René Malevergne, a
retired Moroccan merchant marine, courageously pilots two vessels through
the shallow, winding Sebou River as part of the Allies' World War II invasion
of North Africa.
By William L. Noyer
When the Germans
invaded France, René Malevergne wanted to fight. But the Army told
him "You're too old." Malevergne did not consider 50 too old. A retired
merchant marine sailor, he lived quietly with his wife and two young sons
in Mehdia, Morocco, where the Sebou River enters the Atlantic. Later, when
France fell, Malevergne joined the Resistance. His home became the last
stop in Africa for the "underground railway" which helped young French
and English airmen escape to England. During the day, Malevergne piloted
cargo vessels up the muddy Sebou to inland Port-Lyautey, the site of one
of the finest airdromes in North Africa. On carefully selected nights,
he pushed out from the beach in a dory, rowed through the crashing waves,
and delivered two or three airmen to a blacked-out ship waiting offshore.