He is remembered essentially for his role organizing the arrest of German intelligence agents in France after the defeat of 1940 but his activity during this period has been the subject of controversy.
He was initially reluctant to accept this posting as he considered the job too desk-bound and started with very limited knowledge of the workings of the Secret Services.
Recent research by the British historian Simon Kitson has shown that contrary to the version presented by secret service veterans this network was not operating in opposition to the Vichy government.
The work of Paillole’s services served to defend sovereignty and to prevent unauthorised individual acts of collaboration on the part of ordinary French citizens.
[7] Trusted by Vichy, Paillole was appointed as head of a new clandestine counter-espionage structure, the Service de Sécurité Militaire, established by Pierre Laval and Admiral Darlan in August 1942.
When the Germans invaded the previously unoccupied southern part of France in November 1942, Paillole felt compelled to flee to Allied-controlled North Africa.
In November 1943, the British Foreign Office reported that Paillole was allegedly involved in an intrigue to help Marshal Philippe Pétain escape from France so that he might be given the leadership of the French forces in exile.
The publication of Paillole’s memoirs in 1975 infuriated some resisters such as Toussaint Raffini, who had suffered arrest as a result of information made available to the Vichy police by the Travaux Ruraux network.