Odette, 1912-1995

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Lieutenant Officer Odette Marie Celine Sansom (nee Brailly), Women's Transport Service (FANY)/Special Operations Executive (SOE, F Section), was born in France on 28 April 1912. In 1931, she married an Englishman and came to live in Britain. She was recruited by SOE in the spring of 1942 and, after training, was sent to Vichy France in October. In April 1943 she and her colleague Peter Churchill were arrested. Despite prolonged interrogation and torture, she refused to reveal any information. After a year in French prisons, including Fresnes Prison, Paris, Mrs Sansom was taken to Germany in July 1944 and interned in Ravensbruck concentration camp. There she was held in solitary confinement in a cell without light or heat but still refused to co-operate with her captors. Although she was sentenced to death, the Germans' belief that she was married to Peter Churchill and thereby related to Winston Churchill (Peter Churchill was not related to the Prime Minister), prevented them from carrying out the execution. On 3 May 1945, shortly before the German surrender, she was escorted across the Allied lines to safety. Odette Sansom, who later married Peter Churchill, was awarded the George Cross on 20 August 1946, the first woman so honoured. Later, as Mrs Geoffrey Hallowes, she became prominent in her old service, the WTS (FANY), and was on the Committee of the Victoria Cross and George Cross Association. Mrs Hallowes, a national figure in Britain and a living symbol of the French Resistance, died in Surrey on 13 March 1995.
Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
referencedIn Gestapo Papers relating to Odette Churchill, Second World War Imperial War Museum (Great Britain)
referencedIn Small, Elisabeth (Oral history) Imperial War Museum (Great Britain)
creatorOf Hallowes, Odette Marie Céline (Oral history) Imperial War Museum (Great Britain)
creatorOf Interview with Odette Hallowes GC OBE Imperial War Museum (Great Britain)
referencedIn Lucas, Dorothea Winifred Suzanne (Oral history) Imperial War Museum (Great Britain)
referencedIn Brown, Oliver Haward (Oral history) Imperial War Museum (Great Britain)
referencedIn SPECIAL OPERATIONS EXECUTIVE (SOE) AND SPECIAL FORCES AGENTS DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR Imperial War Museum (Great Britain)
referencedIn Parry, Hugh Lawrence (Oral history) Imperial War Museum (Great Britain)
referencedIn Atkins, Vera May (Oral history) Imperial War Museum (Great Britain)
referencedIn Jacket, Women's (civilian): Odette Sansom Imperial War Museum (Great Britain)
referencedIn Despaigne, Harry Marcel Richard (Oral history) Imperial War Museum (Great Britain)
referencedIn Jepson, Selwyn (Oral history) Imperial War Museum (Great Britain)
referencedIn SPECIAL OPERATIONS EXECUTIVE (SOE) AND SPECIAL FORCES AGENTS DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR Imperial War Museum (Great Britain)
Place Name Admin Code Country
Walton-on-Thames ENG GB
Amiens B6 FR
Republic of France 00 FR
Subject
Occupation
Spies
Activity

Person

Birth 1912-04-28

Death 1995-03-13

French,

English

Information

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