Pierre Georges was born in France in 1919. The son of a baker, he joined the Communist Party while only a teenager. At seventeen he volunteered to fight for the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War. Badly wounded, he returned to France in 1938 and soon became active in the Communist Youth movement.

Soon after Henri-Philippe Petain signed the armistice with Germany in June, 1940, Georges joined the Frances-Tireurs Partisans. It was organized as a pyramid and based on triangles of three members. This proved to be a flexible and relatively secure structure. Trade unionists were especially active in the group and they were heavily involved in industrial sabotage. Other targets included railway tracks, electricity cables and telephone lines.

On 21st August, 1941, Georges (now known as Colonel Fabien) shot and killed a German naval officer in the Paris subway. He also became an expert at blowing up trains. This led to his arrest but despite being tortured he managed to escape in June 1943.

After the D-day landings took place he helped to organize the planned insurrection. Pierre Georges was killed in fighting at Alsace on 27th December 1944.