LEADER 00000cam 2200577 i 4500
001 0b8wfkhlx0lslqb0
003 SE-LIBR
008 131102r20142013enkab b 001 0beng d
020 9781444724622
020 1444724622
041 eng
072 7 WAR|2eflch
082 04 940.54/8641092|223
092 0 940.54 Cornioley|bengelska
100 1 Seymour-Jones, Carole,|eauthor
245 10 She landed by moonlight :|bthe story of secret agent Pearl
Witherington : the real 'Charlotte Gray' /|cCarole Seymour
-Jones
264 1 London :|bHodder,|c2014
264 4 |c©2013
300 viii, 421 pages :|billustrations, maps ;|c20 cm
336 text|btxt|2rdacontent
337 unmediated|bn|2rdamedia
338 volume|bnc|2rdacarrier
504 Includes bibliographical references (pages 374-408) and
index
520 "Seventy years ago, in September 1943, Pearl
Witherington's parachute dropped behind enemy lines. This
is her incredible story. On the night of the 22 September
1943 Pearl Witherington, a twenty-nine-year-old British
secretary and agent of the Special Operations Executive
(SOE), was parachuted from a Halifax bomber into Occupied
France. Like Sebastian Faulks' heroine, Charlotte Gray,
Pearl had a dual mission: in her case, to fight for her
beloved, broken France and to find her lost love. Pearl's
lover was a Parisian parfumier turned soldier, Henri
Cornioley, who had been taken prisoner while serving in
the French Logistics Corps and subsequently escaped from
his German POW camp. Agent Pearl Witherington's wartime
record is unique and heroic. As the only woman agent in
the history of SOEs in France to have run a network, she
became a fearless and legendary guerrilla leader
organising, arming and training 3,800 Resistance fighters.
Probably the greatest female organiser of armed maquisards
in France, the woman whom her young troops called 'Ma M
re', Pearl lit the fires of Resistance in Central France
so that Churchill's famous order to 'set Europe ablaze',
which had brought SOE into being, finally came to pass.
Pearl's story takes us from her harsh, impoverished
childhood in Paris, to the lonely forests and farmhouses
of the Loir-et-Cher where she would become a true 'warrior
queen'. Shortly before Pearl's death in 2008, the Queen
presented her with a CBE in Paris. While male agents and
Special Force Jedburghs received the DSO or Military Cross,
an ungrateful country had forgotten Pearl. She had been
offered a civilian decoration in 1945 which she refused,
saying 'There was nothing civil about what I did.' But
what pleased her most was to receive her Parachute Wings,
for which she had waited over 60 years. Two RAF officers
travelled to her old people's home and she was finally
able to pin the coveted wings on her lapel. Pearl died in
February 2008 aged 93"--Publisher's description
520 On the night of the 22nd of September 1943, Pearl
Witherington, a 29-year-old British secretary and agent of
the Special Operations Executive (SOE), was parachuted
from a Halifax bomber into occupied France. Like Sebastian
Faulks' heroine, Charlotte Gray, Pearl had a dual mission:
in her case, to fight for her beloved, broken France and
to find her lost love. 'She Landed by Moonlight' takes us
from Pearl's harsh, impoverished childhood in Paris, to
the lonely forests and farmhouses of the Loir-et-Cher
where she would become a true 'warrior queen'
600 17 Cornioley, Pearl Witherington,|d1914-2008.|2fast
610 17 Great Britain.|bSpecial Operations Executive.|2fast
611 27 World War (1939-1945)|2fast
648 7 1939-1945|2fast
648 7 Andra världskriget|2sao
650 0 World War, 1939-1945|xSecret service|zGreat Britain
650 0 World War, 1939-1945|xUnderground movements|zFrance
650 7 Underrättelsetjänst|2sao
650 7 Secret service.|2fast
650 7 Underground movements, War.|2fast
651 4 Frankrike
651 4 Storbritannien|2sao
651 7 France
651 7 Great Britain
