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book jacket
BOOK
Title She landed by moonlight : the story of secret agent Pearl Witherington : the real 'Charlotte Gray' / Carole Seymour-Jones
Imprint London : Hodder, 2014
©2013

LIBRARY / MAP CALL NUMBER STATUS MESSAGE
 Stadsbibl:Slottet vån 4 Geografi och historia  940.54 Cornioley engelska    CHECK SHELF  ---
Descript viii, 421 pages : illustrations, maps ; 20 cm
Note Includes bibliographical references (pages 374-408) and index
"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
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'
Subject Cornioley, Pearl Witherington, 1914-2008.
Great Britain. Special Operations Executive.
World War (1939-1945)
1939-1945
Andra världskriget
Underrättelsetjänst
World War, 1939-1945 -- Secret service -- Great Britain
World War, 1939-1945 -- Underground movements -- France
Secret service.
Underground movements, War.
Frankrike
Storbritannien
France
Great Britain
Classmark 940.54/8641092
ISBN/ISSN 9781444724622
1444724622
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