by Larry Loftis
Upon recommendation of its lawyers, the Treasury took out a substantial indemnity insurance policy to cover libel litigation.
They would need it.
The publication of SOE in France on 28 April 1966 was an unmitigated disaster. Neither Odette nor Peter had seen a page of text beforehand and both were fit to be tied. Other agents felt the same and, as expected, the Treasury began receiving letters from lawyers. Odette’s counsel, Goodman, Derrick and Co., minced no words in her cause of action for libel in a letter five days later: “The British government have under their authority caused a book to be printed which leaves not a shadow of a doubt that its author and therefore by implication its sponsors regard Mrs. Hallowes (as she is now) as unworthy of the award.”
The following day, May 4, Odette was compensated £646. But there was still the matter of addressing the text. The next month Treasury Solicitor officials met with Odette’s attorneys—in the law firm’s office—to address amendments and deletions. Foot agreed to make the changes.
But there was more. Given the damage to Odette’s reputation, her lawyers demanded that Foot make a public apology, a request the Treasury thought was appropriate. Foot’s apology appeared in the Times on 11 July 1966 in the form of a letter to the editor. Foot stated:
“There has been one major misunderstanding over my book on S.O.E. in France; it concerns awards of the George Cross to two women of exceptional gallantry, Mrs. Odette Hallowes and Mrs. Violette Szabo. I deeply regret that any references in the book have given rise to misunderstandings, and so caused keen distress to a very gallant officer. I never intended to cast any doubt whatever on the worthiness of the G.C. awarded to Mrs. Hallowes in 1946 [and] I shall take the opportunity, in any reprinting of the book, to make my views quite clear.”
Peter, however, would not go away so easily. On August 10 his lawyers filed suit against Foot and Her Majesty’s Stationery Office. Among the counts of libel they included this passage from SOE in France: “Luxury was as much a cause of SPINDLE’s undoing as were the stresses in CARTE; Peter Churchill and his courier—Odette Sansom (Lise)—found that life could still be easy for people with plenty of money on the Riviera. The truth is that the military value of their mission was slight.”
In addition, the complaint alleged that Foot and HMSO had suggested or insinuated that Peter had published false information about his missions to France in his three memoirs: Of Their Own Choice, Duel of Wits, and Spirit in the Cage.
In spite of the difficulty in prosecuting libel, Peter won: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office was forced to recall thousands of copies of SOE in France, and Foot was ordered to remove offending passages from later editions.
Though slandered, defamed, and vexed, the SPINDLE spies survived.
As victors.
Again.
* * *
58. Basin replied to Peter’s comment by stating that he called off the rescue because he was handcuffed to another prisoner. The excuse fails, however, since prisoners were always handcuffed; the rescues always occurred when the prisoner stated that he needed to use the restroom and was uncuffed for that purpose. When the prisoner was in the lavatory, the rescue team would confront the guards and, at gunpoint, force them off the train or escape with their man.
59. Boxshall had been an intelligence officer in World War I, was an SOE officer in World War II, and, after the war, had been employed by the Foreign Office to advise what should be made public about SOE activities.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
Challenges in writing Code Name: Lise were everywhere, and many remain unresolved. How could Odette leave her children to work in France? I asked at the outset. Granted, her reasons (grandfather’s admonition, mother’s second loss of her home, patriotism) were compelling, but since her husband was also in the war, her children could have been orphaned. Further, once in France, why does she wish for the most dangerous assignments, preferring Marseille and Paris to Cannes and the Savoy?
Patriotism aside, did she have an itch to scratch?
And what of Hugo Bleicher? Was he a villain who escaped justice or simply a loyal German doing his job to the best of his ability? On the one hand, we see him using every trick in the book to capture Allied operatives, yet he became the consummate gentleman once he’d done so. We scowl as he arrests agents and turns them over to the Gestapo—knowing full well that some will be tortured or executed—but cheer as he helps Odette and Peter, often at great personal risk.
Bleicher walked that very thin line between duty and conscience, and at times was threatened with arrest himself. My impression was that he wanted to fulfill his job as a German soldier, while at the same time offer genuine respect and concern for Allied agents who were simply doing their jobs as well. Who takes a prisoner to his home, for example, so that the enemy can bathe and freshen up for a lunch with friends? Bleicher was in his element playing the piano with Peter, and I think Hugo genuinely saw Peter as a friend.
Hugo’s relationship with Odette, however, was a bit more complicated. I think he was smitten by her from the outset and longed to court her. He knew from her dossier that it was unlikely she would talk or work for him, and that added to his admiration. He wanted nothing more than to take her to a concert playing Mozart or Beethoven, even as friends, hoping that a spark of romance might develop.
The principal players in the story—Odette, Peter, Arnaud, and Hugo—like Hemingway and Graham Greene, were adventurous, passionate, complex, inconsistent, and sometimes tormented. It’s not a stretch to call the SPINDLE story a Shakespearean comedy, each act moving and inspiring and frightening, and with many a tragedy. Odette was married, for example, when she and Peter fell in love, and Hugo was married when he harbored two mistresses (Suzanne and Lily Carré) and pursued a third. And two of the most dedicated agents—Arnaud and Paul—were executed by the Germans, while the treacherous Roger Bardet and “Kiki” Keiffer were condemned to death, but later released.
The climax of the story is Odette’s marriage to Peter, but in the end the hot coals of their passion grew cold. That Peter moved to Antibes after their divorce, never remarried, and died young seems almost Hollywood scripted.
And so, in true Shakespearean fashion, the story ends bittersweet.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I owe a debt of gratitude to many who assisted in this work.
As she did with Into the Lion’s Mouth, Susannah Hurt provided ongoing encouragement and incomparable feedback throughout my writing. Once again, I was reminded that she is gifted to catch things that sound just a bit awkward, fail to connect dots, or could be written better. I say “gifted” because I’m not sure this skill can be taught or learned, but ruthless, objective, dispassionate criticism is an author’s best friend.
To her, my endless thanks.
To Chakri Cuddapah, for his limitless passion for this book, and my work in general.
To those who graciously assisted in the launch of the book—Denise Carr, Jessica Smith, Donna Gotschall, Tracy King, Tameasa Provencher, Dallas Neeley, Robert Thomson, and Daniel Cavalier—so many thanks.
I am also thankful for those who encouraged along the way, including Barbara Damron (to whom this book is dedicated), Pam Sproles, Lona Youderian, Betsy Fadem, Ari Zach White, Mike and Naomi Wise, Pep Keely, Ryan Steck, Joshua Hood, Mark Sessums, Bill Keller, Don Carr, Tom and Ann Blastic, Charles Miller, Jim Crandall, Dony Jay, Steve Price, Gregg Page, Richard Skillman, Monica Taffinder, Lisa Thompson, Don Allison, Cristi Mansfield, Laura Yount, John Cook, Jose Arias, Wendy Henry, Connie Albers, Sherri Seligson, Paul Zuccarini, Cindy Bertossa, Greg Bailey, and so many others.
And to my editor, Natasha Simons, for her belief and excitement not only in the story, but in my blending of nonfiction and thriller, and for her tireless effort in championing the book; to my publisher, Jen Bergstrom, for holding out on a title until we came up with a perfect one; to Lisa Litwack, for a cover that exceeded my wildest expectations; to Aimée Bell, Gallery editorial director, for her last-minute
magic; to my publicists, Jean Anne Rose and Michelle Podberezniak, for their boundless energy and enthusiasm; to Kerry Fiallo, for her magnificent copy; to Hannah Brown and everyone “behind the scenes” at Gallery/Simon & Schuster; to everyone at Javelin for their commitment to excellence; and finally to my agent, Keith Urbahn, who is not only the best in the business, but a wonderful human being as well.
More Books to Enjoy
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Author Photograph by Spencer Freeman
LARRY LOFTIS is the international bestselling author of the nonfiction spy thriller Into the Lion’s Mouth: The True Story of Dusko Popov: World War II Spy, Patriot, and the Real-Life Inspiration for James Bond, which has been translated into multiple languages around the world. Larry can be found on the web at:
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NOTES
The world breaks everyone: Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms, 216.
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
See, generally, HS 9/648.4 and KV 2/164 (18a), UK National Archives; Maurice Buckmaster, They Fought Alone; Peter Churchill, Of Their Own Choice, Duel of Wits, Spirit in the Cage; E. H. Cookridge, They Came from the Sky; M. R. D. Foot, SOE in France.
PROLOGUE
“I simply don’t”: Churchill, Duel of Wits, 306.
“Keep an eye” . . . “There’s someone”: Ibid., 307.
“The plane ought” . . . “Listen!”: Ibid., 308.
“Put out those lights”: Ibid.; Jerrard Tickell, Odette: The Story of a British Agent, 160.
diving down . . . six feet: Churchill, Duel of Wits, 309.
“You make for the”: Tickell, Odette, 161.
German Shepherd: Tickell, Odette, 161, identifies the dog only as a “police dog,” but Churchill, Duel of Wits, 313, identifies the breed as Alsatian (German Shepherd).
She plunged in: Churchill, Duel of Wits, 313; Tickell, Odette, 162.
CHAPTER 1: DUTY
Major Guthrie . . . photographs: Tickell, Odette, 46–47; Imperial War Museum (IWM), Oral History, interview with Odette Marie Céline Sansom, produced October 31, 1986, catalogue number 9478, Reel 1. Website: www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80009265.
Born April 28 . . . Gaston: Tickell, Odette, 17; IWM, interview with Odette Sansom, October 31, 1986, catalogue number 9478, Reel 1.
“In twenty or twenty-five”: IWM, interview with Odette Sansom, October 31, 1986, catalogue number 9478, Reel 1.
polio . . . stole her sight . . . grandfather: Tickell, Odette, 18–19; IWM, interview with Odette Sansom, October 31, 1986, catalogue number 9478, Reel 1.
rheumatic fever: Tickell, Odette, 19.
married . . . child: Ibid., 21.
Somerset: IWM, interview with Odette Sansom, October 31, 1986, catalogue number 9478, Reel 1; Tickell, Odette, 27–29.
radio: IWM, interview with Odette Sansom, October 31, 1986, catalogue number 9478, Reel 1; Tickell, Odette, 45.
Mistakenly, however, she mailed: IWM, interview with Odette Sansom, October 31, 1986, catalogue number 9478, Reel 1.
Guthrie . . . return her photos: Tickell, Odette, 46–47; IWM, interview with Odette Sansom, October 31, 1986, catalogue number 9478, Reel 1.
“Has it occurred”: Tickell, Odette, 47–48.
“If I can be of”: IWM, interview with Odette Sansom, October 31, 1986, catalogue number 9478, Reel 1.
Red Cross: Ibid.
She struggled . . . tormented: Ibid.
June 28 . . . Selwyn Jepson: Tickell, Odette, 49; Foot, SOE in France, 42.
“set Europe ablaze”: Hugh Dalton, The Fateful Years, 366.
“We have got to organize”: Foot, SOE in France, 9.
Churchill . . . two directives: Ibid., 14.
MO 1 (SP) . . . NID (Q): Ibid.
role of Baker Street: Colonel Maurice Buckmaster, head of SOE’s F Section, described their role this way: “Our role at Special Operations Headquarters was not that of spy-masters, but of active and belligerent planners of operations to be carried out in advance of the Allied landing.” They Fought Alone, 45.
terrorists: Foot, S.O.E., 69; Philippe de Vomécourt, An Army of Amateurs: The Story of the SOE Resistance Movement in France, by One of the Three Brothers Who Organized and Ran It, 66.
“Why did you have”: IWM, interview with Odette Sansom, October 31, 1986, catalogue number 9478, Reel 1.
“We train people”: Ibid.
Service du Travail Obligatoire: Henri Michel, The Shadow War: European Resistance 1939–1945, 370, 372; Marcus Binney, The Women Who Lived for Danger, 1.
“I hate them”: Tickell, Odette, 50.
“Yes, but they” . . . “You know that” . . . “The Nazis”: Ibid., 50–52.
“It’s not possible”: IWM, interview with Odette Sansom, October 31, 1986, catalogue number 9478, Reel 1.
“This is where” . . . “the right sort of person”: Tickell, Odette, 54–56; IWM, interview with Odette Sansom, October 31, 1986, catalogue number 9478, Reel 1.
“Direct-minded and”: Tickell, Odette, 57.
“If everybody thinks”: IWM, interview with Odette Sansom, October 31, 1986, catalogue number 9478, Reel 1.
Buckmaster: Buckmaster, They Fought Alone, 1–6; Marcel Ruby, F Section SOE: The Story of the Buckmaster Network, 12–13; Foot, SOE in France, 21, 49.
March 17 . . . September: Ruby, 13.
“Good God, you”: IWM, interview with Odette Sansom, October 31, 1986, catalogue number 9478, Reel 1.
“In many ways” . . . “firing squad, the rope, the crematorium”: Tickell, Odette, 75.
As one agent: George Millar, Maquis: An Englishman in the French Resistance, 14.
CHAPTER 2: JINXED
“No. My mind is”: Tickell, Odette, 75.
“Would Céline do?” . . . “I’m going to”: Ibid., 76.
mirror: Ibid., 77.
July 18: A memo in Odette’s SOE personnel file states that she began her training on July 18, 1942, and finished in October. HS 9/648.4.012, UK National Archives.
Portman Square . . . “blushed”: Tickell, Odette, 78.
four stages: HS 7/51 (history of SOE training), HS 7/52 (syllabus of the finishing schools), HS 7/55 (syllabus of Canada’s Camp X lectures), HS 7/56 (lectures on tactics, demolitions, field craft; physical training syllabus), UK National Archives; Foot, S.O.E., 79–90; Foot, SOE in France, 53–58, 95, 104; I. C. B. Dear and M. R. D. Foot, eds., The Oxford Companion to World War II, 1019–21; Pieter Dourlein, Inside North Pole: A Secret Agent’s Story, 79–89; George Langelaan, Knights of the Floating Silk, 59–81; Churchill, Of Their Own Choice, 9–32; Denis Rigden, intro., How to Be a Spy: The World War II SOE Training Manual, 2–6.
80 percent would be disqualified: M. R. D. Foot, Britain’s official SOE historian, concluded that as many as one-third failed the Arisaig training alone. S.O.E., 84–85. Peter Churchill wrote that of the fourteen in his initial training group, only three qualified—a 79 percent failure rate. Of Their Own Choice, 32.
Wanborough Manor: Churchill, Of Their Own Choice, 9–19; Foot, S.O.E., 79–90; Foot, SOE in France, 53–58, 95, 104; Dear and
Foot, Oxford Companion to World War II, 1019–21; Rigden, How to Be a Spy, 2–4; HS 7/56, UK National Archives. Foot notes correctly that the stage one training was two to four weeks; Peter Churchill specified that his training at Wanborough lasted three weeks (19), while Pieter Dourlein recorded that his training with the Dutch section in Reading, England, was four weeks. Inside North Pole, 80.
virtually every weapon: For details on many of these weapons, see Pierre Lorain, Clandestine Operations: The Arms and Techniques of the Resistance, 1941–1944.
“You will always”: Rigden, How to Be a Spy, 379 (for the complete SOE weapons training instructions, see 376–413). George Millar, an SOE operative dropped into France in the summer of 1944, recalled the method and effectiveness after the war: “We were taught to use the forward-crouching stance and the quick, snap-shooting method. Some of us got so accurate with the pistols that we were like King George V knocking down driven grouse.” Millar, Maquis, 17.
“instinctive pointing”: Rigden, How to Be a Spy, 379.
Fairbairn-Sykes fighting knife, the pen pistol . . . ultrathin lapel knife: See Lorain, Clandestine Operations, 157–61.
Arisaig: Foot, S.O.E., 80–84; Foot, SOE in France, 53–55; Churchill, Of Their Own Choice, 19–27; Dourlein, Inside North Pole, 80–83; Langelaan, Knights of the Floating Silk, 59–77; Dear and Foot, Oxford Companion to World War II, 1019; Rigden, How to Be a Spy, 4–5, 11–17; HS 7/55 (syllabus of Canada’s Camp X lectures), UK National Archives. Note that Canada’s Camp X was a duplication of Arisaig, primarily to train America’s Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the forerunner of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). William Fairbairn and Eric Anthony Sykes, the legendary instructors at Arisaig, were brought in for this purpose. Since the war, many SOE records were lost and there are no pages in Odette’s personnel file indicating specifically that she participated in training at Wanborough, Arisaig, or Ringway. Her file does contain her final evaluation from Beaulieu (HS 9/648.4.083), however, and Tickell’s authorized biography details her training there and her accident at Ringway. Moreover, HS 9/648.4.012 states that she began her training on July 18, 1942, and finished in October. Perhaps intentionally, records from these secret commando schools are scant. British double agent Dusko Popov, who completed three of the SOE training stages (operating ostensibly as a German spy, he had no need for parachute training), has nothing in his voluminous MI5 files about his training, though he detailed in several interviews exactly what occurred at Wanborough, Arisaig, and Beaulieu, and specifically mentioned being trained in Scotland and learning the “art of the secret kill.” See, for example, Larry Loftis, Into the Lion’s Mouth, 160–63.
