Women who Spied for Britain

by Walker, Robyn

  Well fed, elegantly housed and fawned over by her solicitous new German friends, Carré may have felts pangs of remorse about what she was doing but she was undeniably comfortable in her new situation. She always tried to make the best of the opportunities that were presented to her. However, she was not a stupid woman, and she knew that if Bleicher ever tired of her, or if the Germans no longer found her useful, she could easily find herself quickly dispatched to a concentration camp. Her sense of self-preservation was keenly honed and she was always ‘on the lookout’ for ways in which to ensure both her comfort and safety. In 1942 yet another opportunity would present itself, and she would prove, once again, to be adaptable.

  Pierre de Vomécourt, an SOE agent who had been dropped into France during May 1941, was desperate to make contact with London. His network of undercover operatives had been infiltrated, and many members of his group were arrested. The arrest of his wireless operator was a crushing blow, leaving de Vomécourt with no means of contacting London. De Vomécourt’s mission had been to observe whether support for the French Resistance movement was strong enough to warrant the British sending in drops of materials such as arms and ammunition. At that time, Britain was still trying to recover from the loss of materials they had suffered at Dunkirk, and could little afford to be sending supplies into France if the Resistance was in no position to put them to good use. De Vomécourt had discovered the Resistance movement was alive and well, and knew he needed to inform his superiors in London that the Resistance was desperate for British supplies. Tentatively, de Vomécourt began putting out feelers, hoping to find another Resistance group whose wireless operator could transmit his messages back to SOE. A friend of de Vomécourt, Michel Brault, was familiar with the Interallié network and offered to put de Vomécourt in touch with Mathilde Carré. Unfortunately, Brault did not know that Interallié had all but collapsed, and that Carré was now working for the Germans. Arrangements were made for Carré to meet de Vomécourt, who used the code name Lucas, in a café where Bleicher could observe the meeting. Another meeting soon followed, and Bleicher instructed Carré that she should agree to transmit de Vomécourt’s messages. The Germans were delighted to observe and monitor de Vomécourt’s attempts to rebuild his undercover network. Bleicher’s strategy was one of patience. By monitoring de Vomécourt’s group closely, Bleicher knew when and where the airdrops of money and ammunition would be. He was also able to identify the group’s couriers and letterboxes. As the working relationship between de Vomécourt and Carré grew, Bleicher rented a flat in a fashionable Paris neighbourhood so that Carré would have an address where she could always be contacted. Bleicher moved in with her, and the pair used the cover Monsieur and Madame Jean Castel. Bleicher assumed the role of Jean Castel, a Resistance sympathiser, and gave himself a Belgian background to account for his accented French. As Jean Castel, Bleicher met with de Vomécourt himself and once even accompanied him on a planned ammunitions drop (which, in fact, never took place as a result of poor flying weather in England). As more arms, money and agents were dropped into France, Bleicher anticipated dealing a devastating blow to SOE by pulling in the British resources, and ultimately confiscating all of the material goods and arresting the human personnel. It was an excellent plan, and probably would have worked very well had Carré not begun to worry so much about her dependence upon Hugo Bleicher’s goodwill. She hated the insecurity of knowing that, if she fell from Bleicher’s favour, she could be packed off to a concentration camp. Moreover, de Vomécourt was becoming suspicious of Carré. A series of troubling events had occurred, including the arrests and attempted arrests of several individuals who had had contact with Mathilde. There was also a telegram that Carré had delivered late to de Vomécourt, which caused him to miss a rendezvous with an SOE aircraft. Michel Brault was surprised to discover that Carré had in her possession a photograph, which had only recently been taken to create a forged passport, of an important Resistance figure, Colonel François Michel. Brault began to theorise that perhaps the colonel had been arrested, and somehow his passport photograph had been given to Carré by the Germans. Within days of Brault’s discovery of the photograph, an attempt was made to arrest him and he found himself on the run. He met with de Vomécourt to describe what had happened, and the two men speculated about who could have denounced Brault. Carré’s name was mentioned as a possibility. De Vomécourt informed Carré about the attempt to arrest Brault, and she offered to procure some forged papers so that Brault could cross into the relative safety of Vichy France. After a few days, Carré produced some fake identity papers that looked incredibly genuine. De Vomécourt began to wonder just how good Carré’s German contacts were, and he confronted her with his suspicions about her loyalties. Carré, worried about how much longer Bleicher would find her useful, decided to reveal to de Vomécourt that she was working for the Germans, and offered to begin working for the British once again.

  De Vomécourt was not entirely shocked by Carré’s admission, for he trusted no one wholeheartedly. However, he was in an extremely difficult position. He could have killed Carré for her admission, but that would have brought down the wrath of the Germans upon his group. If he refused to work with her, she could simply tell the Germans that de Vomécourt was on to them, and once again his group would suffer the consequences. De Vomécourt decided that his safest course of action would be to use Carré as a triple agent, and after the war he described her reaction to his plan to author Gordon Young, stating, ‘When I told her how we could hoodwink the Germans and counter-infiltrate them, I felt at once that it was the kind of game she understood and loved to play. And well she played it. As I knew her then, she was clever, ruthless and totally self-centred.’6

  He agreed with her suggestion that she work as a triple agent against the Germans, and even proposed that she accompany him to Britain so that she could describe the inner workings of German counter-intelligence to SOE. As further ‘bait’ to encourage the Germans to allow de Vomécourt and Carré to depart for England, de Vomécourt had Carré tell the Germans that he would be bringing back an officer, possibly of the General rank, to take control of the various Resistance factions in an effort to maintain order and reduce friction among the groups. Hugo Bleicher was extremely excited at the thought of being able to arrest a British general and, obviously secure in the belief that Carré was loyal to him, agreed to let her go! Bleicher even stated, ‘I will pay the penalty if she betrays me. I know her intimately and I know that she cannot betray us.’7 Carré was instructed to find out the names of all of the agents working in France, and then to return with de Vomécourt. De Vomécourt was still unsure if he could trust Carré and before they left for Britain he put a safety plan in place. Should Mathilde betray him, his brother Philippe de Vomécourt had instructions to kill her. Philippe also sent a message to SOE through a neutral embassy in Vichy that Carré’s radio was controlled by the Germans. De Vomécourt and Carré’s departure date was set for February, and after several failed attempts to leave France they were finally picked up by a British torpedo boat on the evening of 26 February 1942. As the pair boarded the boat, the Germans watched from a distance, carefully documenting the procedure the British used for extracting their agents out of France. In fact, German coastguard boats and ground patrols had been warned to steer clear of the embarkation point so that Carré and de Vomécourt were guaranteed a safe departure.

  After arriving in Dartmouth harbour, de Vomécourt made it very clear to SOE that Carré’s loyalties were suspect, described to them what he knew about her work for the Germans and explained how he had turned her into a triple agent. The British decided to let Carré believe that they viewed her as a trusted agent, and assigned her a beautiful flat at Porchester Gate overlooking Hyde Park. Carré was completely unaware that the flat was riddled with hidden microphones. She was interrogated about her role in the German counter-intelligence service but, aside from being closely watched, she lived the next few months in relative freedom. Carré had
no idea she was the topic of several meetings between MI5 (the domestic branch of British Military Intelligence), SIS (Secret Intelligence Service, the foreign branch of British Military Intelligence), SOE and Polish Intelligence regarding whether or not she could be trusted. She visited tourist attractions, cafés and shops, all the while attended by a chaperon but never suspecting that she was a prisoner. One evening, while visiting Claridge’s, a high-end hotel and restaurant in London’s Mayfair neighbourhood, Carré had the opportunity to meet, and apparently charm, the new head of SOE, Lord Selborne. An SOE informer, one Mrs Barton, acted as Carré’s minder, and became so worried about a potential dalliance occurring between Selborne and Carré that she immediately conveyed her concerns to SOE. Her message stated that Carré

  seems to be dreaming of becoming Lord Selborne’s mistress. According to her he has all of the attributes she admires in a man except that he cannot dance. Lord Selborne may be merely playing up to her but even if only half of what she has told me is true it seems that he is behaving exceedingly foolishly and is not doing himself any good, nor for that matter, us.8

  Unsure if her information had been followed up on properly, Barton contacted SOE again, urging them to monitor any developing relationship between Selborne and Carré and stating that in her opinion Mathilde was an

  utterly egotistical woman who cares for nothing and nobody but herself … Given a chance she would sell any information she has to the other side. Added to all this, there is, of course, her interest in men. She feels she is irresistible to men anyhow and to sleep with a man seems a necessity to her … I think she is an exceedingly dangerous woman … war is merely a means to an end for her, viz [sic] her amusement … and a life of luxury.9

  There is no evidence that an affair actually took place between Selborne and Carré, and, indeed, it would have been quite difficult considering how closely Mathilde was watched. However, the concerns voiced by Mrs Barton certainly attest to the power Carré felt she was able to exercise over men!

  Carré talked to her British interviewers extensively about German counter-intelligence, describing to the British a German radio code and German methods of arrest and interrogation. She also gave them insights into the morale of the French population. At no point during her time of freedom in Britain did SOE ever discover even a hint of proof that she was still working for the Germans, so it would appear that she had, in fact, returned her loyalties to the British. Carré truly believed that the British considered her a valuable and important player in the world of espionage, and was shocked, therefore, when she was arrested on 1 July 1942 and incarcerated at Holloway prison. SOE had been busy the past few months, investigating a variety of reports that had trickled in describing the extent of Carré’s treachery and the number of people whose lives she had put in jeopardy. Moreover, de Vomécourt had gone back to France in April and was arrested a short time after he landed. Since de Vomécourt was supposed to return to France with Carré, the British were fairly certain the Germans would be alerted to the fact that Carré was now under British control. Once SOE was sure that Carré had provided them as much information about the Germans as she could, the order was sent down for her arrest. Carré was a dreadful prisoner, constantly refusing to cooperate, insulting the prison matrons, and frequently denouncing SOE and threatening to kill ‘F’ Section Chief, Colonel Buckmaster. After a year at Holloway, in June 1943 Carré was transferred to Aylesbury prison where she spent the remainder of the war. Her rage seemed to diminish and it was here that she began writing her memoirs.

  On 1 June 1945 Carré, accompanied by two Scotland Yard detectives, travelled by ferry across the English Channel back to France where she was kept in prison for over three years until she was brought to trial. Charged with treason for her work with German counter-intelligence, witness after witness was brought forward to describe The Cat’s treachery. The witnesses included René Aubertin, who had survived Mauthausen concentration camp and was able to describe the horrific death by beating (by camp guards) of another agent who had been denounced by Carré. Mathilde’s old friend Mirielle, who along with her husband had been arrested as a result of Carré’s duplicity, took the witness stand and explained that she was now a widow, since her husband had perished during his incarceration at Mauthausen. Combined with the testimony against her, Carré’s own personality did little to help her cause. During the trial she was often hostile and defiant, and did little to endear herself to those judging her. Statements she made, such as ‘I only denounced the more stupid ones’ and ‘There had to be victims … I had sometimes to sacrifice men … this is just the fortune of war’, created the impression that she was a woman without remorse.10 Carré was found guilty of treason, and condemned to death. Thanks to a vigorous plea for mercy on the part of her defence attorney, who asked that the court consider the valuable work Carré had done for the Resistance before her arrest, her death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. Her sentence was further commuted a few years later, and in 1954 Carré was released from prison. She lived with her parents in Paris for a while, before moving to an undisclosed location in the country. In 1959 she re-emerged briefly to publish her memoirs, entitled J’ai Été ‘La Chatte’ (I Was ‘The Cat’). Carré’s years in prison had taken their toll, and she was now a middle-aged matron with failing eyesight. Mathilde Carré lived the remainder of her life in seclusion, and she died in 1970.

  8

  Christine Granville/Krystyna Skarbek (1908–52)

  Code Name: Pauline

  Arguably the most fascinating, and certainly England’s longest-serving, female agent of the Second World War, Christine Granville epitomised the Hollywood ideal of the bewitching female spy. Rumour has it that James Bond author Ian Fleming even used her as the inspiration for the character Vesper in his first book, Casino Royale. Beautiful, athletic, cunning and resourceful, Christine’s exploits as an agent transcended a multitude of borders. From Poland to Britain and on to Hungary, through Yugoslavia and the Middle East, and finally to southern France and back to Britain, Christine Granville was a major player in the world of covert operations. Her pretty face and charming personality were often her strongest weapons. In the end, however, they proved her downfall.

  On 1 May 1908, Krystyna Skarbek was born in Warsaw, now the capital of Poland. At the time of her birth, however, Warsaw was considered Russian territory, and would not become part of Poland until the Second Polish Republic was established in 1918. Thirty-one years later Warsaw would be overrun by German invaders, and would be the site of the first Jewish ghetto in Poland, but in 1908 it was a peaceful city, and Krystyna enjoyed a privileged childhood with her father, Count Jerzy Skarbek, and her wealthy Jewish mother, Stefania. The Skarbek marriage was not a happy one, with the count engaging in numerous infidelities, but he doted on his young daughter, calling her his ‘Star’. The count encouraged Krystyna’s tomboyish nature, and by his side she became an expert skier and horsewoman. Krystyna is remembered as an energetic and happy child, with a definite wild streak. Her mother, as well as the mothers of the other little girls in her social circle, was dismayed by Krystyna’s high-spirited nature, but her father found her amusing. Her difficulties conforming to authority were strongly evident when she was sent to be educated at the Sacré-Coeur convent school in western Poland. Unhappy about being separated from her father and her relatively ‘free’ existence on the family estates, Krystyna defied all of the convent’s rules and regulations, even going so far as to set fire to a priest’s robes during Mass. She was eventually asked to leave Sacré-Coeur and was sent to a stricter convent school. While Krystyna was away at school her family suffered a serious financial blow that forced them to sell many of their landholdings, including the family estate. Her family’s difficulties had a sobering effect on Krystyna and she decided that, instead of adding to her family’s problems, she would do everything she could to succeed at her new school. She was soon at the top of her class, and is remembered as an incredibly popular student. H
igher education was not in the cards for Krystyna, however. Her father died of tuberculosis in 1930 and there was little money left to support the family. Krystyna was forced to go to work and she eventually took a position in a Fiat car agency. Although the agency was a great place for meeting wealthy young men, Krystyna, with her adventurous spirit and aristocratic background, found clerical work both tiresome and beneath her. To make matters worse, her office was located above the garage, and the petrol fumes floating up through the floor left damaging scars on her lungs. Little did she know that those scars would later prove useful during her work as an undercover agent.

  With a bubbly personality and striking good looks (she did not win the Miss Poland title as many writers claim, but she was one of the runners-up in the 1930 Miss Polonia contest), she attracted many male admirers. One of them was businessman Gustav Gettlich, whom Krystyna met at the Fiat agency. Advised by her doctors that exposure to mountain air might help to treat her damaged lungs, Krystyna spent a great deal of time in the upscale skiing town of Zakopane in the Carpathian Mountains, and Gettlich became her constant companion. They married in April 1930 when Krystyna was twenty-two, but, although he offered both Krystyna and her family financial security, the pair soon recognised that they were incompatible, and the marriage was dissolved without malice. Some ill feelings must have existed, however, for years later, when asked to describe his first wife, Gettlich declined to sing her praises, stating simply that Krystyna was ‘dotty, romantic and forever craving change’.1 Free again, and with an ample settlement from Gettlich to support her in comfort, Krystyna became a well-known figure on Warsaw’s social circuit, captivating most who met her and engaging in many flirtations. She also spent much of her time skiing and travelling, and, in her spare time, engaged in smuggling black market goods through the mountains of the Polish frontier. Her smuggling activities seemed to feed her thirst for excitement, and her familiarity with this territory later served her very well in her capacity as a secret agent, when she needed to travel covertly in and out of Occupied Poland.