# Frederick Cardozo

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{{short description|English espionage agent}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2022}}
{{Infobox military person
|name= Frederick H. Cardozo
|birth_date= {{Birth date|df=y|1916|12|1}}
|death_date= {{Death date and age|df=y|2011|10|7|1916|12|1}}
|birth_place= [Newhaven, East Sussex](/source/Newhaven%2C_East_Sussex)
|death_place= 
|burial_place= 
|burial_label= 
|image= CardozoF.jpeg
|caption=
|nickname=
|allegiance= 
|branch = 
|service_years= 1939–1958
|rank= [Lt. Col](/source/Lieutenant_colonel_(United_Kingdom))
|commands=
|unit= [South Lancashire Regiment](/source/South_Lancashire_Regiment), [6th Airborne Division](/source/6th_Airborne_Division_(United_Kingdom))
|battles= 
|awards= [Military Cross](/source/Military_Cross), [Legion of Honour](/source/Legion_of_Honour), [Croix de Guerre](/source/Croix_de_Guerre)
|other_work=
}}

Lt. Col '''Frederick Henry Cardozo''' [MC](/source/Military_Cross) (1 December 1916 – 7 October 2011) was a British soldier and [SOE](/source/Special_Operations_Executive) veteran.<ref>The Times – Obituary 13 October 2011</ref> Cardozo was brought up in the [Loire Valley](/source/Loire_Valley) between 1923 and 1933.

In 1949 Cardozo married Simone Bigot – they had two children – one of whom, Col. [Geoffrey Cardozo](/source/Geoffrey_Cardozo) CBE, is the secretary of the veterans charity, [Veterans Aid](/source/Veterans_Aid). At the time of his birth, his father Charles was the commander of a local army garrison, having been wounded in 1915, at the [battle of Loos](/source/battle_of_Loos).

In recognition of his work for the French resistance, Cardozo was awarded both the [Legion of Honour](/source/Legion_of_Honour) and the [Croix de Guerre](/source/Croix_de_Guerre).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Frederick Cardozo |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/military-obituaries/special-forces-obituaries/8816848/Frederick-Cardozo.html |access-date=2022-08-24 |website=www.telegraph.co.uk}}</ref>

==Family background==

Cardozo's Portuguese ancestors had become established in the London tobacco trade in the late 17th century. A century or so later his forebears, (including his father), were merchants for the [East India Company](/source/East_India_Company) in [Madras](/source/Madras). Cardozo's mother, Cynthia, was the daughter of Henry Daniell, who ran a china and antiques business in [Wigmore Street](/source/Wigmore_Street), London; through his trade interests he had helped to organise the [Wallace Collection](/source/Wallace_Collection) and the Pierpont Morgan Collection.

==Second World War==

Cardozo joined the British Army's [Supplementary Reserve](/source/Militia) before the outbreak of war and upon receiving his call up was posted with his regiment, The [South Lancashire Regiment](/source/South_Lancashire_Regiment) to France. He was evacuated from [Dunkirk](/source/Dunkirk) and on his return to Britain was posted to coastline duties, in anticipation of the expected German invasion.

Whilst on exercises in Scotland, Cardozo was approached by [Henry Thackthwaite](/source/Henry_Thackthwaite), a senior SOE officer, who recruited him for operations in France; as a fluent French speaker he was a natural choice for such a posting. In May 1944 his team was parachuted onto [Mont Mouchet](/source/Mont_Mouchet) in France to liaise with the [maquis](/source/Maquis_(World_War_II)) in the [Auvergne](/source/Auvergne_(province)). Relations with the maquis were not always easy and they had to cope with a series of vicious German counterattacks on Mont Mouchet and the surrounds.

Once Paris had fallen to the allies, Cardozo led a maquis operation to stop a German battalion leaving [Aurillac](/source/Aurillac); his efforts in this operation lead him to be awarded the [Military Cross](/source/Military_Cross).

==After Second World War==

Cardozo stayed in the army after the war, retiring in 1958, when he worked as a press attaché for American forces in France.

Before this he had served in India and later in Palestine with the [6th Airborne Division](/source/6th_Airborne_Division), and later in Paris where he was an instructor at [École de guerre](/source/%C3%89cole_de_guerre). He subsequently served as a college commander at [Sandhurst](/source/Sandhurst_Military_Academy).

When France left the command structure of [NATO](/source/NATO) in 1966, he returned to England and became secretary to the president of the [Latin Mass Society](/source/Latin_Mass_Society), [Harman Grisewood](/source/Harman_Grisewood), his first cousin. He later moved to Morocco and began working for the [Save the Children Fund](/source/Save_the_Children_Fund). Later still, he worked for [De Beers](/source/De_Beers) in [Sierra Leone](/source/Sierra_Leone). When he finally retired, he moved back to his childhood home of the Loire Valley.

==References==
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Cardozo, Frederick Henry}}
Category:1916 births
Category:2011 deaths
Category:South Lancashire Regiment officers
Category:Recipients of the Military Cross
Category:British recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France)
Category:British recipients of the Legion of Honour
Category:French Resistance members
Category:British people of Portuguese descent
Category:British Special Operations Executive personnel
Category:British Army personnel of World War II
Category:Military personnel from East Sussex
Category:English people of Portuguese descent

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Frederick Cardozo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Cardozo) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Cardozo?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.