In 1940, he was mobilized as a laborer and hoped to be able to flee to London. He was unable to publish during the Occupation. He managed to escape to Algiers in 1942, where he wrote his three final novels: le Piège, Départ dans la nuit and Non-lieu.
He returned to Paris in poor health from diseases caught during his Algerian exile. He died in Paris on July 19, 1945 from Cachexia and heart failure.