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. Anyone who fell behind was shot dead. She was captured six months later and imprisoned in Fresne, the Gestapo prison in Paris. Churchill and Sansom claimed they were a married couple and related to Winston Churchill to make themselves seem more valuable as prisoners and less likely to be executed as spies. It could have been deleted, moved, or it never existed at all. Once more, she refused. By accepting death, she felt that "they would not win anything. Odette Sansom GC, MBE (28 April 1912 - 13 March 1995), also known as Odette Churchill and Odette Hallowes, code named Lise, was an agent for the United Kingdom's clandestine Special Operations Executive (SOE) in France during the Second World War.The purpose of SOE was to conduct espionage, sabotage, and reconnaissance in occupied Europe . Odette Hallowes/Spouse. [21], After the Allied landings in the south of France in August 1944, on orders from Berlin, all food was withdrawn for a week, all light was removed from Sansom's cell, and the heat was turned up. 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. Rarely would an assignment be easily completed, nor did agents have the luxury of time. It was at Fresne Prison that they tortured Sansom. Another courier, Pearl Witherington , led an underground force of 2,000 young French guerillas, called the Maquis, who specialized in cutting the main Paris-Bordeaux railway. [24] Odette Brailly was born in Amiens, France, on 28th April 1912. Colonel Henri was a German officer who claimed he wished to work for the allies. near Herrlingen, Germany [4] She later recalled that she had suspicions of disloyalty about other members of the Spindle network, but declined to identify whom she suspected. Peter Churchill survived the war but Rabinovitch was executed by the Gestapo in 1944. November 20, 1946. [19], Sansom succeeded in diverting attention from Churchill, who was subject to only two interrogations, and protected the identities of the two officers whose locations were known only to her. She arrived on July 18, 1944, two days before a now-famous failed plot by members of Hitler's inner circle to assassinate him. To every question Sansom simply replied: 'I have nothing to say'. [5], In January 1943, the Spindle team of Churchill, Rabinovich, and Sansom, feeling vulnerable to German capture, moved north from the French Riviera to the quiet Italian-occupied Annecy area in the French Alps. She was a Frenchwoman, married to an Englishman, and was living in Somerset with their three young daughters. Save five minutes a day when the overhead light was illuminated, she sat in total darkness. They were sent to Fresnes Prison in Paris, and soon were interrogated at 84 Avenue Foch, the notorious Gestapo headquarters. At Ravensbrck, Sansom was put in solitary confinement underground, in an attempt to break her spirit. ended in divorce in 1956 and she married Geoffrey Hallowes, a wine "[27] In 1955, she co-founded the annual Women of the Year Lunch with Tony Lothian and Lady Georgina Coleridge (journalist and daughter of the Marquess of Tweeddale). In December 1946, giving evidence at a war crimes trial in Hamburg, she would describe how she had seen women being driven screaming and struggling to the crematorium doors. Despite all this, Sansom didn't want fame. After four months of agonizing indecision over leaving her three children, and still feeling unqualified, she accepted. Both Churchill and Sansom were therefore retained in Fresne and frequently interrogated for another eight months. In October, 1941, she was sent by boat to France with orders to window.__mirage2 = {petok:"_AuhmkdrMi1mq61lM9R.VNRK.kGsRUbh0j6SX_5ImLM-86400-0"}; Gleeson, James Joseph. Odette Hallowes: The WWII British Spy - Forces Network It's 1942 and German troops have occupied most of Europe. She also accepted in advance that she might be captured by the Germans. Each country, including France, had its own section in London. Tickell, Jerrard. Odette Sansom was born in France but later moved to England. By October, when her health had just about failed, they moved her to a cell above ground. What happened to Odette Sansom daughters? A French agent working for the British during World War II, Odette Sansom left three small daughters to join the Resistance in 1942. January 16, 1995, pp. Her hair began falling out, her teeth became loose and she lapsed into a semi-coma. Are you going to answer my questions?" At any time, there could be a surprise selection for the gas chamber. Mahoney, M.H. When she refused to divulge the whereabouts of her spy circuit's wireless operator and another British officer, she not only saved the lives of other agents but enabled them to continue their work for the Resistance. Fraser, Antonia, ed. Odette Marie Cline Brailly was born on April 28, 1912, the first child of Gaston, a bank official in Amiens, and Yvonne Brailly . This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Includes; Cleopatra, Princess Diana, Marie Curie, Queen Victoria, and Joan of Arc. Sansom continued to claim that she was related to Winston All were terrific spies and each played a key role in deceiving the Germans about D-Day. She described it as a "kind of bargaining. drive her to the Allied lines in the west. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. Its agents were mainly tasked with sabotage and subversion behind enemy lines. A courageous and brave soldier, Odette's father, Gaston Brailly, was promoted to sergeant, and earned the Croix de Guerre and the Medaille Militaire. "Life wisdom learnt in the darkness of a torture cell; Odette Hallowes, GC.," in London Sunday Times. Was Peter Churchill related to Winston Churchill? At first, Odette's instructors . Her first mission was to set up a wireless operation at Auxerre. Alternatively, search more than 1 million objects from She maintained that she, not Peter Churchill, was the leader; she also refused to give any information about other members. When Sansom would not answer, the man kneeling at her feet fastened pincers around the tip of one of her toenails and pulled. She was captured six months later and imprisoned in Fresne, the Gestapo prison in Paris. "That is a permanent link I would not let go of," she said. 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. The hope was that in this way their treatment would be mitigated. On April 28, 1945, on her 33rd birthday, Sansom was released from Ravensbrck weighing less than 90 pounds. Women in Espionage. 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. After he landed by parachute in a remote mountainous area, Churchill and Sansom hid in an inn in St. Jorioz. 2023 TIME USA, LLC. London replied immediately: "Henri highly dangerousyou are to hide across lake and cut contacts with all save Arnaud [Rabinovich]"[12][13], Churchill was in London consulting with SOE at the time of Bleicher's meeting with Sansom. help establish a new circuit in Burgundy. She was captured six months later and imprisoned in Fresne, the Gestapo prison in Paris. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); 2023 FAQS Clear - All Rights Reserved "Every Sunday morning, after church, we were taken to the grave of my father, who was killed at Verdun 30 days before Armistice. At 2:00 a.m. on April 16, Bleicher, no longer in the guise of "Colonel Henri", appeared in the hotel with Italian soldiers and arrested Sansom and Churchill. In all, 50 SOE women agents were landed in France during World War II. Burvale Cemetery, Hersham, United Kingdom Because each style has its own formatting nuances that evolve over time and not all information is available for every reference entry or article, Encyclopedia.com cannot guarantee each citation it generates. Dec 1, 2022. Please attempt to sign up again. People Who Made a Difference in Health Care, Facts about the extraordinary life of Joan of Arc. [20] Bleicher occasionally appeared and suggested that they might go to concerts and visit restaurants together in Paris, in return for which he hoped she could be induced to talk. The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". She was to land on the Mediterranean coast and work her way north, where SOE hoped to establish a new circuit. Before war broke out in September 1939, Britain had established secret agencies to conduct clandestine operations in Europe. Yet their decorations pale in comparison to those of a courier spy named Odette Sansom (code name: LISE). Her back was scorched with a red-hot poker and all of her toenails were pulled out. One secret policeman, sergeant Hugo Bleicher, did just that. People of the Second World War (1939-45) Influential leaders, generals and civilians who caused, influenced and fought during the Second World War. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. Suhren was later hanged for war crimes. Her pat answer was always the same: I have nothing to say. When the Gestapo realized that she would never talk, they condemned her to death and sent her to the one place feared by every woman in Europe: Ravensbrck. Violette Szabo has no known grave. from the east, she persuaded Fritz Suhren, the camp commandant, to She seems to have little experience of the outside world. What happened to Odette Hallowes? Infuriated, Bleicher sent her to Ravensbrck concentration camp. With her three daughters in a convent school, Odette trained as an SOE agent. When they told her she was to be executed, listing her many crimes against the Nazi Third Reich, she told them to take their pick of offenses, because they could only kill her once. In June 1943, she was brought before an improvised military court and condemned to death as a British spy. [CDATA[ In 1942,Odette Sansomwas invited to join 'F' Section of theSpecial Operations Executive(SOE). https://www.encyclopedia.com/women/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/sansom-odette-1912-1995, "Sansom, Odette (19121995) By the end of March 1941, the first members of the French Section were in intensive training in Britain. 1932); Lily (b. Selectors, relying on instinct, looked for spirit rather than muscle. Agents wore boots and shoes with secret compartments. Therefore, that information is unavailable for most Encyclopedia.com content. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads. The son of Lillie ne Parkington and Abbey Sansom of Colchester. In October 1942, leaving her three daughters at a convent school in Essex, 30-year-old Odette Sansom became a member of the Women's Transport Service, a part of the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (FANY). She was captured by the Gestapo and sent to Ravensbruck concentration camp, but survived the war. Its purpose is to accurately identify the goods via barcoding and to relate the physical arrival of the goods to the previously received ODETTE Despatch Advice message. Her body was soon covered in scabs, and she suffered from dysentery and scurvy. [21], In June 1943 Sansom was condemned to death on two counts, to which she responded, "Then you will have to make up your mind on what count I am to be executed, because I can only die once." Jorioz by Hugo Bleicher of the Abwehr. Held by the Gestapo. He learned from Marsac the location of Churchill and Sansom, got a letter of introduction to them from him, and proceeded to Saint-Jorioz where he introduced himself to Sansom as "Colonel Henri". Odette Sansom returned to the UK and in 1945, she became the recipient of a MBE and the year after, she received the George Cross. Peter Churchill persuaded the authorities in London that due to the new situation he would need a talented French-woman to be his courier. She left her husband and three children to return to occupied France as a spy for the SOE (Special Operation Executive Program, a British spy agency) The book is well written and researched. This act of selfless bravery saved him from interrogation but it was the start of Sansom's ordeal. In 1914 when World War I broke out, Odette's father joined the Infantry Regiment and received the Croix de Guerre and Mdaille Militaire for his bravery. As the Russians drew closer, the entire Nazi death operation went into reverse. Not long after Bleicher demolished the INTERALLI circuit in the fall of 1941, the Abwehr recruited him to chase down spies in southern France, where Odette and her SPINDLE team operated. "British Heroine Honored, Aided French Resistance Despite Gestapo Tortures," in The New York Times. SOE circuits were comprised of three agents: circuit leader, courier and radio operator. London: Arco, 1957. Returning to Fresne, Sansom expected to be shot. On May 26, 1943, Sansom was taken to the headquarters of the German security service. Sansom told the Germans that Churchill was in the country on her insistence. Odette Sansom (1912 - 1995) - a French/British spy who worked as an SOE operative in occupied France. The purpose of SOE was to conduct espionage, sabotage, and reconnaissance in occupied Europe against the Axis powers, especially Germany. Violette Szabo joined the Special Operations Executive in 1943. What happened to Odette Sansom daughters? IWM collections. Many of her SOE comrades did not, however, and for the rest of her life Odette asked that we not forget them. Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. the life story of Odette Sansom reads like the film script it later became. On December 16, 1946, Major Stephen Stewart called Odette Sansom as a witness for the prosecution at the War Crimes Court at Hamburg. [3][4][5], She met an Englishman, Roy Patrick Sansom (19111957),[notes 3] in Boulogne and married him in Boulogne-sur-Mer on 27 October 1931,[1] moving with him to Britain. Sansom was torn, as she wanted to help but didn't want to leave her children. Returning to Fresne, the entire Nazi death operation went into reverse in France during World war,. Story of Odette Sansom reads like the film script it later became information is unavailable for most content! 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