Young, Brave and Beautiful Read online

  Violette inscribed and gave this photo to Aunt Florrie, Charlie Bushell’s sister, who lived at The Kennels in Wormelow, Herefordshire, UK. Author’s archives

  Violette fondly laughing as Tania upturns the tin of talc. Author’s archives

  Dedication

  To my mother, Violette Szabó,

  in her honour;

  to all those who jumped

  and to the late Paul E.F. Holley

  who found me a safe landing place.

  Acknowledgements

  to the First Edition (2007)

  To the following people I continue to hold a debt of great gratitude. Without them the first edition could not have been written – but then nor could this second, completely revised edition. Those who are no longer among us I hold deep within my heart and those still here – again, thank you.

  Phœbe Atkins, Serge Blandin, Lieutenant Colonel Bradbury, Kerrie and Annie Bushell, Roy and Rick Bushell, Sir Henry and Lady Albina Cooper, Alasdair Crosby, Huguette Deshors, Tom Ensminger, Adv. Richard Falle, Susan Foord, Clive and Annie Garner, Sylvia and William Glenn, Jean-Claude Guiet, Steven and Irene Harwood, Sarah Helms, Paul E.F. Holley, Alexander Hugh, Polly Isbey, Leslie Jackson, Steve Jepson, Roger Jones, Bob Large DFC, Ld’H, Penny and Mike Lawrence, Sahra and Trevor Le Feuvre, John and Norman Lucas, Sidney Mathews, Madame and Monsieur Montelly, Bill Morvan, Seamus Morvan, Musée de la Résistance–Forge des Eaux, Harry Patterson (Jack Higgins), Sue and Frank Prigent, Madame Renaudie, Anna Ribiéras, John-Pierre Ribiéras, the Rolfes, Rosemary Rigby MBE and her team, Patrimoine Rouen, Mark Seaman, Martin Sugarman and JSTOR, Paul Simmonds, Henry Tiarks, Albert Tisserand, Jacques Valéry, Simon Watkins, Michael Wilkins.

  Tania Szabó

  Island of Jersey

  September 2007

  Acknowledgements

  to the Second Edition (2015)

  So many more who have helped in individual ways, helping to correct errors, to keep the bailiff from the door and just giving their friendship and presence.

  In Wales the first people to thank are those who found me a wonderful seventeenth-century cottage – Edwin and Jane Bryce.

  Then those who helped with the 250 boxes of books, archives and small things – Edwin and Jane Bryce, Jane’s brother Andrew and his friend Beth, Rob Clement, Ceri and Tim Hill – they were so patient and my first friends in mid-Wales.

  Sandra Clipstone, cousin to Rosemary Rigby MBE – owner of the Violette Szabó Museum in Wormelow, Herefordshire. Sandra has been a source of fun and friendship during some pretty dark days, along with her friend, Carol Blackburn.

  Also Rob, Dai (who strimmed beautifully), Tim and Nathan who helped in the aftermath of the devastating fire at the cottage – they moved everything at cost price, with humour in the pouring rain, snow and freezing cold over a three-month period.

  The team at The History Press, with special thanks to Chrissy McMorris, freelance editor Jude John and Tom Fryer of Sparks, I thank you all for your commitment to ensuring a fine book and putting up with my concerns.

  David and Bronwe Petersen, Wendy Charles and Sam, along with Rob, Ceri and Tim who kept the black dog in his place but took Mick the Magnet to their heart. The continuing support of Seamus Morvan, Robert Russell and Sylvia and William de Glenn and those whom I might have unintentionally not mentioned.

  Thank you to Mark Yeats for being my generous agent and friend and introducing me to The History Press; to Jussie, Immi and Coco (Mark’s three very lovely womenfolk) for putting up with my visits with Mick the Dog tagging along in happy bounds; and especially to Coco and Immi for each giving up their bed to me on each visit.

  My sincere thanks to Brigitte Garin and her mother Lucette for the invaluable information and friendly hospitality they afforded me in Pony. Brigitte introduced me to municipal archives and we spent some wonderful hours talking about the Nazi occupation and the courage of Florence and Jean. Florence did survive the concentration camps and lived to have a profound impact on the people around her.

  My thanks, too, to a prince among princes and many other dear people including Ian, a dear friend and mobile master.

  My love and sincere thanks to all of you who kept me afloat emotionally, and as a writer, too, during a difficult few years since the death of Paul E.F. Holley, my friend and mentor and friend of Violette.

  Tania Szabó

  Mid-Wales

  June 2015

  Contents

  Title

  Dedication

  Acknowledgements to the First Edition (2007)

  Acknowledgements to the Second Edition (2015)

  My Aim

  Foreword by Virginia McKenna

  Foreword by Author Jack Higgins

  Introduction by US Wireless Operator Jean-Claude Guiet

  Dramatis Personae

  List of Organisations

  Part I

  1 Dropped Blind

  2 At the Farm

  3 Train Journey to Paris

  Part II

  4 Arrival in Paris

  5 Train to the Unknown

  Part III

  6 Friendly Lodgings in Rouen

  7 Finding and Meeting Madame Desvaux

  8 The Confession

  9 Dubito Ergo Sum

  10 Madame Desvaux, Lise Valois, the Blue Cardigan

  11 En Route to the Boutique, Lise at Le Bristol, Lunch at Chez Denise

  12 Back to the Hotel, Arrest, Palais de Justice

  13 Teenager, Philippe, Lise, Marcel, Lucien, Posters

  14 Back across the River to Gare rue Verte and Dinner with Philippe at the Brasserie Marigold

  15 Le Havre

  16 Back to Rouen

  17 Les Diables Noirs, the Boulanger Women, V Rockets

  18 To Dieppedalle, Arrest and Déterville

  19 Back at the Hotel, Planning to Flee, Hasty Retreat to Paris

  Part IV

  20 Paris and André Malraux Once Again

  21 Luxembourg Gardens, Rendezvous Philippe, Tante Evelyn, Transmits to London

  Part V

  22 Back to London

  23 Debriefing

  24 Rest and Refreshers, More Debriefs

  25 Final Days of Waiting, Promotion, Preparation and a Night on the Town

  26 Hazells Hall, Fun and Delays

  27 Flight to Sussac

  Part VI

  28 Arrival in Sussac

  29 Sussac

  30 Magnac, Madame Lazerat and Meeting the Maquis

  31 Domps, Le Clos, Michel, Dog

  32 Going South, Ambush, Chase, Capture

  33 Arrested, Maison d’Arrêt de Limoges, the Tivoli and Huguette Deshors

  34 Limoges to Avenue Foch and More Interrogation

  Part VII

  35 Fresnes Prison to Saarbrücken

  36 Saarbrücken to Fürstenburg and a Walk through the Forest

  37 Ravensbrück and the Final Curtain

  Epilogue

  Ode to Violette

  Bibliography

  Plates

  Copyright

  The book was entitled Young, Brave and Beautiful by Seamus Morvan of the Morvan Family Group of Hotels in Jersey who, along with his father, Bill Morvan, is devoted to the

  memory of Violette.

  My Aim

  My aim has been to breathe life into Violette. The two existing biographies, although great in their unique way, did not do that for me, the daughter. I hope I have succeeded for you, at least in part.

  Some of the people in this book have asked for anonymity; sometimes I have given living people roles they may not have played but fulfilled courageous roles in other ways. Sometimes I have created a fictional Résister carrying out real actions. All the events and dialogue are based on
family anecdotes, primary sources in the main, people involved in France and the UK over the years, War Office reports and National Archives PFs and are included to give her the breath of life. An example is that of Philippe explaining to Violette the task of her first mission in Burnley Road which did actually take place in John’s miniscule bedroom. The words are taken directly from Philippe’s report to the War Office to create an authentic dialogue. This is not a biography in the strict sense of the term, rather an informative and deeply researched reconstruction of the dramatic events of Violette’s two real-life missions during 1944, leading up to her fate in January 1945.

  Violette’s three weeks in Rouen in April 1944, overflowing with Gestapo, German soldiers, French police and Milice – all bristling with weapons – have always been glossed over. It was a long time to spend alone in the most dangerous area in France those few months before D-Day, under enemy eyes and weaponry, to discover what happened to a blown circuit, many of whose members were tortured and killed, their families under constant suspicion and suffering. She gathered intelligence and persuaded those who were perhaps initially unwilling to continue perilous sabotage activities under instruction from London leading to D-Day.

  You will note I have used footnotes. First, I was told to get rid of them because they get in the way of reading. I have not done so. Second, it was suggested they go to the end of the chapter so as not to irritate the reader. I have not complied. The reason is simple. Footnotes are the only place for extraneous but interesting detail and it is highly unsatisfactory to have to turn the pages to find where the end of the chapter is, then find the relevant footnote within a page of numbers. I have made the footnotes small in size, and small is the marker beside the object of the footnote. I do not have one ‘idem’ but there are some funny anecdotes, comments and notes on language and such like that would not fit in the narrative. Yet they may be of interest to some of you, dear readers.

  There are those who have contributed greatly whom I have not mentioned. Some because they wanted it that way, but those others, please forgive me my lapse. I shall blush a thousand blushes when I realise. You know who you are and how much I thank you. I have made copious but careful use of the Internet; have scoured many books and articles; I have used their information with gratitude. The bibliography is a further acknowledgement to those whose written words and images have greatly assisted me. Thank you all.

  It is to be understood that all errors, historical or otherwise, as well as intentional and unintentional liberties are mine and mine alone.

  Thank you for reading this book. I do hope you enjoy the journey I made and have written here with the kind support of so many.

  Lastly, I thank my mother, Violette Szabó, and her mother, Reine Bushell (née Leroy), for without them the world’s treasury of courage would have been immeasurably less, and without whom this book would, truly, not have been possible.

  Tania Szabó,

  Violette’s daughter,

  Powys, Wales

  2015

  Foreword by Virginia McKenna

  Of all the memories revived and tributes paid to the valiant, selfless – and yes, beautiful – Violette Szabó, none can be more poignant than this biography, written by her daughter, Tania. It is everything one could wish for in a biography. But this one is unique in its factual detail, its brave retelling of Violette’s last months and, above all, the author’s courage in sharing with us the deep and lasting love of a daughter for an extraordinary mother.

  Foreword by Author Jack Higgins

  Soon after the debacle of Dunkirk that left Britain standing alone at the edge of a Europe occupied by Nazi forces, Winston Churchill proposed the setting up of an organisation to be known as Special Operations Executive (SOE).

  This was to be a unit of secret agents whose job was to penetrate occupied territory and wreak as much havoc as possible.

  For logistical reasons, France – directly across the Channel – presented the most obvious target. Set Europe ablaze was Churchill’s order and members of the SOE certainly were to do that having arrived by parachute, motor torpedo boats and light aircraft such as the Lysander, a plane capable of landing in a ploughed field and taking off again.

  But where were the recruits for such an organisation to come from? People who would have to be capable of jumping into total darkness over unknown territory, armed to the teeth, willing to engage enemy forces in combat and capable of accepting the terrible fate that would face them were they taken prisoner by an enemy who believed that torture of the vilest kind was acceptable.

  Where, then, could SOE expect to find the recruits needed? Strangely enough, not from the military, but from the general public and in many cases, women. Women like Violette Szabó.

  She was born in Paris to a French mother and an English father. The family moved to England before the war. Violette had grown up into an incredibly beautiful young woman who bore an astonishing resemblance to Ingrid Bergman. She married Étienne Szabó, a French-Hungarian Foreign Legion officer, who was killed at El Alamein. Grief stricken, she offered her services to SOE, making it quite clear that she was seeking personal vengeance.

  In April 1944, she parachuted into France a good distance from Rouen, travelled there alone by train, and reorganised an important resistance network that the Nazis had smashed.

  She returned by Lysander to England, but about five weeks later arrived back in June 1944 to the Limousin, where she worked with local Maquis in attacks on German communications lines. She and a companion, Anastasie, were ambushed by SS soldiers of Das Reich and Deutschland Regiments. Wounded, she held them off with her Sten gun, ordering Anastasie to make his escape.

  From June to August 1944, she was interrogated by the SS, tortured, and then transferred to Ravensbrück concentration camp where, like other prisoners, her health deteriorated due to severe malnutrition.

  Desperate to dispose of her and facing the imminent end of the war, the Nazis got rid of the evidence in their usual way. She was executed and her body probably cremated.

  That her George Cross was awarded posthumously in 1946 was all the more poignant when one remembers that it was received by her four-year-old daughter, Tania, who so many years later has produced this totally unique account of her mother’s life and work.

  Jack Higgins

  Channel Islands

  April 2007

  Introduction by US Wireless Operator Jean-Claude Guiet

  I was a little taken aback when I was asked to provide an introduction to Young, Brave and Beautiful, never having had any experience in such an undertaking. However, I found it quite satisfying to have the opportunity mentally to review some very old personal feelings and memories in the process.

  This is the story of a person with whom I was only briefly acquainted, yet whom I remember clearly and very fondly. Indeed, after being introduced to her and all the other team members, I didn’t see her for about three weeks until we all were together at Hazells Hall awaiting departure. We remained there for three days, and intermittently during the days before her capture. There were four of us involved in the Salesman team dropped by parachute in the Haute-Vienne of the Limousin.

  Firstly, the team leader, Major Charles Staunton (real name Philippe Liewer) who selected me after an interview where he spoke perfect British English and without warning switched to perfect Parisian French. I switched languages with him, and he concluded I would meet his requirements and was far better than his other choices. He then invited me to lunch.

  It was at that lunch that I met the others. There was the weapons instructor and demolition expert Bob Mortier (real name Bob Maloubier), a Canadian captain with his cap at a jaunty angle. The third member was our courier Corinne (real name Violette Szabó), a FANY (First Aid Nursing Yeomanry) officer. Finally there was me, the radio operator Claude (real name Jean-Claude Guiet). All the other three had had prior field experience: Philippe and Bob in a network Philippe had set up in Normandy and Violette, in the same Normand
y area after the net had been blown, to see if anything could be salvaged; a most dangerous task.

  I was a neophyte preparing for his first mission. I had just been promoted to second lieutenant, but hadn’t yet received a proper uniform. I met them in plain khaki without rank. In spite of their sincere efforts I was not of the group yet, and the lack of uniform and rank did not help. The conversation was primarily directed at finding out more about me. It was a difficult meal for me since they all knew each other and made many references to past common events. Their seeming lack of concern for security appalled me. At Hazells Hall there was joking and friendly banter, but no operational talk of the forthcoming operation.

  Violette’s previous undercover experience gave her the aura of a veteran. Yet our age difference was slight. I was quite struck by her sense of humour and even her tendency towards practical jokes: in fact, when she awoke us all very early after return from an aborted landing with the news that the invasion had started, we at first refused to believe her; thinking it to be another of her jokes.

  When she winked at me on the plane of an aborted flight over our drop zone in France just before we were supposed to jump, I interpreted it as a sort of flirtation. Probably a typical male reaction on my part. As I look back on it, I realise that it was a kind attempt at reassurance on her part.

  Once we were in France, I saw her only three times: twice for meals at a restaurant with the others and one time alone, the day before she was captured. This was primarily because, as the American radio operator for the group, I was to be segregated from all operational activities as our sole source of contact with London. On this last occasion Violette walked me to the little house near the watermill I had moved into as my base. She needed to know where to contact me, since she was our courier. She was pushing the bicycle she was to use the next day. Other than telling me she was going on a trip the following day, she volunteered no information. We had a pleasant conversation though we knew nothing about each other except that she was Corinne and I was Claude. She spoke forcefully of her admiration for our team leader, Charles Staunton, and of her determination and belief in duty. I was looking forward to seeing her again often.