November 9, 1970 Walther PPK pistol taken by Odette Sansom from Fritz Suhren, commandant of Ravensbrck concentration camp, after he had driven her to the American lines in May 1945. On Feb. 23, 2012, almost 70 years after she joined the SOE, the Royal Mail released a stamp in her honor as part of its Britons of Distinction series. Then she demanded his revolver, put it into her bag, turned and walked into the nearby village. She was captured six months later and imprisoned in Fresne, the Gestapo prison in Paris. She wore her FANY uniform and the blue ribbon and silver miniature of the George Cross. When she did, he pulled back the material and pressed a red-hot poker to her spine. World War Two's most highly decorated female spy has had a train named after her by Great Western Railway. Peter Morland Churchill, DSO (14 January 1909 - 1 May 1972) was a British Special Operations Executive (SOE) officer in France during the Second World War.His wartime operations, which resulted in his capture and imprisonment in German concentration camps, and his subsequent marriage to fellow SOE officer, Odette Sansom, received considerable attention during the war and after, including a . This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Geoffrey Hallowesm. For her service, she was awarded the George Cross. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. In between each "evulsion," he would repeat his questions, telling her she could end "the ceremony" simply by answering the questions. Peter Churchillm. "Life wisdom learnt in the darkness of a torture cell; Odette Hallowes, GC.," in London Sunday Times. Sansom organized and brought about the largest resupply drops ever made to the Maquis who were hiding in the mountains above the Cote d'Azur in France. "The Last Days of Auschwitz, 50 Years Later: Untold Stories From the Death Camp," in Newsweek. She was treated harshly, and was once kept in the dark on her own for three months and 11 days. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 1993. Odette Sansom (1912 1995) a French/British spy who worked as an SOE operative in occupied France. When Odette again refused, the Nazi systematically tore out each of her toenails, one by one. She was awarded not only an Order of the British Empire (Member), but also a Chevalier de la Lgion dHonneur, Frances highest decoration; a George Cross, Britains second highest honor; and five other medals. This would mean securing an apartment in a specified part of town in France to which the SOE might send other members, either as part of an escape team or to encourage sabotage and action by the French Resistance. [17], In Ravensbruck Sansom was kept in a punishment block cell, on a starvation diet, and could hear other prisoners being beaten. [4] She later recalled that she had suspicions of disloyalty about other members of the Spindle network, but declined to identify whom she suspected. Though the camp was designed to contain a maximum of 6,000 prisoners, after 1943, there were never fewer than 12,000. Odette Sansom Hallowes (1912 - 1995) was born in Amiens, France, to a bank manager who left his job when World War I broke out to join an infantry regiment on the Western Front. Her father was a soldier in the French Army and was killed during [8][9], Sansom made a landing on a beach near Cassis on the night of 2 November 1942, and made contact with Captain Peter Churchill, who headed Spindle, an SOE network based in Cannes. Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet. After the war, Odette's marriage to Roy Sansom was dissolved, and she married Peter Churchill. Her George Cross, she always maintained, was not to be regarded as an award to her personally, but as an acknowledgment of all those known and unknown, alive or dead, who had served the cause of the liberation of France. Coming from a long line of patriots from the province of Picardy, she rose up against indifference and was outraged when the Nazis took over her nation. She refused to disclose the whereabouts of Rabinovitch and another British agent, stuck to her fabricated cover story that Churchill was the nephew of Prime Minister Winston Churchill, that she was his wife, and that he knew nothing of her activities. Many of her SOE comrades did not, however, and for the rest of her life Odette asked that we not forget them. On December 16, 1946, Major Stephen Stewart called Odette Sansom as a witness for the prosecution at the War Crimes Court at Hamburg. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. They'll have a dead body, useless to them. It reads: In love and homage to Mrs. Yolande E.M. Beekman, Croix de Guerre, Miss Danielle Bloch , Miss Andre M. Borrel, Miss Muriel Byck , Miss Madeleine Damerment, Miss Noor Inayat Khan, Mrs. Cecily M. Lefort , Miss Vera E. Leigh, Mrs. Eliane S. Plewman, Croix de Guerre, Miss Lilian V. Rolfe , Miss Diana H. Rowden, Mrs. Yvonne Rudellat , Mrs. Violette R.E. What happened to Odette Hallowes? When Louis returned to school, she continued her walks alone and, though she missed him, found an unexpected joy in solitude. After he landed by parachute in a remote mountainous area, Churchill and Sansom hid in an inn in St. Jorioz. She recalled in a post-war interview that while everyone has a breaking point, her feeling was that if she could "survive the next minute without breaking up, that is another minute of life. ." Magazines, CODE NAME: LISEThe True Story of the Woman Who Became WWIIs Most Highly Decorated Spy, Or create a free account to access more articles, The Extraordinary Bravery That Made This Woman One of World War II's Most Remarkable Spies. Sansom grew close to Churchill and to Rabinovitch, whom she liked and trusted. This label is usually attached to the container/package of the goods. Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc. Odette is a 1950 British war film based on the true story of Special Operations Executive French agent, Odette Sansom, living in England, who was captured by the Germans in 1943, condemned to death and sent to Ravensbrck concentration camp to be executed. This was hard enough for most prisoners and even worse for those suffering from diarrhea which was epidemic in the camps. But, eventually, the camp was overrun, and she won her freedom as the Camp commandant tried to use her as a hostage. "If you tell me what you want me to do and release one hand I will do it." People Who Made a Difference in Health Care, Facts about the extraordinary life of Joan of Arc. Violette Szabo (1921-1945) worked for 'F' Section inSpecial Operations Executive (SOE)during theSecond World War. However, the date of retrieval is often important. Sansom became 'Agent S.23'. Later he was an architect of the Fifth Republic and was president from 1958 to 1969. "If I had courage, it was my grandfather's," Sansom told a London Sunday Times interviewer in 1990. Indeed the theme of her postwar working life, with its service to various charities and help for the underprivileged, was the healing of those wounds, both physical and mental, which had been inflicted upon individuals by the war. Sansom continued to claim that she was related to Winston Radio Operators was one of the most dangerous tasks, as the Gestapo were always on the lookout for radio signals. Odette Sansom Hallowes was born on April 28, 1912 and died on March 13, 1995. As the Russians drew closer, the entire Nazi death operation went into reverse. drive her to the Allied lines in the west. Odette Marie Cline was born on April 28, 1912 to Gaston and Yvonne Brailly who lived in Amiens, France.Her brother Louis was born a year later in 1913. //

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