what happened to odette sansom daughters

They were married after just five weeks and Violette gave birth to their daughter Tania on 8 June 1942. Szabo returned to Britain via Lysander in June 1944. Sansom, known as Odette Churchill after her marriage, gained considerable fame after the publication of a 1949 biography[29] and a film on her war work and prison ordeal in 1950. Name variations: Odette Hallowes; Odette Churchill; (code names) Odette Matayer, Cline, Lise. Although they had all parachuted into France and been on similar missions, none of the agents had met. 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. As Sansom did not anticipate Henri's return until April 18, she and Churchill proceeded to the hotel in Saint-Jorioz. (4) Odette Hallowes, The Times (17th March, 1975). Odette Brailly was born in Amiens, France, on 28th April 1912. Last updated 8 February 2018. Long Waits, Short Appointments, Huge Bills. Therefore, that information is unavailable for most Encyclopedia.com content. 2023 TIME USA, LLC. Odette Marie Lonie Cline Brailly was born on 28 April 1912 at 208, rue des Corroyers in Amiens, France;[1] the daughter of Emma Rose Marie Yvonne ne Quennehen[notes 1] and Florentin Dsir Eugne 'Gaston' Brailly,[notes 2] a bank manager, killed at Verdun shortly before the Armistice in 1918 and posthumously awarded the Croix de Guerre and Mdaille militaire for heroism. On 16th April, 1943, Sansom and Churchill were arrested by Hugo Bleicher of Abwehr. 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. ." Perles, Alfred, ed. Back in her cell, Sansom ripped her prison cloth into strips to bind her feet. [22] Sansom removed Suhren's pistol, which is now held in the Imperial War Museum.[23]. Her code name was "Lise". When Odette again refused, the Nazi systematically tore out each of her toenails, one by one. Sansom was shocked by the lax attitude towards security by her French supporters. of the country. The medal was awarded after medical records and eyewitness testimony supported her case. After the war, Odette's marriage to Roy Sansom was dissolved, and she married Peter Churchill. With her three daughters in a convent school, Odette trained as an SOE agent. . The Gestapo pounced. In his book Odette: The Story of a British Agent (1949), Jerrard Tickell credits Sansom's survival to "the unassailable dignity in which she enclosed herself." He was awarded the Croix de Guerre with a bronze star. Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia. A French agent working for the British during World War II, Odette Sansom left three small daughters to join the Resistance in 1942. Check here if you would like to receive subscription offers and other promotions via email from TIME group companies. Some officials did not believe her story and cast doubt upon her integrity. What happened to Odette Sansom daughters? 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. "I resent your hands on me or on my clothes," she said. The purpose of these photos was to determine the exact topography of a particular section. Orders arrived from Berlin in July. She was met by Peter Churchill, codename 'Raoul', and joined his resistance group. They'll have a dead body, useless to them. Jorioz by Hugo Bleicher of the Abwehr. To every question Sansom simply replied: 'I have nothing to say'. She arrived on July 18, 1944, two days before a now-famous failed plot by members of Hitler's inner circle to assassinate him. Odette Sansom had been a prisoner of the Gestapo for five months by October 1943. [36], On 6 March 2020 Great Western Railway named a Class 800 train after her; the ceremony in Odette's honour was held at Paddington Station in London and attended by Anne, Princess Royal.[37]. Still, she refused to speak. Heroes and Heroines. The biography of Odette Sansom Churchill (1912-1995) is absolutely amazing. ended in divorce in 1956 and she married Geoffrey Hallowes, a wine Burvale Cemetery, Hersham, United Kingdom Continue Learning about General Arts & Entertainment. The forgotten female WWII-era spy who stayed silent under gruesome Nazi torture Odette Sansom was the first woman to receive the UK's second-highest honor for courage under fire. She and Churchill were arrested there on 16 April 1943 by spy-hunter Hugo Bleicher. A courageous and brave soldier, Odette's father, Gaston Brailly, was promoted to sergeant, and earned the Croix de Guerre and the Medaille Militaire. Infuriated, Bleicher sent her to Ravensbrck concentration camp. In 1946, Odette Sansom was awarded theGeorge Cross(GC) for refusing to betray her fellow secret agents under torture. 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. The couple moved They would later have Lily in 1934 and Marianne in 1936. And as every spy knew, the Gestapo needed to turn only one operative to infiltrate a circuit and spoil the lot. By the fall of 1944, news filtered back to prisoners that the war had turned against the Germans. A British spy who was tortured by Nazis lied to her captors to protect the man she loved, a book about her ordeal reveals. Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. When she was eight, an unidentified disorder caused her to go blind for. The average SOE wireless operator in Occupied France lasted for just six weeks before being arrested. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. Germany. In 1930, Odette met Roy Sansom, an Englishman who was the son of a family friend. Member of the Order of the British Empire, Member of the Order of the British Empire (Civil), Archives communales et communautaires d'Amiens, "Odette Sansom Special Operations Executive (SOE) Agents in France", "Sansom, Odette Marie Cline (Imperial War Museums interview) Reel One", "War heroine Odette was deemed 'too temperamental' for spying", "Sansom, Odette Marie Cline (Imperial War Museums interview) Reel Two", "Peter Churchill, British Hero Of the French Resistance, Dies", "Sansom, Odette Marie Cline (Imperial War Museums interview) Reel Three", "GWR train named after decorated WWII spy Odette Hallowes", Newsreel footage of marriage to Peter Churchill, 1947, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Odette_Hallowes&oldid=1126782190, Female resistance members of World War II, Members of the Order of the British Empire, French Special Operations Executive personnel, Articles with French-language sources (fr), Pages containing London Gazette template with parameter supp set to y, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 11 December 2022, at 06:02. French-bornOdette Sansomworked undercover in France during theSecond World War. Wehrmacht soldiers, Vichy police, Abwehr (German military intelligence) and Gestapo were everywhere: control checkpoints, hotels, cafes, trains even brothels. For eight weeks, the women were apparently forgotten by the authorities and were housed, well apart from each other, in crowded cells in the civil prison. Sansom instructed Rabinovich to send a wireless message to SOE headquarters in London reporting the contact. [30], She was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire[31] and was the first of three Second World War First Aid Nursing Yeomanry members to be awarded the George Cross (gazetted 20 August 1946), all for work with the SOE. 13th May 1944 the Germans transported Sansom and seven other SOE As the Russians drew closer, the entire Nazi death operation went into reverse. This was hard enough for most prisoners and even worse for those suffering from diarrhea which was epidemic in the camps. In addition to the MLA, Chicago, and APA styles, your school, university, publication, or institution may have its own requirements for citations. She is holding Tania Szab , daughter of SOE officer Violette Szab . It does not store any personal data. Sansom became 'Agent S.23'. When he assures her that he means no harm, Odette reveals to him that she and her companions have been placed under a spell by the wicked Von Rothbart. German field marshal known as the "Desert Fox" Odette was a quiet child. Violette Szabos code-name was Corrinne. The following month she was sent to Ravensbruck While her brother, Louis, went to school at the Lyce, Odette was sent to the Convent of Sainte Thrse because her mother thought the Normandy air would be beneficial. But, eventually, the camp was overrun, and she won her freedom as the Camp commandant tried to use her as a hostage. [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. Odette Sansom was a 30-year-old housewife and mother-of-three when she . In their striped uniforms, with bristling hair on their shaved heads, Sansom and the other women had to stand at attention for two to six hours until the count was complete. Mrs Odette Marie Celine Hallowes (see Sansom) (28 Apr 1912- 13 Mar 1995). Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. [3][7] A bad fall during training ruled out parachute entry into France. This act of selfless bravery saved him from interrogation but it was the start of Sansom's ordeal. "[5], The Germans generally found persons of the prisoners' own nationality to carry out the torture, she later recalled, so that one "could not say they were tortured by the Germans." In October, 1941, she was sent by boat to France with orders to Yet, only one of their answers Epcot's "Frozen Ever After" overlapped. These three men were amazing spies who helped to . Save five minutes a day when the overhead light was illuminated, she sat in total darkness. Photo courtesy of FANY. Three of the womenAndre Borrel ("Denise"), Vera Leigh ("Simone"), and Diana Rowden ("Juliette")were taken to the Natzweiler concentration camp in Alsace and summarily executed. My name, email, and she married Peter Churchill, codename 'Raoul ', and married! A day when the overhead light was illuminated, she and Churchill were arrested by Hugo Bleicher in cell... Refusing to betray her fellow secret agents under torture caused her to go blind for on! Cloth into strips to bind her feet during theSecond World War II, Odette marriage... Here if you would like to receive subscription offers and other promotions email... 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