GABRIELLE PETIT i ii GABRIELLE PETIT THE DEATH AND LIFE OF A FEMALE SPY IN THE FIRST WORLD WAR S o p h i e D e S c h a e p d r i j v e r Bloomsbury Academic An imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc iii Bloomsbury Academic An imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc 50 Bedford Square 1385 Broadway London New York WC1B 3DP NY 10018 UK USA www.bloomsbury.com BLOOMSBURY and the Diana logo are trademarks of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc First published 2015 © Sophie De Schaepdrijver, 2015 Sophie De Schaepdrijver has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identifi ed as Author of this work. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers. No responsibility for loss caused to any individual or organization acting on or refraining from action as a result of the material in this publication can be accepted by Bloomsbury or the author. British Library Cataloguing- in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN: HB: 978-1-4725-9087-9 PB: 978-1-4725-9086-2 ePDF: 978-1-4725-9088-6 ePub: 978-1-4725-9089-3 Library of Congress Cataloging- in-Publication Data Schaepdrijver, Sophie de. Gabrielle Petit : the death and life of a female spy in the First World War / Sophie De Schaepdrijver. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-4725-9086-2 — ISBN 978-1-4725-9088-6 (ePDF) — ISBN 978-1-4725-9089-3 (ePub) 1. Petit, Gabrielle, 1893-1916. 2. World War, 1914-1918—Secret service— Belgium. 3. World War, 1914-1918—Secret service—Great Britain. 4. World War, 1914-1918— Underground movements. 5. Women spies—Belgium—Biography. 6. Spies—Belgium— Biography. I. Title. D639.S8P487 2015 940.4’86493092—dc23 [B] 2014031167 Typeset by Refi neCatch Limited, Bungay, Suffolk iv T o R o n n i e P o - c h i a H s i a v vi CONTENTS Illustrations ix Maps x Acknowledgments xi Introduction 1 Prologue: Exhumation 11 Part I Life 15 1 Disinheritance, 1893–1914 17 Early Childhood, 1893–1902 17 Th e Orphanage, 1902–1908 21 Adrift in the Belle Époque , 1908–1911 28 Little Molenbeek, 1911–1914 33 2 Engagement, August 1914–August 1915 39 Mobilization 39 War 42 Suspicions 44 “Done Being Useless” 47 Departures 51 3 War Work, August 1915–February 1916 55 Roaming Agent 55 Reports 59 “External Transmission” 64 Counter- espionage 72 4 Confrontation, February 2–March 3, 1916 79 High Alert 79 Bureau A 80 Arrest and Questioning 85 Th e Trial 93 5 “Utterly Alone,” March 3, 1916–November 11, 1918 101 Appeal 101 vii “I Can Do Anything If I Put My Mind To It” 103 “Never Mind, We’ll See” 107 Rejection 110 Goodbyes 111 Execution 114 “Let Justice Run Its Course” 115 Reactions 119 Abeyance, 1916–1918 121 Part II Memory 125 6 Memory Agents, 1918–1919 127 Unearthing Civilian Heroism 127 Democratic Breakthrough—To a Point 132 Th e Waning of “Brave Little Belgium” 134 One National Figure 136 Narrating a Legend 138 A Fight Over a Grave 140 Th e Funeral as Performance 142 Th e Funeral as Lesson 144 Deepening Fervor 147 7 National Heroine, 1919–1923 151 Variations on a Th eme, 1919–1921 151 Th e Archive, 1919–1921 157 Th e Biography, 1922 164 Th e Monument, 1923 169 Counterheroes, 1919–1923 173 8 Palimpsest, 1924–2007 177 Interwar Emblem, 1924–1940 177 Face of the Resistance, 1940–1949 182 Last Eff orts, 1964–1966 184 Retreat, 1986–2007 188 Conclusion 191 Notes 195 Bibliography 233 Index 251 viii ILLUSTRATIONS All illustrations copyright Royal Army Museum, Brussels. 1. Petit as a child, n.d. 20 2. Petit in June 1914 38 3. Petit in the winter of 1915–1916 76 4. Petit’s funeral, May 29, 1919 143 5. Petit’s cell, 1919 153 6. Marguerite Blanckaert’s speech in front of Petit’s monument, 1936 181 ix MAPS 1. Gathering Intelligence Behind the Front, August 1915 to January 1916 65 2. Petit in Brussels 124 x ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Th is book has been long in the making and my debt to all of those who helped me and stood by me is enormous. Since archivist- historians are a girl’s best friend, my fi rst thanks go to them: at the Belgian State Archives, Michaël Amara, Pierre-Alain Tallier, Luc Vandeweyer, and Luc Janssen who provided crucial help with the judicial fi les. My thanks, also, to Gerd De Prins at the Belgian War Victims administration, to Jean Houssiau at the City Archives in Brussels, who helped me search a hundred boxes for one elusive document, and to Sven Steff ens who gave me access to the municipal archives in Molenbeek. Digital access to the Belgian press was still fl edgling when I conducted this research; my thanks to Marc d’Hoore and his staff at the periodicals section at the Royal Library in Brussels, especially to Joz Sterken. Th anks to Jacques Bredael for helping me track down a 1964 documentary; at the Cinematek in Brussels, thanks to Clémentine De Blick and Francis Malfl iet. Th anks to An Coucke, the associate director of Saint-Gilles prison, for guiding me around the building in 2012, and to the prison’s director, Ralf Bas, for making this visit possible. Th anks to Nicole Demaret at the Musée du Folklore in Tournai; to Gustaaf Janssens, formerly of the Royal Palace Archives in Brussels; to Jeroen Huygelier at the Belgian Army Archives in Evere (Brussels); to Florence Loriaux at the Centre d’Animation et de Recherche en Histoire Ouvrière et Populaire in Brussels; and to Robert Van Hee at the University of Antwerp. Further thanks to Guillaume Baclin, Rudi De Groot, Luc De Munck, Robin de Salle, Paul Delforge, Clive Emsley, Alison Fell, Emmanuel Gerard, Ann Kelders, Nicole Leclercq, Anna Luyten, Muriel Hanot, Peter Heyrman, Françoise Quattrus, and the late Roger Vranken. A very warm word of thanks to fellow historians who went out of their way to answer questions, discuss issues, and help me access documentation. I am in especial debt to espionage experts Jim Beach, Emmanuel Debruyne, Keith Jeff ery, and Jan Van der Fraenen, who have been extremely generous. So has Isabel Hull, who not only read chapters and provided vital comments, but also helped me decipher signatures of German Foreign Offi ce personnel. I also owe a great deal to Martin Conway’s comments on the “memory” chapters. Rebecca Scott generously sent me press clippings from the Bibliothèque Marguerite Durand in Paris, and, in conversation, provided me with inspiring ideas. Sincerest thanks to Monsieur Pierre Ronvaux for kindly sharing his insights and research—even, one memorable aft ernoon, helping me fi nd a crucial source—and for showing me around the former orphanage where Gabrielle Petit grew up. Rob Troubleyn of the Royal Army Museum in Brussels provided essential help with the sources and illustrations. My thanks, also, to Helga Boeye for drawing the maps. An enthusiastic thanks for their collegial help and their ideas to fellow grandeguerristes James Connolly, Aurore François, Leen Engelen, Rainer Hiltermann, Benoît Majerus, xi Christoph Roolf, Andreas Toppe, Antoon Vrints, and Th omas Weber. In addition, I gained much insight from conversations and correspondence with Stéphane Audoin- Rouzeau, Annette Becker, Gita Deneckere, Bruno De Wever, Anne Duménil, Jonathan Gumz, John Horne, Heather Jones, Chantal Kesteloot, Alan Kramer, Christophe Prochasson, Tammy Proctor, Anne Rasmussen, Hubert Roland, Pierre Schoentjes, Jens Th iel, Christine Van Everbroeck, David Van Reybrouck, Kaat Wils, Lode Wils, Jay Winter, and fellow traveler Laurence Van Ypersele. Finally, sincerest thanks to the anonymous readers of this manuscript for their inspired and inspiring comments. Of course, all mistakes and misinterpretations in this book are my own. At Penn State, my thanks to the Department of History and the College of the Liberal Arts for their trust and support; to the Institute for the Arts and Humanities, where a Resident Fellowship in the Fall of 2012 gave me some much- needed time; at Penn State University Libraries, to Eric Novotny, History librarian, to Heather Ross at the Donald W. Hamer Map Library, and the spendid staff at the interlibrary loan department; and, fi nally, to my smart and generous colleagues. Without time and surroundedness, this book would have remained a fond project. Th at I could take the time to research and write it I owe to the ones who surround me. As ever, I want to thank my mother, Claudine Spitaels, the warmest and sharpest of great minds, the most present of presences: where we would be without her, I cannot think. My thanks to our children, Mathilde Hsia and Eduard Hsia, for giving their parents so much joy and for commenting on Gabrielle Petit, which, given her book’s demands on their mother’s attention, is typically generous of them. Finally, my greatest gratitude goes to the most brilliant historian I know—my husband, Ronnie Po- chia Hsia, who saw this book, and so much else, to fruition. His profound insights, his time, his love are in here; it is fi tting that this book should be dedicated t o h i m . xii INTRODUCTION In a provincial town in Belgium, behind a church dating back to Norman times, stands a monument that celebrates secular martyrdom in the twentieth century.