Gustave Biéler Gustave Daniel Alfred Biéler DSO MBE ( 26 March 1904 – 5 September 1944 ) was a Special Operations Executive agent during World War II . Gustave Bieler was born in Beurlay in France . At the age of twenty , he emigrated to Canada where he settled in the city of Montreal working as a school teacher and then as an official translator for Sun Life Assurance and becoming a Canadian citizen . At the outbreak of World War II , although married with two children , Biéler joined the Canadian Army in Le Regiment de Maisonneuve and was shipped to a base in Britain . His wife Marguerite Geymonat worked as a broadcaster to the troops in Europe on Radio - Canada International . Because of his familiarity with France and his fluency in the French and English languages he joined the " Special Operations Executive " in London . Known by his wartime nickname " Guy , " following his specialized training , Colonel Maurice Buckmaster , the SOE commander , wrote in his file that Biéler was the best student SOE had . On November 18 , 1942 , Biéler , along with wireless operator Arthur Staggs and Michael Trotobas were parachuted into France . Unfortunately , in the dark of the night , Biéler severely injured his back after landing on rocks and he spent several months recovering . Gifted with strong communication and organization skills , as the head of the " Musician Network " he was able to work with fellow SOE agents and members of the French Resistance to organize very productive sabotage missions . Operating from a base in Saint - Quentin in the northern Aisne " département " , Biéler ' s twenty - five teams , scattered over different areas of northern France , were successful in damaging or destroying German gasoline storage tanks , rail lines , bridges , canal locks , and the electric tractors used to tow barges on the shipping waterways . Their repeated efforts hampered the movement of enemy arms and troops but the most important job for Biéler would eventually be the preparations for D - Day . His operations were so successful that the Germans instituted a special manhunt to get him and his team and on 13 January 1944 the Gestapo arrested him and agent Yolande Beekman in the Café Moulin Brulé in Saint - Quentin . At the Gestapo headquarters there the two were tortured repeatedly but never broke and a few months later Biéler was transferred to Flossenbürg concentration camp in the Oberpfalz region of Bavaria , where the brutal torture continued . Getting nothing out of him , the Germans from whom he gained a great deal of respect , executed a crippled and emaciated Major Guy Biéler by a firing squad with a guard of honour , on 5 September 1944 . Biéler ' s contribution to freedom was recognized with the Distinguished Service Order ( DSO ) and he was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire ( MBE ) . In Saint - Quentin , France , he was adopted by the citizens as a folk hero not only for his exploits and bravery but also because he was someone who did everything possible to avoid civilian casualties . The " " rue du Commandant Guy Biéler " " in Saint - Quentin was named for him and as one of the SOE agents who died for the liberation of France , he is listed on the " Roll of Honor " on the Valençay SOE Memorial in the town of Valençay , in the Indre " département " . As well , Major Biéler is recorded on the Groesbeek Memorial in Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery in the Netherlands . On 22 July 2007 an exhibit on Bieler was unvailed at the opening of the museum in commemoration of all those who suffered and died at the Flossenbürg Camp at Flossenbürg , KZ , Germany . There are memorials honoring Bieler at Morcourt , and Fonsommes ( France ) , on the memorial in a park in Wesmount , ( Québec ) . The Centre Juno Beach at Courseulles - sur - mer has a plaque honoring : " Canadians behind enemy lines . Canadian Agents with the British Special Services " . There is a Bieler lake in Canada . The veterans ' residence in Montreal ( Québec ) is named after him .