Bureau central de renseignements et d'action

[1] The Bureau was first commanded by Major André Dewavrin, who had taken the nom de guerre "Colonel Passy",[2] while journalist Pierre Brossolette (1903-44) headed the civilian-arm.

With the assistance of General Maxime Weygand, they planned to revive French counter-intelligence against German domination.

General Rivet's memoirs remain controversial, but according to his account the official Bureau des menées antinationales (Bureau of Anti-national Activities, BMA), officially an organization opposing communist activities and resistance efforts and accepted by the Germans under the terms of the armistice, was in reality a cover for the pursuit of collaborators with the Germans.

The main vehicle for such operations was "L’entreprise des Travaux Ruraux" (The Rural Work Enterprise), supposedly an agricultural engineering program, which performed clandestine counter-espionage under the command of Captain Paillole.

In August 1942, the BMA was dissolved and recreated clandestinely as the Military Security Service by Pierre Laval and Admiral Darlan, who needed such an organisation to try to preserve Vichy French sovereignty.