovered to lake part in all the heavy fighting of the North African campaign with the division which took Tunisia.
Capt. Jocelyn Radice, with the permission of his Colonel, then volunteered for special work in the Middle East. Volunteers then being required for another theatre of war, Capt. Radice again offered himself and gave his life while engaged in this service."

The special work referred to in the newspaper article was that of the Special Operations Executive (SOE). By 1944, Jocelyn had joined SOE and become a member of the elite Jedburgh teams. The three-man teams consisted of operatives from the British SOE, the U.S. Office of Strategic Services (OSS), and the Free French and were parachuted into enemy territory to aid local Maquis (French Resistance fighters). Radice became the leader of Jedburgh Team “Bunny,” which included French Captain Maurice Géminel (code name “Gerville”) as second-in-command and Sergeant James “Jim” Chambers as the wireless radio operator. Notably, Radice had also been attached to the 2nd Special Air Service (SAS) Regiment prior to this mission.

During the night of August 17-18, the Jedburgh team "Bunny" was parachuted into the "Amarante" drop zone at Selongey (Côte-d'Or). Once on the ground, the team linked up with local Resistance. Commandant Henri Pichard, a regional Forces Françaises de l'Intérieur (FFI) leader, guided Radice’s team to the Maquis de la Salle, a band of French partisans operating from a farm near Auberive in the Haute-Marne region. There, Team Bunny set to work organising weapons supply drops, establishing communications with London via radio, and training and leading the Maquis in the harassment of German forces. Their presence helped bolster the local Resistance’s effectiveness during a critical phase of the liberation of France.

On 22 August 1944, just days into the mission, Captain Radice was leading a liaison trip to coordinate with the French FFI regional headquarters in neighboring Côte-d'Or. On the return journey to their base, Radice, Captain Géminel, Maquis leader Capitaine Carteron, and a group of resistance fighters ran into a German patrol near the hamlet of Plesnoy in Haute-Marne. In the firefight, Jocelyn Radice was severely wounded, struck by bullets in both knees.

Despite his injuries, his comrades managed to evacuate him from the ambush site. Radice was given emergency treatment first at Orbigny-au-Mont and then back at the Maquis base at La Salle Farm. Realizing the gravity of his wounds, the Resistance arranged to take Radice to the nearest hospital in the town of Langres but it had to be under a false identity to protect him if captured as being identified as a British agent could have led to his execution by the Germans. He was admitted to the Langres hospital posing as a French civilian or soldier but he died of his wounds in the Langres hospital on 27 August 1944.

Captain Radice’s sacrifice did not go unnoticed. He was officially recorded as having died “on detached special service with the Maquis”. His remains were later laid to rest at Clichy Northern Cemetery in France. Radice’s comrades, Capt. Géminel and Sgt. Chambers, survived the war, and the French forces went on to liberate the Langres region weeks later. In recognition of his valour, Jocelyn Radice received a posthumous Mention in Despatches. His name is remembered with pride both in his home country and in France, where he fought and fell alongside the Maquis.

British Normandy Memorial - Additional Information

Unfortunately, we do not have a photo of Jocelyn Radice. If you are aware of one, or you are related to Jocelyn, we would love to hear from you so we can add to his story.