10/05/2026
Jacques Vaillant de Guélis was a decorated World War Two hero of both Wales and France, but his death - involving a German soldier just days after the end of the war - remains shrouded in mystery more than 80 years on.
Born in Cardiff to French coal magnate parents, at the outbreak of war the Oxford graduate gave up a successful career in advertising to sign up for the Army.
Soon recruited into the top-secret Special Operations Executive, (SOE), he flew several missions behind German lines, organising and equipping French resistance fighters.
Just eight days after Victory in Europe (VE) Day on May 8, 1945, during his final operation to collect intelligence on concentration camps, he was fatally injured yards from Flossenburg Camp near the current Czech Republic border when he was hit by a car being driven by a German soldier who had, until recently, been working there.
The cause remains unclear, with author Greg Lewis saying "the case was closed almost as soon as it was opened".
Born in 1907 on what is now Museum Place close to the city centre, his family home bears a Blue Plaque in recognition of his bravery.
Cardiff author Lewis, who has written about espionage, resistance and World War Two, became interested in Jacques during research into Cathays Cemetery, where his ashes are interred in a family plot.
Neil Prior BBC Wales
https://roathlocalhistorysociety.org/2024/07/20/the-tragic-coincidence-linking-the-deaths-of-the-de-guelis-siblings/
