He resigned in 1944 and returned to active duty serving on the planning staff for Operation Overload. In 1942, he was appointed Ambassador to all of these countries, and Belgium, and served as such until 1943. When the exiled Polish government set up residency in London in 1941, he was also commissioned as the minister of the Netherlands, Norway, Greece, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia.
With the Polish government, he and his wife escaped as the Germans overran the country traveling to France where he served as France’s interim ambassador in 1940. He joined the diplomatic service in 1935 when he was appointed as Minister of Norway, a post he left in 1937 to become the Ambassador to Poland. Drexel Biddle II enlisted in the New York Calvary during World War I and was promoted to captain. He taught them also the techniques of jiu-jitsu and the French punch-and-kick man-killing attack known as savat. When he judged his charges ready for the more arduous training Colonel Biddle taught them the use of the machete, saber, dagger, bayonet, and hand grenade.
His system then, as now, was based on long hours of callisthenics and gymnastics to harden young bodies for the rigors of the advanced training. When the first World War started, Colonel Biddle opened a military training camp near Lansdowne, where he trained 4,000 young Philadelphians in military maneuvres. Reading the New York Times (February 15, 1942), one learns that: His father, Anthony Joseph Drexel Biddle (1874-1948) was a pioneer of bayonet and hand-to-hand combat training in the US Marine Corps based on his training in the sport of fencing. His significance in the world of fencing is linked to the “Biddle Cup Tournament” sponsored by the Biddle family for all of New York City schools. He enjoyed boxing, tennis, fencing, skiing and boating.
A member of one of Pennsylvania’s leading families, he was a businessman, sportsman, diplomat and soldier. Drexel Biddle Jr., a frequent donor and supporter of fencing.
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