Women who Spied for Britain

by Walker, Robyn

  In September 1939, Germany invaded Poland. Great Britain and France declared war on Germany, but for several months, although arms production and mobilisation of troops accelerated (for example, the British Expeditionary Force, BEF, was sent to France to reinforce the Franco-Belgian border), little took place in terms of armed conflict. Then, suddenly, on 10 May 1940, German armies flooded into the Netherlands and Belgium. By 14 May the Germans had entered France, smashing through the Ardennes Forest and sending the French and British troops reeling back towards the English Channel. There, they were pinned down on the beaches, desperately trying to maintain a defensive perimeter and hoping, at least on the part of the British, to be evacuated back to Britain.

  By summer, Britain was a virtual hotbed of activity; France had fallen to the Germans. The BEF, and many French and Belgian soldiers, had been successfully evacuated from the French beaches but all of the military equipment had been left behind. Fears were running high about the possibility of a German invasion. Violette’s father became an air-raid warden and her brother Roy joined the Army. Soldiers newly arrived from the British Commonwealth (Canada, New Zealand and Australia), as well as foreign soldiers who had escaped from Occupied Europe, filled English cities and towns. Violette decided to do her part, and joined the Land Army where she was assigned the job of picking strawberries. Although the job itself was quite enjoyable, Violette was certain that she was capable of more important things, and she returned home after the picking season to plan her next move. However, before Violette was able to determine her plan of action, fate intervened. On 14 July, Bastille Day, Violette’s mother sent her out to see if she could find a French soldier who might appreciate a home-cooked meal and some French conversation. Violette and a friend went into London to the parade that was being sponsored by the Free French Forces (the Resistance organisation founded by Charles de Gaulle in 1940, and designed to continue the fight against the Axis powers). It was an awkward moment for the two girls, as neither was quite sure how to approach a perfect stranger and ask him home for dinner. However, as they mingled among the parade crowd, Violette managed to strike up a conversation with Sergeant Major Etienne Szabo. Put at ease by Etienne’s friendly demeanour, Violette explained the mission her mother had sent her on, and he graciously accepted her invitation to come for dinner. Etienne had been stationed in Norway when the Germans swept through Belgium and France, and many in his brigade had headed for Britain so that they could fight along with the Free French Forces. Sparks flew immediately between Violette and Etienne, and less than a month after meeting, on 21 August 1940, they were married in Aldershot. Etienne and Violette enjoyed a brief honeymoon and then were separated for more than a year after Etienne was stationed abroad. Szabo was lonely without her husband and waited desperately for his letters to arrive. She found work at a London telephone exchange in order to fill her days, but found it extremely boring and was still convinced she was capable of more important things. In September 1941 Etienne returned to Britain for a brief visit, and Szabo was overjoyed to see her husband. They were reunited for several days and spent a holiday together in Liverpool. While they enjoyed their reunion, Szabo asked Etienne if she could join the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS). He did not want his wife to work, but understood Szabo’s desire to keep busy. It was also during this reunion that Szabo became pregnant with her only child – a child whom Etienne would never see. When Etienne returned to his unit, Szabo eagerly enlisted in the ATS. She spent several weeks completing anti-aircraft training and was thrilled with her new assignment. However, shortly into her training she was forced to leave the ATS when she discovered she was pregnant. On 8 June 1942, Szabo gave birth to her daughter, Tania Damaris Désirée Szabo. A few months later, on 24 October 1942, Etienne was killed in action during the Battle of El Alamein in North Africa. Szabo was inconsolable when she got the news.

  The Secret Operations Executive (SOE) was created in 1940, after the fall of France, and was designed to provide assistance to the Resistance movements in occupied countries. In 1942, approval was given for women to be sent into France. Since all able-bodied French men were expected to be part of the wartime labour force, the Germans would be suspicious of men moving about the countryside, apparently unemployed. Women, however, would not raise these suspicions, and therefore SOE felt that women would be better able to act as couriers (individuals who carried both information and materials) for the wireless operators, saboteurs and intelligence operatives they sent into France, and to organise regional resistance groups. After the birth of her daughter, Szabo was recruited by the SOE. She received a curious summons to report for an interview in London where, most likely due to her knowledge of both France and the French language, Szabo was asked if she would be willing to go into Occupied France to take part in activities designed to undermine the German war effort. Devastated by the death of her husband and looking for a way to strike back at the Germans, Szabo agreed and, after placing her daughter in the care of her family, began training for her role as an SOE operative.

  Training, for SOE operatives, was intensive. Candidate agents first attended a preliminary school where they were given a series of physical and psychological tests, designed to identify whether or not they were suitable candidates for espionage work. Szabo completed her preliminary training at Winterfold House in Surrey, and her initial report was satisfactory, stating,

  27.8.43 A quiet physically tough, self willed girl of average intelligence. Out for excitement and adventure but not entirely frivolous. Has plenty of confidence in herself and gets on well with others. Plucky and persistent in her endeavours. Not easily rattled. In a limited capacity not calling for too much intelligence and responsibility and not too boring she could probably do a useful job, possibly as a courier.2

  As a result of her first report, Szabo was sent to Scotland in the autumn of 1943, where she was schooled in the use of weapons and explosives, the art of silent killing, how to use codes in radio operation, map and compass work, and basic sabotage. Most female members of SOE were officially assigned to the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (FANY), which was an all-female branch of the British military. The FANY women filled numerous positions in the British Armed Forces, including that of drivers, hospital workers and clerical staff. It was also a convenient organisation to assign female SOE operatives to, since they couldn’t be assigned to any of the regular military services, which were closed to women. It was during training that Szabo met, and became friends with, fellow agent Nancy Wake. Wake had already been heavily involved in Resistance activities back in Vichy France, and had made a daring escape over the mountains into Spain after her activities had made her a target for the Germans. Once in Britain, Wake was very quickly recruited by SOE and she began her training around the same time as Szabo, although they were not, initially, in the same training group. The two women met at an explosives training course and with their vibrant and fun-loving personalities they became great friends and immediate partners in mischief. Wake remembered Szabo fondly, recalling that ‘not only was she very beautiful, but she was great fun’.3 The two women shared many evenings, enjoying the London nightlife, carousing and breaking hearts, and through combined efforts even managed to ‘de-pants’ an instructor and hoist his trousers up a flagpole! Szabo also developed a relationship with another agent, Harry Peulevé. Peulevé had become acquainted with Szabo in London and fallen deeply in love with her. There is no evidence documenting how Szabo felt about him, but at the very least a strong friendship formed between them. Unfortunately, because of the secrecy of their work, neither could be completely honest with each other, and Peulevé later lamented that their ‘pathetic pretence saddened me, especially as our relationship had become extremely intimate. I had to go back to France without being able to tell her, and she also had to go without being able to tell me.’4

  At this stage of her training there were conflicting reports with regard to Szabo’s suitability for covert operations. While she was an excellent shot (the
best in her training class), some officers felt that she lacked the right temperament for espionage, and she had some difficulty using codes. Her progress reports from her training officers paint a picture of a highly adventurous and slightly reckless young woman. Szabo’s instructors’ observations of her potential for use in undercover operations read as follows:

  7.9.43 I seriously wonder if this student is suitable for our purpose … although she works well in the company of others, does not appear to have any initiative or ideals.

  21.9.43 Character is difficult to describe: Pleasant personality, sociable, likeable, painstaking, anxious to please, keen … She is very anxious to carry on with the training but I am afraid it is not with the idea of improving her knowledge but simply because she enjoys the course, the spirit of competition, the novelty of the thing, and being very fit … must admit she is rather a puzzle.

  8.10.43 I have come to the conclusion that this student is tempermentally unsuitable for this work. I consider that owing to her too fatalistic outlook in life … and the fact that she lacks the ruse, stability and the finesse which is required and that she is too easily influenced; when operating in the field she might endanger the lives of others working with her.5

  Despite the negative tone of her final report, someone in the SOE had confidence in Szabo. Certainly the Chief Instructor, Major Oliver Brown, thought Szabo had something to offer, for when interviewed in 1992 and asked about his recollections of Szabo, he stated, ‘Violette Szabo was marvelous … but you had to watch her because she was so keen that anything could happen with her … she was so volatile … she was a lovely person.’6 Szabo’s final report was ignored and she was recommended for ‘finishing school’ at Beaulieu (Hampshire). The ‘finishing school’ was in fact a collection of homes located on the Montagu estate in Beaulieu, which had been requisitioned by SOE as a base for their training operations. Here, recruits were provided with more specific instruction on how to effectively play the part of secret agent, and the security training the agents received at Beaulieu was designed to help agents in fine-tuning their security skills, and to extend the training they had received in Scotland. Szabo was also scheduled for parachute training and earmarked for a position as a courier. Her first parachute jump was a disaster, resulting in a badly sprained ankle that never actually healed properly. However, Szabo finished her training by successfully completing three parachute jumps: one from an aircraft, one from a balloon by day and one from a balloon by night. She received solid marks in her final parachute report, dated 25 February 1944. In April 1944, she was assigned her first mission. Interestingly, her friend Harry Peulevé was working in France at this time and, knowing that Szabo had probably finished her training, had requested that a female courier be sent to him in order to help him in his work. Whether this stemmed from a simple desire to see Szabo again, or the thought that perhaps he might be able to protect her from danger is unclear. Peulevé did say that he was not surprised when Szabo was not assigned to him. He felt that Vera Atkins, one of SOE’s most influential figures when it came to the recruitment and deployment of female agents, might have guessed his feelings for Szabo and decided that pairing the two might distract them from their mission, or result in a security risk if either one was captured and tortured in front of the other. Although he was not surprised that Szabo was not assigned as his courier, Peulevé was riddled with worry about his friend, stating, ‘My imagination played all sorts of tricks and my heart was very often in my boots at the thought that she would be sent to some unsafe circuit and rapidly captured.’7

  Agents being dropped into occupied territory faced numerous dangers. There was always the risk of injury or death from the parachute jump. If they survived the jump, they had to deal with unfamiliar territory and the possibility that their arrival may have been betrayed to German forces. Once captured, agents were not accorded the ‘considerations’ of the Geneva Convention that were afforded to other members of the military. Instead of being imprisoned in prisoner of war camps, agents were usually dispatched to concentration camps where torture and execution were almost assured. In April 1944, Szabo, now known by the code name Louise and using the name Corinne Reine Leroy on her identity cards, was flown into Occupied France to the Rouen area, along with another agent, Philippe Liewer. Before she left England, she composed a last will and testament, leaving her estate to her daughter Tania, and naming her mother as executor. Szabo had been given the task of gathering information about local Resistance efforts and helping to reorganise a Resistance network (called SALESMAN) that had been shattered by large-scale arrests. The network had been co-founded by Liewer and was vital for providing intelligence, performing acts of sabotage and running escape networks for captured soldiers, downed airmen and refugees. Most sources indicate that Szabo and Liewer were parachuted into France on 5/6 April 1944 but there is at least one source, close to Szabo, who insists that Szabo and Liewer were landed by Lysander. This possibility is credible, since Philippe Liewer was known to hate parachuting! In any event, both Szabo and Liewer landed safely in France. They were met by their reception committee and taken to a safe house where they spent the night. The next day Szabo departed for Paris where she caught a train to Rouen. For weeks, Szabo travelled around the Rouen area, acting as a courier and gathering information about what had happened to the SALESMAN network. Travelling about the area was extremely hazardous as it was teeming with German soldiers. Szabo’s beauty attracted the attentions of many of the soldiers and she had to be careful not to speak too much, for although she spoke perfect French, her accent was decidedly English. During her time in France, Szabo discovered that most of the SALESMAN network’s members had been arrested and deported to Germany. Under the direction of Liewer, she set about re-establishing contacts between Resistance members. It was imperative that the Resistance resume their activity in this area because of the major railroad marshalling yards located there and because the River Seine, which linked the Atlantic Ocean to Paris, was of extreme strategic importance. A Resistance network needed to be in place for both information gathering (mostly regarding shipping and troop transports) and sabotage purposes. Having done what they could to re-establish the SALESMAN network, Szabo and Liewer returned to Britain on 30 April 1944, both of them pleased with the success of their mission, and Szabo heavily laden down with the Paris fashions she had purchased before she departed!

  SOE was extremely impressed with Szabo’s performance in the field and she was recommended for a commission as an ensign in the FANY with an increase in pay from £300 to £325 per annum. While awaiting her next assignment she had several weeks to visit her family and spend some time clubbing with her friends in London. Szabo even brought her daughter Tania to the SOE offices on two occasions to show off her beautiful little girl. It was a pleasant time for Szabo but it soon came to an end when she received her summons to report back for duty. A new network, called SALESMAN 2, was to be established in the Haute Vienne (France), and its task was to work in conjunction with the other area networks to disrupt, by sabotage, German transportation and communication systems in coordination with the Allied invasion of Europe (D-Day). The Allied forces, specifically Britain, Canada and the United States, had been planning the invasion of Europe for over two years. They knew they faced formidable German defences, not only in terms of troops and machinery, but also in the form of the Atlantic Wall, an extensive system of coastal fortifications designed to repel any attack on Europe’s western coast. Concrete pillboxes housing machine guns and anti-tank guns, minefields and anti-tank obstacles lined the coast of France. The Allies knew that their frontal assault on the beaches would need to be supplemented by as much disruption as possible behind the German lines. Resistance networks were asked to cut telephone lines, in order to undermine the communication between German units and German Army headquarters. The Resistance was also charged with the responsibility of sabotaging railway lines, roads and bridges, to keep reinforcements and supplies from reaching the front-line
German troops and to impede any German retreat. Philippe Liewer would be in charge of the new network, Robert Maloubier would be the group’s arms instructor, Szabo the group’s courier and Jean Claude Guiet would act as the group’s wireless operator. Liewer, Maloubier and Szabo were old friends and were excited about the opportunity to work together.

  Departing agents were housed at Hassell Hall, Tempsford, up until they flew to France. Hassell Hall was a beautiful country home and it was here that agents received their final briefings and went through their last-minute security checks. Szabo had been given an identity card bearing the name Madame Villeret and her cover story was that she was the widow of an antiques dealer from Nantes. The group was scheduled to depart on 4 June 1944, but poor weather forced a delay. Szabo, Maloubier, Guiet and Liewer spent the next day in Cambridge, relaxing and enjoying a pleasant lunch before returning to the hall, where they spent the rest of the time listening to records, playing cards (blackjack was a favourite) and socialising with fellow agents. Early on the morning of 8 June 1944, one day after the invasion of Europe had begun, Szabo, Robert Maloubier, Philippe Liewer and Jean Claude Guiet parachuted into France near the Sussac area. They had actually flown to France the day before but their plane (a B-24 Liberator) had been forced to turn back as there was no reception committee waiting for them. As the plane returned to England, it passed over the invasion fleet that had set sail for the Normandy beaches. In the windowless plane, Szabo, Maloubier and Guiet had no idea what was taking place beneath them. Liewer had seen the armada from the cockpit of the plane but said nothing to his comrades. Early the next morning Szabo woke them all with the news that the invasion of Europe had begun. Knowing her talent for practical jokes, Maloubier recalls that he and Guiet threw her out of their bedroom and went back to sleep, only to discover upon waking (at noon, no less) that Szabo had been speaking the truth!