| ODETTE by
Jerrard Tickell About
this book:
ODETTE: THE STORY OF A BRITISH
AGENT is perhaps the most moving of all records of war
heroism. In 1942 a young Frenchwoman living in Somerset
with her three little girls answered a broadcast appeal
for holiday photographs to be sent to the War Office. She
was invited to London for an interview, and a startling
proposition was put to her. Reluctantly she accepted it.
In a few months she had been trained as a British agent
and, under the name "Céline", infiltrated into
Southern France. Her run there was short but lively. She
worked with the Resistance Movement, organising sabotage
and the reception of parachuted agents and supplies.
After six months the Germans arrested her with her
Commanding Officer, known as "Raoul". So began
her long ordeal in prison and concentration-camp. The
Gestapo put certain questions to her; she had nothing to
say, even after they had pulled out all her toenails. But
her replies on other matters were such as to draw
suspicion from her Commanding Officer to herself. The
Gestapo condemned her to death, but did not kill her.
After a year in a Parisian prison she was moved to the
infamous concentration-camp for women at Ravensbrück.
There she was buried for three months in total darkness,
and witnessed the mass execution of her fellow-prisoners
in the spring of 1945. To save his skin, the Camp
Commandant took her with him to meet the advancing
Americans. So Odette Sanson lived to receive the George
Cross, the highest British decoration for gallantry that
can be awarded to a woman. She also holds the M.B.E. and
the French Légion d'Honneur. In 1947 she became the wife
of her 'chief', Captain Peter Churchill, D.S.O., M.C.
Jerrard Tickell - the distinguished author of such widely
popular novels as Appointment with Venus, Soldier
from the Wars Returning and The Hero of Saint
Roger - has told Odette's story with practised
skill. His description of her last two years is
particularly impressive for its attempt to suggest how a
woman who had no hope to escape death could yet preserve
her mind in peace. Odette has been filmed with
Anna Neagle in the title-role.
First published 1949 by Chapman
& Hall Ltd.
This edition, revised by the author, published 1955 by
Pan Books, 8 Headfort Place, London, SW1
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