I’ve always wanted to profile Violette after first seeing her mural in South London where I live, pictured above. This mural was made in 2001 by the late painter Brian Barnes MBE, whom I had the good fortune to meet and befriend shortly before his death. His painting sparked my interest in who Violette was and I was inspired to look into her story of incredible bravery and endurance. So this month’s Herstory is dedicted to this extroadinary woman.
Born to an English father and French mother in 1921, Violette Bushell spent her early years in France before settling in London in 1932. Having lots of brothers, she was a tomboy from an early age; sporty and athletic, and she loved shooting. It’s little wonder, then, that at the outbreak of WW2, she joined the Women’s Land Army! It was while doing her bit at an armaments factory fhat she met her future husband, Hungarian officer Etienne Szabo. They married pretty much immediately, and a year later she gave birth to their child, a daughter, Tania.
Tania was born whilst Etienne was away at war, and sadly, soon after her birth he was killed in action in North Africa, having never even seen his child. Violette, no doubt racked with grief at his premature death, was spurred to join the SOE (Special Operations Executives) to ‘fight back’ at the enemy that had killed her husband. Her career as a spy began.
Violette was probably recruited because she was bilingual (she spoke English and French fluently), had previous training in the Army, and had the advantage of being particularly good looking. Beautiful women were often recruited as secret agents. Looks can get you far when deceiving the enemy!
In the SEO, She was trained in navigation, weaponry, demolition, cryptography, communications and parachuting. She was described in the SEO as ‘a Cockney imp’ who was endlessly brave and laughing. She sounds a lot of fun. Sadly she was only to participate in two missions as a secret agent.
On her first mission in April 1944, she was flown into German-Occupied France pretending to be a resident of the area, in order to assess German bombing damage and gather intelligence. Her flight back to England was attacked by German fire, and she was violently thrown about in the plane sustaining several (non life-threatening) injuries. Neverthless, she had made it and her intelligence reports were instrumental in establishing Allied bombing targets later on.
Two months later Violette went on her second, fateful mission. She was parachuted yet again into France to coordinate the sabotage of German communication lines. Unfortunately, her car was stopped by the SS. There are various differing reports on what exactly transpired next. The popular and most dynamic version of the story is that there was a fierce and brave battle between Violette and the Nazis. Upon capture, Violette and her comrade leapt out of their car and escaped across a field, hiding behind trees and firing at the Germans for a good thirty minutes. Violette apparently fell and twisted her ankle in the process, but continued fighting, killing several Gestapo officers including a Corporal. Eventually, when she ran out of ammunition, she was caught and taken away for interrogation.
If this story is to be believed, it is something out of a James Bond novel; Violette showing incredible stealth and courage, and like a comic book heroine, putting up a fierce resistance to the enemy despite her injuries. But many question whether this actually happened. The reason being that there were no reported German casualties or injuries at the scene. But much was covered up during the war. Could it simply be that it was somewhat, embarrassing for the Germans to be seen to have lost men to a diminutive English woman? I guess we’ll never know the truth. But, given what we know of Violette’s feisty character, I would not at all be surprised if this was true.
What we do know for sure, however, is what happened next. Violette was transferred to various different SS HQ’s and prisons for interrogation and torture. To her immense credit, she did not break under torture and did not give anything away. Alongside a fellow SEO agent Denise Bloch, who she was shackled to, she was transported to Germany. En route, she was reportedly in good spirits, and she and Denise managed to secretly smuggle water from a lavatory to the male prisoners in the nearby carriage, who were suffering from severe dehydration. After an arduous few weeks journey with non existent hygiene facilities and barely any food or water, Violette and Denise arrived at Ravensbruck concentration camp.
According to fellow inmates who survived Ravensbruck, Violette was endlessly optimistic and upbeat despite horrendous conditions and hard labour. She was also defiant, she plotted to escape and even tried to plot with French prisoners at a nearby camp to transmit messages to London using a DIY transmitter!
Once the Nazis found out what she and the others were up to, though, they were brutally punished. Violette was given hard labour felling trees in the bitter East Prussian winter. In just summer clothes and with barely any nourishmnet or shelter, many of these women froze to death or died of exhaustion. Violette soldiered on and survived. After this, she, along with Denise Bloch and another prisoner named Lilian Rolfe were horribly assaulted, and then put in solitary confinement.
Finally, after months of pain and fear, on 5 February 1945 Violette was executed by a shot to the back of her head alongside her comrades Denise and Lilian. Violette was the only one who walked to her execution, Denise and Lilian were so ill they had to be stretchered in. Violette’s body was cremated at the camp and her clothes and possessions destroyed. She was 23, and her daughter wasn’t yet 3 years old.
She has a headstone marker in the Brookwood cemetery, and she was awarded the George Cross posthumously (it was gven to her 4 year old daughter). She is the first British woman ever to receive that award. She is also honoured as a resistance martyr in France. Her medals are now on display at the Imperial War Museum.
Of 41 female spies serving in France during World War Two, 26 survived. 12 were executed, including Violette. There are innumerable memorials and tributes to her. Among them books, films, video games, a museum in Hereford, a bronze bust in Lambeth as well as the aforementiond mural in Stockwell.
Violette Szabo is probably one of the most celebrated female martyrs of the Second World War because she is the most decorated. Her fame is probably helped by her striking looks and charisma. I can't help thinking that if she hadn’t become a spy, she might’ve been a very successful film star, she is reminiscent of a young Ingrid Bergman.
But I’m sure Violette, a natural adventurer, would be rolling her eyes at the very notion! Why smoulder in front of a camera on the silver screen when you can go out with a literal bang as one of the bravest women of all time?
One of my favourite and most moving things about Violette's story is the fact that during WW2 special agents used coded poems to transmit messages. This was one Violette used on her fateful last mission, written by Leo Marks to commemorate the loss of his girlfriend in a plane crash:
The life that I have
Is all that I have
And the life that I have
Is yours.
The love that I have
Of the life that I have
Is yours and yours and yours.
A sleep I shall have
A rest I shall have
Yet death will be but a pause.
For the peace of my years
In the long green grass
Will be yours and yours and yours.
I remember seeing this poem framed in a bar once, and not knowing
the reference or meaning, found it so incredibly moving that I never forgot it. To this day, I can’t read this poem without being brought to tears, such emotion does it carry. Rest in peace and power, Violette, in the long green grass, or wherever you may be.
That is this month’s Herstory to kick off the year! I hope you enjoyed it and were inspired. As always, I’ll be back next month with somebody completely different !
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