Young, Brave and Beautiful

by Tania Szabô

  The men in the corner were clearly in an unfriendly mood and one sauntered over and asked what was going on. Michel ingenuously told him that his distant cousin Louise Badeau had arrived here, running away from the dangers of the north, and that he was now showing her his ‘beloved’ Limousin. He asked him and the other men if they could help as she wanted to work on a farm and be safe from the Germans. Once they saw this young woman looking a little unsure, they as good as patted her on the head and intimated they would be happy to help. The woman smiled to herself as she slipped quietly back behind the bar.

  After thirty minutes or so, Violette and Michel set off from the hamlet of Le Grand Bouchet to its smaller namesake, the pretty Le Petit Bouchet. Again this was a small commune and they merely dropped in for a quick coffee and gave out some information to one man who, Michel explained, belonged to another group that often worked for Commandant Rivier. Violette also handed him some cash and explosives, explaining what was required and how he could help to bring a number of leaders together to plan a few concerted actions for later in the month.

  They started to retrace their steps but further to the south than planned, through Reberol and Meillac, after which they would go through Murat and back to Sussac. At each village and a couple of farms along the way, Michel introduced Violette as Louise with as little detail as possible. During every stop, Violette was able to learn more about the various groups, although it seemed to her it was just one big headache with each group fiercely at war with the next. On a few occasions, she passed over money to help families in difficulty or for special requirements. Most would not take money for themselves. Again, she left explosives.

  They came across two more small convoys of Germans and heard some shooting in the distance. As one convoy went past, the little dog barked and growled. A very large German turned to look at the dog, pointed his machine gun at it and then laughed as he roared away. In Meillac, the Feldgendarmerie was out and about checking identities. Michel and Violette kept to the back of the houses and cafés until they had discovered all they could and left quietly in the late afternoon.

  They arrived in Murat to find that a large number of Maquisards were gathering in the café-bar, talking loudly and clearly planning their next moves. Michel went up to them and in his most imposing voice asked that the commandant come to be introduced to Violette. They sat down together for a good half-hour over coffee and Ricard, going over plans for sabotage and Violette reminded them of Koenig’s orders to keep out of the towns. No town was to be liberated – even if it looked easy. It was too early at present, she clarified. Considerably more planning was needed and the formation of reception committees for arms, ammunition and paratroopers was more urgent. She assured them it would not be long, perhaps two or three weeks, and all their plans would be ready to implement but only after careful preparation.

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  It was well after seven o’clock when they finally got back to Sussac, stiff, and with legs like jelly. Philippe came in not long after and Violette recounted their day and all the information she had gleaned on numbers, group names or aliases, leaders and weapons required. She told him how much money and explosives she had handed over and to whom, and passed on the request, so often repeated, for an instructor. Bob Maloubier was in great demand and kept busy, quite apart from the sabotage forays he would lead or join. He was already training the Spanish Résistants with success.

  Then she gave her impressions of all those she had met, the confusion of groups and the infighting that existed. It seemed especially fraught between the communists in the FTP and those of the far left of centre, who considered it inappropriate to be politically exclusive. She explained she had some feeling that these inclusive sentiments applied to Guingouin in particular. Violette had not actually met him, nor had expected to, however she had heard quite a few allusions to Le Grand or Le Préfet du Maquis or his area the enemy had nicknamed la petite Russie and a leader who would not allow his men home, trained them hard and hit the roof if they attacked Germans near a town.

  Then it was Philippe’s turn to go over his day in some detail. He was finding it extremely frustrating not being able to get to grips either with Guingouin or some of the other leaders. He felt they were testing him. He did not like it and, anyway, time was of the essence.

  He reminded Violette that tomorrow she was going down to Arnac-Pompadour to meet up with Jacques Poirier. She was to spend time with him and, if possible, Malraux and Commander Robert (Jacques’ father). It was essential to bring his large group into the picture, as they knew they could rely upon him.

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  Note

  139 Estaminet = a modest tavern. More frequent in north of France and now considered an old-fashioned term.

  32

  Going South, Ambush,

  Chase, Capture

  Saturday 10 June 1944

  ‘If there is one thing upon this earth that mankind love and admire better than another … it is [the one] who dares to look the devil in the face and tell him he is a devil.’

  James A. Garfield

  The Parisian Committee of Liberation (CPL) called the cheminots to a general strike and to acts of sabotage; the German police had arrested the president, the former vice-president, the director-general along with with nine other top executives of the SNCF.140 On this day, Saturday 10 June, they would be released. The citizens of Tulle were burying all those whom the SS-Das Reich Panzer Division had executed by hanging along the streets of the town.

  Limoges was now swarming with the leading elements of the Panzer Division, after considerable delays on their move north to Normandy as bands of Maquis had harassed them on all sides through the Lot, Dordogne, Corrèze and Creuse. However, the Maquis in the Haute-Vienne were being restrained by their leaders, especially by Georges Guingouin, from blazing into action. The French Gestapo had saturated the entire area. The level of danger to civilians and Résistants alike travelling the roadways and byways of the Limousin had risen hugely.

  SS-Das Reich was forced to move its 209 tanks, assault guns, ancillary repair units, accompanying troops, reconnaissance advance and vanguard along two-lane pre-war roads as sabotage had made railways impassable. Under normal conditions, it would have taken them a mere three days to reach Normandy, but the Panzer Division did not arrive in any great number in Normandy until 23 June – a journey of fourteen days! Even then they were weak and exhausted in morale.

  The night before, as Violette and Michel were returning to Sussac, Major Helmut Kämpfe, a popular senior officer of the division and close friend of Kommandant Heinz Lammerding and Major Adolf Diekmann, had been captured and executed by the Maquisards under Georges Guingouin. Kämpfe had either been too impatient to wait for backup in his desire to destroy the Maquis or, for some other unknown purpose, had ignore protocol and gone alone in his armoured car into Maquis country. In a frenzy of patrols and roadblocks, the SS-reconnaissance and sniper units were racing about the towns and villages and along the country roads searching for the Maquis group that had ‘kidnapped’ him.

  From 9 June, all road, rail and telecommunications traffic was stopped for several days. Some 600 Frenchmen in the immediate vicinity were poorly armed, and more particularly, ill-trained. However, after the hurried meetings that had taken place, and inspired by Philippe, Violette and Bob, groups in deep rivalry in the fight against the occupying enemy showed immediate and exceptional fighting spirit that went on to deal devastating blows to the German military juggernaut.

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  Late into the night of 9 June, there had been heated exchanges between Jacques Dufour (Anastasie) and Philippe, with Violette acting as mediator. In the end it had been decided that Violette would leave at around half-past nine in the morning to travel to meet Jacques Poirier in his safe-house in the Château de Virolle, Limeuil, between Tulle and Arnac-Pompadour. Her tact and good humour helped keep those late-night discussions reasonably temperate most of the time.

  ‘It’s too far. Fifty kilo
metres at least. Sacré bleu! It will take too long and a girl travelling alone along some of those isolated stretches could raise suspicions. I’ve got my grandpapa’s traction avant141 up and running,’ insisted Anastasie. ‘It’s full of petrol filched from the German military supplies last week. It would be much better if I drive her halfway and she can cycle the rest of the way. I’m going there in any case to liaise with my Soleil group. It’s easy enough to attach the bike to the passenger side of the car.’

  ‘Well,’ cut in Violette. ‘That could be a good idea. You do have a valid point about a girl alone on the longer stretches. However, I’m sure girls have to do that all the time. It just requires a sensible story if stopped and appropriate papers – which I’ve got. Our job is to stop the Germans getting to Normandy, or at least hinder their progress so they hardly know which way to turn. Now, it seems good work was done today, judging from reports coming in. Bob’s cutting himself in half, training fledgling Maquis members from all over the region. Capitaine Jack must get the instructions we’ve received from London so he can co-ordinate activities. I know I’m fast on a bike but I’m not a champion of the Tour de France!’ This brought a smile and cut the tension. Philippe knew she was right.

  ‘Anastasie’s idea sounds dangerous; all cars are banned without German passes.’ Violette went on. ‘On the other hand, yesterday’s randonnée à vélo, pleasurable though it was, was pretty exhausting. The country around here is not exactly flat. Perhaps a lift halfway has its advantages.’

  She smiled at Anastasie, who nodded at what he considered was more than self-evident, seemingly oblivious of the danger his large black Citroën could cause.

  Violette continued, ‘Major, I had a chance to have a good look at that land owned by the Charials called Le Clos on the right coming from Sussac and, you’re right, Anastasie, it’s quite perfect for landing Allied paratroopers and loads of canisters. It’s on the D30 halfway between Meillac and Forêt-Haute. On the left going up the hill, you have the farmhouse and outbuildings, usual farm clutter with plenty of room to hide all manner of things, and then those huge fields. We landed there the other night, in one of the smaller, closer fields. Michel and I made a short detour to meet the farmer and have a little Ricard. They are really good people and can be trusted. In the middle of the high plateau there, there’s a grove of chestnut trees, where Charial said the parachutes could be hidden. His young son’s clamouring for the job. The land is high, large and not easy for the enemy to get to quickly. It could handle the largest drops of paratroopers.’

  ‘That’s good,’ commented Philippe, impressed yet again by Violette’s capable work and her ability to use her own judgement to good effect. ‘Anastasie, you see Louise agrees entirely with your assessment of Le Clos. I’ll get Claude to report its details to London ASAP. Then we wait for the BBC’s message of the drop date while we continue sabotage on all enemy communications. I insist that Louise or I lead, or second, some of these activities. It will help us understand the thinking of the various Maquis groups and see what more we can do in the way of finance, training and arms. Just sort out the reception committee. But I guess you, Charles, already have that in hand?’

  Charles, the colonel, smiled a bien sûr. He looked over at Violette, not sure whether he was resentful of her solo visits yesterday or impressed by her good thinking. He decided in her favour and gave her a wide smile.

  Philippe continued, ‘Well, our imperative orders are to delay and obstruct the Germans from getting to Normandy. We, all the Maquis, FTP, and so on have been entrusted with one of the most important tasks there is: to stop that Panzer Division from getting north too soon. I’ll bet it was Nestor’s gang along with Casimir142 giving them a bloody nose. We might not be able to knock out the Panzer Division but we can damn well slow them up!’

  ‘We’ve been deprived of weapons, told not to fight or liberate the towns without firm instructions from London, in other words, Koenig – and now you go insisting we get out there,’ grumbled Anastasie, ‘I’ve been out there every day, risking my neck. You know I’ve got a big price on my head, don’t you?’

  ‘Yes, but if perhaps you had been a little more prudent—’

  ‘What the bloody hell do you mean? Prudent …! If I’d been more prudent, as you say, there’d be no great influx of new recruits.’

  ‘That’s another worry.’ Philippe frowned. ‘We need to keep security tight and recklessness at arm’s length to avoid losing any of our people or, worse, inviting reprisals on civilians.’

  ‘Yes, Major. But …’

  ‘I know, I know. Total security is total inactivity. But we’ve got to plan carefully and we’ve got to keep hitting the Boches where it hurts – and that’s in their lines of communication – rail, phones, roads, ambushes, derailments and so on.’ Philippe saw impatience glinting in Anastasie’s eyes and stopped to reflect on the best way to tackle this impetuous young man.

  Before he could, Violette stepped in, ‘We must also co-ordinate our activities with those of other groups. After I meet up with Capitaine Jack, you and I will meet again down there so you can introduce me to other group leaders. This Panzer division doesn’t move in one big mass, nor in just one direction – north.’ The Germans had been deploying large and small patrols all over the region to set up ambushes and they were having some success. Other battalions had orders to keep the passage north as clear as possible; some were staying in the Montauban–Toulouse area to ensure replacement equipment and vehicles were in good running order and to deploy fighting forces all over the south. That was the intelligence Violette and the rest of the team were picking up – another reason Violette had to get to Capitaine Jack as soon as possible.

  ‘Yes,’ continued Philippe, somewhat irritably. ‘It seems young Capitaine Jack is doing a damn good job over the entire region.’

  ‘Ouais, he is. Except he keeps in a bit too well with the commies!’ grunted Anastasie, peeved by Philippe’s taking charge, irritated that the leftist bastard Capitaine Jack was getting too much praise, especially as he seemed to be in cahoots with those Bolsheviks. They were as much a danger to the country as Hitler and Pétain, as far as he could see.

  Violette had met up with Jacques Poirier a few times in London when she was with Harry Peulevé. She had also done part of her training with him, along with Cyril Watney (Michel), Sonia d’Artois and Nancy Wake, in Scotland, Winterfold in Surrey, Beaulieu in Hampshire, Wanborough Manor near Guildford and Ringway near Manchester. They were on good terms and enjoyed one another’s company. Cyril was Jacques’ wireless operator. Having trained with these people, Violette understood their thinking and they could interact and make plans swiftly and non-combatively. After the brief ‘ships passing in the night’ meeting in Paris, it would be so good to see him again.

  Harry, as she now knew, had been arrested along with Roland Malraux by a maddening piece of bad luck at a house near Brive on 20 or 21 March and badly tortured. They had given nothing away. They were deported to concentration camp. Roland died there but Harry survived, although he never really recovered. Harry’s adoration of Violette is clear from his copious handwritten notes and reports at war’s end, and in some measure helped to sustain him. He had known for some time that she, too, was an agent and understood some of what she would be going through. He did not really approve of women being allowed to risk their lives in enemy territory. Whether this love would have stood the test of time cannot be known. Nor do we know how Violette really felt towards him except that she was clearly very fond of him. He was another important reason for her to fight on. She might not love him, but he was her friend and she was always fiercely loyal to her friends and family.

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  Looking forward to meeting Jacques Poirier again, Violette intended to help him continue Harry’s work in any way she could. His Author circuit had been blown; it had been the Corrèze offshoot of the old Scientist circuit created by Claude de Baissac in Bordeaux, where Harry had started out as Claude’s wireless operat
or. He then acquired his own Author circuit, which he ran with great success until he was caught at his wireless set along with Roland Malraux. When Harry was arrested, Jacques took over the circuit and London renamed it the Digger circuit.

  The three Malraux brothers seemed to be a constant at the shadowy edge of her activities. In unhappy circumstances, too. Peulevé had received the message of 12 March 1944 from Rouen (probably from Broni Piontek, as mentioned in the Rouen chapters of this book) when Roland Malraux was with Harry. The reason for sending the message to Peulevé was to tell Roland of his brother Claude’s arrest. Then Violette had heard from Vera Atkins that Roland had been arrested. Before too long, the same fate awaited their half-brother, André, but he was only briefly imprisoned, not tortured, and not deported.