The Augustus Project: The Last Mission

Where Courage Met Sacrifice

Across France, thousands of stories from World War II remain hidden beneath fields, villages, and weathered farm buildings. Some tell of victory. Others tell of survival.

A select few tell of sacrifice so complete that the story itself becomes sacred ground.

The Augustus Project brings Three Forks® to one such place.

Tucked into the countryside north of Laon lies the site of a mission that never returned. Here, in the final weeks of the liberation of France, three Allied operatives embarked on an assignment that would become the last undertaken by an OSS Jedburgh team. Their courage, their commitment, and ultimately their sacrifice left an indelible mark on the people they served and the nation they helped liberate.

More than eighty years later, the story remains alive.

Project Specifications

Project Name: The Augustus Project

Location: Northern France

Historical Significance: Final mission site of OSS Jedburgh Team Augustus, the only Jedburgh team completely lost during World War II

Potential Materials Recovered:

• 42 original beams measuring approximately 10" x 12" x 27'

• 21 original beams measuring approximately 8" x 10" x 10'

• More than 60 preserved planks of varying dimensions

• Original mortise-and-tenon joinery throughout the structure

• Historic WWII-era barn timbers associated with Team Augustus operations

The Men of Team Augustus

The team consisted of three men from different backgrounds united by a common mission. Major John Bonsall was a Princeton graduate and ROTC officer whose legal studies were interrupted by the war. Called to active duty before America's formal entry into the conflict, he quickly distinguished himself and joined the Office of Strategic Services as a newly promoted major at only twenty-five years old.

Captain Jean Delviche carried a remarkable connection to the mission itself. The French officer had grown up in the very region where Team Augustus would ultimately operate behind enemy lines. Sergeant Roger Cote began the war as an office clerk from New Hampshire before earning promotion to First Sergeant. Quiet, dependable, and capable, he became a critical member of the team's operations.

Together, they formed OSS Jedburgh Team Augustus.

Their mission would become one of the most tragic—and most inspiring—stories in Jedburgh history.

Into a Changing Battlefield

By August 1944, the Allied invasion had fundamentally changed the war in Western Europe.

Unlike earlier Jedburgh teams whose primary mission centered on organizing resistance forces, Augustus entered a battlefield already in motion. German forces were retreating eastward while Allied armies advanced rapidly across France.

The team initially reported enemy troop movements and targets for Allied aircraft. Yet conditions on the ground were becoming increasingly difficult. German units filled the countryside. Safe houses became scarce. Resistance activity became more dangerous.

On August 25, Team Augustus informed headquarters that enemy concentrations in their sector were so heavy that creating additional resistance groups would be impractical and potentially disastrous.

Then a new mission arrived.

A Mission of Preservation

On August 30, Team Augustus received instructions that differed dramatically from their previous assignments. Rather than destroy infrastructure, they were ordered to preserve it.

A strategically important bridge was needed intact for advancing Allied forces.

The team was instructed to cross back through German-held territory, establish observation positions, and ensure the bridge remained standing until Allied troops arrived. The mission required extraordinary risk. Disguised as civilians, equipped with false French identity documents, and carrying concealed communications equipment, Team Augustus prepared to move through enemy territory under cover of darkness.

A local farmer named Mr. Magnien offered both his barn and his horse-drawn cart to support the operation. The Maquis helped conceal equipment beneath hay. The plan was set. The mission began.

The Final Night

As the team moved out, a torrential rainstorm swept across the countryside. Visibility disappeared. Communication became nearly impossible. The darkness that offered protection also created confusion. Navigating muddy roads and unfamiliar terrain, Team Augustus eventually entered a village still occupied by German forces. What happened next unfolded in seconds.

A German tank stood in the village, halted for refueling. Both groups were surprised by the encounter. German soldiers ordered the cart stopped for inspection. When hidden equipment was discovered beneath the hay, the outcome became inevitable.

Major Bonsall and Captain Delviche were shot while still on the cart. Sergeant Cote attempted to flee but was also killed. The mission ended there. The only Jedburgh team to be completely wiped out during the war had made its final stand.

A Horse Finds Its Way Home

The story might have ended there. Instead, one final detail transformed tragedy into legend. The horse pulling the cart survived. Alone and still harnessed, it made its way back through the darkness to Mr. Magnien's barn.

When the Maquis discovered the horse the following morning, they immediately understood something had gone wrong. Searching the route, they found the bodies of the three men.

The advancing American Army was already pushing through the area, pursuing retreating German forces. The local resistance fighters buried Team Augustus with full honors in the nearby cemetery. For the people of the region, they would never be forgotten.

Finding the Last Mission

The search for Team Augustus required years of historical preservation and local memory.

Three Forks® worked closely with the OSS Society in Washington, D.C., as well as local contacts in France, to identify the precise location associated with the team's final operation.

The effort led to an unexpected friendship with a local historian who had spent years preserving the story of Team Augustus. He shared personal archives, local knowledge, and family connections that helped reconstruct the events of August 30, 1944. He also remarked that Three Forks® were the first Americans he could remember visiting the site since the war.

Through those connections, the team was introduced to the son of Mr. Magnien—the very farmer whose barn had sheltered Team Augustus before their final mission. Standing at the site today, visitors find a memorial plaque that reads:

"French Fighting Forces, Action Network, in memory of the Jedburgh Team Augustus members, cowardly killed by the enemy on August 30, 1944. Remember they died for the liberation of France."

The words remain as powerful now as when they were first inscribed.

Preserving a Sacred Place

Unlike many wartime sites, the structures associated with Team Augustus remain remarkably intact. Protected from the elements for generations, the barns and outbuildings still contain an extraordinary collection of original timber.

Massive beams remain in place with their traditional mortise-and-tenon joinery preserved.

Historic planks continue to rest where they were first installed decades before the war. These materials witnessed one of the most consequential final chapters in Jedburgh history. Every beam carries the weight of remembrance. Every board preserves a connection to the men who never returned.

A Legacy Beyond Victory

The Augustus Project is not a story about winning a battle. It is a story about duty.

About perseverance in the face of overwhelming risk. About ordinary men who accepted extraordinary responsibilities because freedom required it.

The buildings remain. The timber endures. And the memory of Major John Bonsall, Captain Jean Delviche, and Sergeant Roger Cote lives on through the preservation of the place where their final mission began. Some sites preserve history. Others preserve legacy. The Augustus Project preserves both.