Rebel. Smuggler. Spy.Champagne, France 1943
Meet Madame Rebelle. Edmee Guillon is a smuggler. She hides people from the German troops surrounding her ancestral home. When a dying man in a German uniform seeks refuge at Maison Boutet, Edmee struggles to believe his claims that he is French. Her life, the maison and the people she loves are already at stake. Can she take the chance that this mysterious spy is who he says he is? And which side of this war is he really on?
Christian Vovk has been betrayed by someone inside his resistance organization. He knows asking the striking young war widow to hide him will put her in certain danger. However, Christian can help Edmee save as many refugees as she can. Falling in love with her will hinder his duty to the operation that brought him to her doorstep in the first place. When love and duty become inevitably tangled, will Christian sacrifice one for the other?
Being a spy in World War II France was a risky venture, as the characters of my book Madame Rebelle can attest. However, would you like to know some interesting facts about spycraft during that time? Go behind enemy lines with me with ten things you may not know about being World War II spy…
When the Germans occupied France in the 1940s, the country was cut off from the rest of Europe. To get in, spies could either be parachuted in, flown in by landed aircraft in a remote field in the countryside or delivered by submarine.
Over a dozen British women parachuted into France after intense training with Special Operations Executive's F Section. They were recruited because women would be suspected less of sabotage operations by German officers on the ground.
Code names were a requirement. The name Pauline was given to SOE agent Pearl Witherington. She would be instrumental in organizing partisan forces. She went on to lead a large force of French fighting men against the Germans. SOE agent Nancy Wake went by Helene. She was known to the Gestapo as the White Mouse due to her uncanny ability to escape capture. She battled German troops alongside maquisards, drove an ambulance, and participated in the secret Pat O'Leary Line that aided in the escape of Allied airmen.
When tasked with delivering a message to a contact, messengers often wore a paper clip on their lapels to signal to their recipient that they could be trusted.
The threat of double agents made the danger of capture even more of a minefield. Prosper SOE's largest resistance network in France collapsed after the agents of the organization were betrayed by an insider.
Josephine Baker used her public persona to hide her spy activities. She hid refugees in her home. She smuggled documents to Charles de Gaulle and hid secret photographs under her dress while entertaining. Invisible ink on her sheet music carried information about German troop movements. She carried clandestine notes in her bra. In addition, she made certain that fleeing Jewish refugees had passports. After the war, she received the highest honors the French military could bestow.
Wireless operators faced the most danger. They tended to face capture sooner than couriers and messengers due to German triangulation of their wireless signals. Wireless operators, however, were instrumental in communicating with SOE headquarters in London. Agent Yvonne Cormeau managed to send 400 transmissions in 13 months. After capture, she convinced German troops that her wireless radio was an X-ray machine.
One spymistress had a prosthetic leg. Because of her disability, her temper, her distinctive red hair and American accent, Virginia Hall had to fight for her place in spy circles. Nevertheless, the Germans considered her the Allies’ most dangerous spy. She was an exceptional spy for SOE, organizing networks, assisting escaped POWs, and leading sabotage missions. Her work helped pave the way for D-Day. After the war, she continued to work in intelligence with the CIA. Unlike other SOE agents, she never gave interviews about her spy work and she never published her memoirs. *Fun side note: Hall had a name her prosthetic: Cuthbert.
The longer agents remained in the field, the higher the likelihood of capture became. The exact number of SOE agents who disappeared in France during World War II is unknown. After the war, SOE intelligence officer Vera Atkins led a detailed investigation into the whereabouts of 118 missing SOE agents. She managed to determine the fate of all but one. Of the four hundred agents of SOE F section one hundred and four were killed. Sixteen were women.
You can read firsthand accounts of survivors of SOE's F Section such as Pearl Witherington Cornioley's Code Name Pauline: Memoirs of a World War II Special Agent.
This research was essential when I crafted scenes for Madame Rebelle. I hope you enjoy the story as much I have. Cheers!
“There’s a difference between bravery and stupidity.”
The muscles of her face were taut. “I know that.”
Christian subsided into silence.
“Is the gun something you stole?” Edmée wanted to know. “If it’s German—”
“It’s not,” he said. Would she really know the difference if he lied? “Are you going to tell your uncle you've hidden me here?”
“I have to cover my tracks outside the cave,” she claimed, avoiding his probing stare.
He gripped her wrist before she could leave. When her gaze seized on his, it took him a moment to realize what he needed to say. “Be careful.”
Her lips firmed. “Take your aspirin. I won’t bring anymore wine.” She eyed the gun in his waistband. “I shouldn’t let you keep the gun. It would be stupid of me.”
“You cannot leave me undefended.”
When she wavered, he tugged her closer, leaning in. Did she know she smelled of the woods—of untamed things? “You should have one.”
Her brows came together. “A gun?”
“The supply runs. They’re dangerous.”
“So is carrying a gun.”
“Oui, but it’s the couriers, the messengers, the runners… They’re the ones arrested first.”
“So which one were you?” she wondered. “A courier or a messenger?”
What a lovely cover.
ReplyDeleteThank you for featuring MADAME REBELLE today.
ReplyDeleteSounds great.
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