麻豆传媒映画

An American woman has donated a trove of photographs taken by her father, a member of the US secret service who worked closely with the French Resistance during World War Two, to a new museum in Lot. 

The Mus茅e de la R茅sistance is set to open in Cahors in early 2026. 

Olivia Atherton, from Maine (USA), travelled to France in April to retrace her father鈥檚 footsteps and donate his photographs, which depict everything from his missions to days off enjoying an ice-cream with fellow servicemen. 

鈥淚 decided on the Mus茅e de la R茅sistance after looking at options in the US and not finding a venue that actually had a dedicated OSS (Office of Strategic Services) display or focus,鈥� Ms Atherton told The Connexion. 

Her father David Atherton, then 21, was parachuted into France on July 9, 1944 as part of Operational Group (OG) 鈥楨mily鈥�. 

Read more: Video from the sky: parachutist lands for first time on Mont Saint-Michel

He landed between Lot and Cantal, near the town of Labastide-du-Haut-Mont. 

He had passed the rigorous selection process for the OSS, the US鈥檚 first intelligence service and a precursor to the CIA. 

After spending much of his childhood in Switzerland and Nice, Mr Atherton spoke fluent French and German. 

OG 鈥楨mily鈥� comprised 15 US soldiers who were tasked with supporting the French resistance, including by sabotaging strategic infrastructure and training them in weapons and explosives. 

Several hundred tonnes of weapons and equipment, as well as at least 50 agents, were parachuted into Lot between November 1943 and August 1944 in drops orchestrated by three allied secret services: the OSS, Britain鈥檚 SOE (Special Operations Executive) and the Free French BCRA (Central Bureau of Intelligence and Action). 

Mr Atherton and his group would go on to destroy the Conduch茅 railway bridge with the Resistance on June 12, 1944, sabotage bridges in Linac and Camburat, and destroy an arch of the Souillac viaduct in early August. 

Today, a plaque marks the feat, reading: 鈥淥n August 2 and 3, the American OSS group 鈥楨mily鈥� and the French Resistance sabotaged this viaduct, preventing the occupying forces from circulating armoured trains.鈥� 

After August 11, the group moved near Montcuq and made an abortive attempt to sabotage a railway line near Lamagist猫re, where the FTP Maquis lieutenant was killed.

Mr Atherton took part in the liberation parade on August 26 in Cahors.

He returned to live in New York after the war, but decided to move back to France in 1949. On the ship over, he met his American wife. They returned to the US in 1953, but France always had a special place in his heart. 

鈥淗e always felt a strong connection to France, perhaps more so than the US,鈥� said Ms Atherton. 

She thought France was a fitting place to donate his photographs and documents, which were stored in boxes in his home in Maine and passed to Ms Atherton when her father died in 2010.

Read more: American seeks saluting French boy from D-Day photo

鈥淔rance has a great reverence or acknowledgment of and for the past 鈥� in the maintenance and plaques honoring those (who took part), the monuments, structures, and ruins. It is appropriate that the photos and papers reside there 鈥� and especially in Cahors 鈥� 鈥楨mily鈥檚' first liberated town鈥� 鈥� at the new museum,鈥� she said. 

Ms Atherton鈥檚 April visit to the area proved to be a moving experience. 

鈥淚 only knew the photos 鈥� unable to attach them to a real event, a real place, so it was an emotional journey to retrace those steps of his, his group and the Resistance,鈥� she said. 

鈥淭o stand in the same square that he and the group were photographed in, in Saint-C茅r茅, was probably the best. It showed me a part of my father that was completely unknown to me.鈥� 

Donating the photographs has helped Ms Atherton learn more about her father鈥檚 wartime activities, which he never spoke about. 

How does she think he would react to his photos and documents being preserved by the resistance museum in his beloved France? 

鈥淚 think he would brush this all off, but feel some acknowledgment 鈥� not openly, pride was not part of who he was 鈥� of an important part of his life, of who he once was, what he did, his obligation in going back to France and being part of a huge part of history for a country 鈥� and a continent 鈥� that meant so much to him.鈥�