I believe there are forum members interested in the history of the Special Operations Executive, so I thought I'd post this.
In our Nouvelle Republique today it was reported that Pearl Cornioley (nee Witherington) died yesterday. Her alias was initially Marie when she parachuted into France as a courrier in September 1943, and when her group leader Maurice Southgate was arrested she took over his area as Pauline. At the time of the D-day landings she was in charge of nearly 2000 men, and managed to organise the sabotage of 800 railway lines in the Indre department. All information we could find about this lady indicates a woman of great courage and character.
It makes me humble.
FairyNuff
That is sad news, thankyou for telling us. She must have reached a great age.
We were discussing other SOE women here: http://www.completefrance.com/cs/forums/1155876/ShowPost.aspx
Here is her obituary:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article3432757.ece
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7323747.stm
Files released today from the National Archive.
Pity that she wasn't awarded the Military Cross later in her life when the rules changed.
It's a pity that successive governments lack even the smallest amount of backbone that the many thousands of brave people who have given their lives for their country possessed.
Even now, soldiers male and female are not getting the full backing they deserve out in Afghanistan and Iraq. Look at how the Ghurkas have to plead for the same rights that the UK military get.
Thanks for the updates on Pearl Witherington.
From the National Archives:
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/releases/2008/april/pearl.htm
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