During the Second World War, after spending two years in the office of the Prefect of Hérault, Francis de Noyelle played an important role in the French Resistance, particularly in Isère and Paris.

A member of the Goélette network,[notes 1] his mission was to recruit partisans and find addresses to store all the documents stolen from the Nazis during the Occupation.

[notes 2] Thereafter, Francis de Noyelle alternated between posts in the central administration of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and positions in the French embassies in Czechoslovakia, Morocco, Canada and, finally, Nepal.

[2] From January 1943, while undercover as a student and scout from Grenoble, he ran a small network, Goélette (part of the Bureau central de renseignements et d'action), which extended as far as Valence.

His mission also involved finding “depot ”[notes 3] addresses, where all the information obtained (photographs, plans, and stolen documents) could be stored before being sent to General de Gaulle's intelligence service in London.

[3] After recruiting members of the Jackson family (Phillip, Toquette, and Sumner), he set up a Resistance base in Paris at 11, avenue Fochd.

[1][2] He returned to work at headquarters, more specifically in the section of the economic affairs department specializing in issues relating to the African continent.

After writing an end-of-mission report for the Ministry,[17] he was appointed Ambassador to Nepal on September 10, 1980,[1][2][18][19] replacing François de Testa.

[20] His term of office in Nepal was due to expire on March 4, 1984,[21] but he was replaced on February 15 by Lionel de Warren[22] and retired the following year.

[9][24] From an early age, Francis de Noyelle's passions were tennis and skiing, two sports he practiced until the end of his life - when he was 85 and 90 respectively.

[26] From an early age, Francis de Noyelle's passions were tennis and skiing, two sports he practiced until the end of his life - when he was 85 and 90 respectively.