THE MAISON DE SANTÉ PASTEUR-LISTER, BEACONSFIELD
- Apr 26
- 5 min read
Many of you will be familiar with the commando biographies written by Jean-Christophe Rouxel in his Parcours des Vies dans La Royale. Or you many have original commando war service documents. In many cases these refer to the “Maison de Santé - Beaconsfield”. This article describes the Maison de Santé to give you a better understanding of your commando’s wartime journey.
Introduction to FNFL medical facilities
Until the end of 1940 the FNFL relied on British hospitals, including Royal Navy hospitals, to provide all medical services for the sick and injured. Problems with language and morale for patients necessitated the creation of a range of healthcare facilities under Free French management.
Small medical departments were established in all the major FNFL bases (Greenock, Cowes, Dundee, and later for Portsmouth at the Caserne Bir Hacheim in Emsworth). In London the Hôpital Maritime Albert Calmette was established in St. John’s Wood, with 30 beds and surgical and radiology services. The FNFL had at no time extensive surgical facilities and continued to rely on British hospitals for the treatment of acute illnesses and injuries, although arrangements were made for close liaison with French doctors. Beaconsfield patients who required acute treatment were sent to Amersham General Hospital.
The FNFL medical establishments were therefore primarily for the treatment of minor ailments and injuries, and for convalescence and chronic conditions, of which tuberculosis was by far the most prevalent. The largest concentration of such facilities was established in Beaconsfield, where the FNFL took over four large houses.
Early in 1941, the owners of a large Victorian manor house, Mr and Mrs Timmis, decided to make their home, Butler’s Court, available for use as a military hospital, originally intended for wounded British soldiers. But through the intervention of the “French in Great Britain” fund, Butler’s Court was offered to the FNFL and opened its doors on 4th January 1941.
Butler’s Court provided 60 convalescent beds and was the largest single FNFL facility in the UK. It was known as the Maison de Santé Pasteur-Lister. However, as it was available not only to FNFL personnel, but also Free French merchant marine sailors, it soon lacked adequate capacity.
Further convalescent facilities were sought, preferably closer to FNFL bases. One such facility was established at Steep House, Petersfield, which became a second convalescent home (maison de repos) with 25 beds, conveniently close to Portsmouth, and later to the Caserne Bir Hacheim in Emsworth.
The Maison de Santé had three functions: to provide long-term treatment for non-contagious conditions, to provide convalescence under medical supervision for post-operative and post-acute phase patients, and to provide a rest home particularly for ships’ crews who had served in the tropics.
Back in Beaconsfield, Highfield, a large Edwardian house in Grove Road, and adjacent to Butler’s Court, was purchased by the FNFL on 2nd January 1942. This house was designated as a sanatorium with 40 beds for tuberculous patients from all three services. The FNFL built an extension and large conservatory in the garden (which still stand today), to provide patients with the opportunity to enjoy fresh air and sunshine, which in the pre-antibiotic era represented the only “treatment” available. A large proportion of the patients at Highfield were submarine crews, in whom tuberculosis was particularly prevalent.
This facility was named the Sanatorium Laennec, after the early 19th century French physician who invented the stethoscope, and who incidentally died of tuberculosis.
Two other properties in Beaconsfield, Grove Ash and Westmoreland, provided accommodation for doctors and nurses. Grove Ash also provided a further 25 beds for non-infectious patients from Highfield.
At its peak, there were 300 – 400 patients in Beaconsfield, and over the course of the war several thousand were treated and convalesced in the town.
Dr Robert Garraud was appointed as the Medical Director of the Beaconsfield medical centres, and René Nublat as manager. Nurses were for the most part provided by the Red Cross, but included some French-Canadian nurses, and the Women’s Royal Voluntary Service; Girl Guides carried out housekeeping duties. The Red Cross services were in principle voluntary, but in practice the nurses received 10 shillings (£0.50) for five half-days a week, together with free lunch.
General de Gaulle visited on at least two occasions. On 27th October 1941 he was accompanied by HM the Queen (the Queen Mother).
Life in the Maison de Santé
Apart from the medical facilities, the patients were provided with a number of home comforts. A library was maintained by local residents, and there were a games room and cinema, and a tennis court in the grounds. The patients raised pigs and cultivated a vegetable patch in nearby fields.
If fit enough, the patients participated in local activities. The photograph below was taken during War Weapons Week, 24th – 31st May 1941. The Free French sailors took part in a parade and march past at Five Ways, Beaconsfield (the residents of Beaconsfield sponsored the corvette HMS Clematis).
The nurses played a vital role, not only in terms of nursing care, but also in providing a social environment for the patients. Commando Jean Biestro married Eileen Bray, a nurse at the Maison de Santé.
The Maison de Santé received a number of those injured in the Normandy campaign. The photographs below were taken in September 1944 and include six commandos.
Some 34 Free French patients died whilst in Beaconsfield. All but two died from tuberculosis, including one commando, Marcel Joho.
The others were the result of road traffic accidents in the blackout.
They were buried in Shepherds Lane cemetery in Beaconsfield but were exhumed in 1948; some were re-interred in Brookwood Military Cemetery, others were repatriated to France.
In 1993 a memorial plaque was erected in Shepherds Lane cemetery to honour the ” Fighting French”.
After the war
Butlers Court continued to serve as a FNFL hospital until the end of 1945. It was sold to London County Council and again in 1956 to the papermakers Wiggins Teape, in whose hands it served as a research centre until about 2010. The site was acquired by property developer Berkeley Homes; new houses and apartments were built on the site. The main house, Butlers Court, was preserved, and converted into six luxury apartments. Three of the new apartment blocks are named after former patients: Biestro Lodge, Cabanier Lodge and Sanz House.
Highfield was sold by the FNFL in 1947 and today is a private residence.
Photograph credits:
Beaconsfield & District Historical Society, Histoires de Français Libres Ordinaires, Musée de Tradition de l’École des Fusiliers Marins Lanester, Rabouhans family
Noël Rabouhans - 14th February 2026
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