27. Joining the French Resistance
Harold Cole managed to escape from the Germans, and made his way to Lille. There, he got in touch with the French Resistance, claiming to be a British intelligence agent sent to organize escape lines to get stranded and escaped British military personnel back home. The French believed him, and for some time, Cole actually did positive work, escorting escaped personnel across Nazi-occupied territory to the relative safety of Vichy France, from which they slipped into Spain and a ship back home.
However, Cole also embezzled from the monies intended to finance Resistance operations, in order to fund a high society lifestyle of nightclubs, pricey restaurants, expensive champagne, fast cars, and faster girls. When his thefts came to light in 1941, the Resistance arrested and locked Cole up, but while they were deliberating just what to do about him, he escaped.