It is long overdue to say a few words about the very moving presentation given to the group in June 2021 by Jeremy Prescott. Jeremy, who served in the Armed Forces for over 2 decades, spoke about the life of Violette Szabo GC. His talk was based upon years of careful research and illustrated by many of his own photographs.
The story of Violette’s upbringing in Stockwell where she was a confident young girl amongst her 4 brothers hinted at her later willingness for adventure. The children were bilingual thanks to their English father and French mother and at the age of 13 she travelled alone to Paris to stay with her aunt. At 19 she met her future husband Etienne on 14 July 1940, and they were married weeks later. Tragically he was killed in action little over 2 years later and never saw their daughter Tanya. Violette’s decision to train for SOE and undertake missions in occupied France saw her join only a small number of women in this role. The hardships she bore after capture and her eventual death were related with great sensitivity by Jeremy. We cannot know to what extent she was driven by revenge, but Violette’s courage cannot be doubted. Two biographies are available including one by Tanya whom Jeremy has spoken to and hopes one day to meet. There is also the 1958 biopic ‘Carve her name with pride’. We are indebted to Jeremy for an enthralling evening. Comments are closed.
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November 2023
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