Odette Hallowes

GC, MBE, Legion D’Honneur

Special Operations Executive – World War II

A road at Bovis Homes’ new Monument View development has been dedicated to Odette Hallowes, the World War II Special Operations Executive Agent.

‘Odette Avenue’ is a memorial to Odette’s clandestine work behind enemy lines, and to her remarkable courage and survival. At the same time, ‘Odette Avenue’ pays homage to the importance that Somerset and Devon held for Odette. She moved to the county border area with her three daughters, Francoise, Lili and Marianne, during the Blitz in 1940. The landscape of the Blackdown Hills would have become engraved on her mind, synonymous with freedom and peace, and it is therefore no surprise that after working as a Special Operations Executive Agent in France, she chose to return there after the war.

This is explained more fully by local Wellington resident and owner of ‘Odette’s Tearooms’, Nancy Powell-Brace, whose idea it was to dedicate a road to Odette. She says: “Odette was living in the local area at the time and she was recruited to work in occupied France as a Special Operations Executive Agent. Having carried out many courageous operations, Odette was eventually betrayed, captured, tortured and imprisoned. In her darkest times, Odette would have closed her eyes and remembered Somerset. The area was very special to her and we should be acknowledging and honouring that.”

Nancy Powell-Brace spearheaded a petition and contacted the team at Bovis Homes. Bovis Homes then worked with the local authority to make Nancy’s idea become a reality.

Odette’s family is delighted that Odette is being remembered this way, and is sure she would be extremely honoured with the dedication. One of Odette’s granddaughter’s, Sophie Parker, says: “After her arrest, interrogations and torture, Odette endured two years of solitary confinement, first at Fresnes Prison in Paris and then at Ravensbruck Concentration Camp in Germany. We think Odette’s cherished memories of this area would have strengthened her hope and belief that she would one day be free again to walk in its countryside, and to experience the kindness of its people – and above all, to be reunited with her daughters.”

Local historian, Amyas Crump, has researched Odette’s time in the Westcountry in depth, and regularly gives talks about her, considering her to be a true heroine. He says: ”We understand that when Odette came to Somerset, she found a small cottage owned by a lady called Mrs Balsom in the village of Red Ball, near the Somerset and Devon border. Her daughters attended the local school, and it seems Odette travelled everywhere by foot; going to look after her ailing mother-in-law nearby; visiting the doctor and the chemist in the ancient market town of Wellington; and doing her shopping in Culmstock.”

Amyas Crump continues: “In the biography, ‘Odette’ by Jerrard Tickell, we learn that it was in Culmstock where Mr Strawbridge, the owner of the local store, always saw to it that the children never left his shop without a bag of sweets, and where Mrs Fisher, the butcher’s wife would always provide as generous a ration as she could. Nearby, Mrs Marshall would provide spare eggs for the following day’s breakfast. We even learn that the postman showed nothing but warmth and kindness to Odette. She felt everyone took her and her children into their hearts. Odette’s travels by foot would have taken her to a hilled area called ‘The Tippings’, above White Ball Railway Tunnel, with its captivating views across the Blackdown Hills and to Culmstock Beacon. Odette would have witnessed the landscape vary according to changing seasons, drawing in the sweeping views and the sense of peace that surrounded her – just as we still do today.”

As the War continued to unfold, Odette’s inherent sense of duty rose to the fore. It was this sense of duty, along with her patriotism for both France and England, that instilled within her an unrelenting desire to help end the growing suffering inflicted on the world. The seed was sown whilst she was living in the Westcountry, and towards the end of 1942, having been recruited by the Special Operations Executive, she left the sanctuary she loved so much for France.

Nearly three years passed and the War finally ended. All the dangers that being an agent entailed; and the interrogations; the torture; and the solitary confinement in appalling conditions, were behind her. Odette was free. Seeing the flags of victory hung on every street must have been a sight she had thought she may never behold. She would go on to be awarded the George Cross, the highest non-military decoration for gallantry; an MBE; and the Legion d’Honneur.

On arriving back in England, her first thought was to be reunited with her daughters, and then to visit the countryside and the people of Somerset and Devon that she had held so dear, in order to recuperate and to regain a sense of normal life and peace.

Having always maintained that she was just an ordinary woman, who had been given the opportunity to see human beings at their worst, but also, at their best, Odette described how she felt after the War, saying: “It is the dignity I want to remember. The dignity of people stripped of everything else. No-one can take that away. Destruction was all around me, but it only served to highlight courage and human dignity at its finest”.

As a survivor, Odette always wanted to ensure that her fellow agents, who paid the ultimate sacrifice and did not return home, would never be forgotten, and she remained committed to upholding their names and their bravery.

In light of this, Sophie Parker says: “Odette would want the dedication of ‘Odette Avenue’ to be seen, not just as a tribute to her, but as a wider tribute to all the Special Operations Executive Agents she served with, each of whom rose from their everyday lives to take on extraordinary challenges in the quest for freedom and peace. The Special Operations Executive in France played a pivotal role in the success of D-Day, and overall, it ultimately helped to end the War.”

Sophie Parker adds: “Our family would like to thank Nancy Powell-Brace, Bovis Homes, the local council and everyone involved for dedicating this road to Odette. We would also like to thank Amyas Crump for the meticulous research he has done and for taking some of our family on tours to see first-hand the places that Odette and her daughters lived. Amyas has helped to complete the picture of Odette’s time in Somerset and Devon, and has kept her story alive in the counties, and beyond. It is extremely touching to learn that, even now, there are still many local people who recollect older generations telling them about Odette and her daughters, and saying how proud they were that Odette had chosen to live amongst them. To know that her legacy here lives on is wonderful. It is our hope that ‘Odette Avenue’ will give all those who have chosen this as their home, as well as the wider community, the opportunity to reflect and remember what Odette and so many brave people like her did for our country.”

BIOGRAPHY

Odette was born in Amiens, France, in 1912 and moved to London in 1933 with her English husband, Roy Sansom. She had three daughters, Francoise, Lili and Marianne.

As the War continued to unfold, it was whilst living in the Westcountry that Odette inadvertently came to the attention of the British Government. They believed her knowledge of France and fluency in the language would make her a strong candidate to join the Special Operations Executive; an organisation formed to conduct espionage and sabotage in occupied countries, and to work with local resistance groups.

In November 1942, having undergone her training, Odette was sent to France. With the code name, Lise, and a full cover story, she landed on the French Mediterranean coast near Cassis. It was planned for her to make her way to Auxerre, but instead, she joined Captain Peter Churchill, as part of the Spindle Network, initially in Cannes, then in Annecy.

Odette’s work involved transporting messages and funds; securing safe-houses for her radio operator and other Agents; as well as identifying and preparing landing sites for British aircraft bringing in new Agents, supplies and weapons. A key mission she undertook was to go to Marseilles and collect a suitcase containing detailed plans of the port, and to send it back to Britain, at a time when Marseilles was teaming with Gestapo.

In April 1943, Odette and Peter Churchill were betrayed and arrested. Odette had the presence of mind to deceive her captors, telling them that she and Peter were married and related to Winston Churchill, even though there was no relation at all. In doing so, she hoped the Gestapo would believe that she and Peter could be useful to them in their negotiations with the British Prime Minister, and would therefore be kept alive.

Odette endured fourteen brutal interrogations and torture for information on her work and her fellow Agents, but she steadfastly refused to say anything. Her silence saved those Agents’ lives, and enabled them to carry on their vital work. Odette was taken to Fresnes prison in Paris, and condemned to death on two counts. Her reply was: “Gentlemen you must take your pick of the counts, I can only die once.”  In May 1944, she commenced the long and arduous journey to Ravensbruck Concentration Camp north of Berlin, where she was held until its liberation in 1945.

At Ravensbruck, Odette was put in solitary confinement in an underground bunker. There, she spent a total of three months and 11 days in complete darkness, day and night, and on starvation rations. In August 1944, in vengeance for the Allies successfully landing in the south of France, Odette found herself punished by having all food withdrawn for a week, and the heating in her bunker turned up to unbearable levels. She realised the Gestapo felt that the Allied success was due to work that SOE Agents like her had done. Emaciated, gravely ill and suffering from heat-exhaustion, Odette was revived at the prison hospital and taken to another cell.

In May 1945, with the Allies gaining ground, the Camp Commandant, still believing Odette to be a relative of Winston Churchill, drove her to the American lines, thinking she would gain him some clemency. On arrival, the Americans took his pistol and she denounced him (she would later give evidence against him at the War Crimes trials.) The Americans offered to find her somewhere to stay, but she told them she wanted to remain out in the open so that she could see the stars and feel fresh air and freedom for the first time in two years.

Odette returned to London on 8 May 1945.

On arriving back in England, her first thought was to be reunited with her daughters, and then to visit the countryside and the people of Somerset and Devon that she had held so dear, in order to recuperate and to regain a sense of normal life and peace.

Odette was the first woman to be awarded the George Cross (GC), the highest non-military decoration for gallantry. The citation in the London Gazette, 20 August 1946, records that, ‘…she displayed courage, endurance and self-sacrifice of the highest possible order.’ Her other awards included an MBE in 1945 and in 1950 she was appointed a Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur.

Odette always maintained that her George Cross had been given to her to represent all the women Special Operations Executive Agents in France – and especially those who lost their lives. She said: “My comrades, who did far more and suffered more profoundly than I, are not here to speak. Because of this, I speak for them.”

As a survivor, she wanted to ensure the world never forgot these women, and every year, Odette laid a wreath at the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (Princess Royal’s Volunteer Corps) Memorial at St Paul’s Knightsbridge. She always attached some violets, her favourite flower, to the wreath, in memory of those women who did not survive. This is something Odette’s family continues to do on her behalf.

Odette worked with many charities and organisations that aimed to help and honour people affected by the War. She also became Vice President of the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (Princess Royal’s Volunteer Corps); President of the 282 Squadron East Ham Air Cadets; and a Founder of ‘The Woman of the Year’, an organisation which celebrates the achievements of women from across the UK and around the world who are doing remarkable work –  an organisation that is still thriving today.

In June 1993, two years before she died, Odette returned to Ravensbruck Concentration Camp accompanied by her husband Geoffrey Hallowes and her three daughters, Francoise, Lili and Marianne. They were part of a delegation that went to dedicate a plaque to four female Special Operations Executive Agents who were murdered there; Denise Bloch, Lilian Rolfe, Violette Szabo and Cecily Lefort. She made a moving speech and at the end, she said: “Their story is known and has inspired many people, and will do so for generations to come. The spirit of their sacrifice is forever alive.”

After living in London for many years, Odette moved to Surrey.  She died at her home in March 1995.  Her grave is at Hersham’s, Burvale Cemetery.

Her legacy lives on.