The Story of Secret Agent Pearl Witherington: the Real Charlotte Gray Pdf

FREE SHE LANDED BY MOONLIGHT: THE STORY OF SECRET AGENT PEARL WITHERINGTON: THE REAL CHARLOTTE GRAY PDF

The She Landed by Moonlight: The Story of Secret Agent Pearl Witherington: The Real Charlotte Gray who were active members of the Special Operations Executive, created by Churchill in to spark revolt in Germany's conquered territories, hold an enduring fascination. There have been major biographies of intelligence officers Vera Atkins, Violette Szabo and Christine Granville a Polish agent She Landed by Moonlight: The Story of Secret Agent Pearl Witherington: The Real Charlotte Gray recent years while Sebastian Faulks's novel and film, Charlotte Gray, helped popularise their image. The interest partly stems from a desire to put women back into history, especially as the accomplishments of these SOE agents who played a leading role in resistance networks was so blatantly hushed up after the war. Get money off this book at the Independent bookshop. But their stories are also emblematic of how women who have proven themselves at the most masculine of tests — engaging in active warfare — are later sidelined. One of the most moving passages in Carole Seymour-Jones's new biography about Pearl Witherington, the Anglo-French agent who commanded a ragged crew of almost 4, men in occupied France and who had a million-franc bounty on her head, describes her reaction to being offered an MBE civil for her efforts. As Pearl tartly commented, "There was nothing civil about what I did. Seymour-Jones' s meticulous biography is full of such revelations. Pearl finds herself fighting to be taken seriously by her military superiors, pressing for equal funding and better resources for her "circuit" and, later, for public recognition. That women were recruited into the SOE in and sent on dangerous missions was kept secret from the British public for fear of an outcry. The women received less pay, lower pensions and were refused proper military recognition. During training, the SOE women made the first parachute jumps alongside the men "to shame the men into not showing their own terror". The men who made the requisite jumps were awarded with RAF parachute wings; Pearl was not. Such slights rankled for Pearl Witherington, but her childhood taught her tough emotional truths that prepared her well for combat. She was the eldest daughter of four, born to English parents in Paris; her father Wallace, an alcoholic, lost the family's money. From an early age, it was her job to drag him out of bars, negotiate with shopkeepers and dodge debt collectors. Her mother Gee was both hearing impaired and "an inadequate mother", a situation made worse when Wallace died in Pearl supported the family through secretarial work, landing a post at the British embassy before the war which provided her with valuable contacts. As she would later say, her childhood experiences were "what made me a fighter in my life". Even before Pearl was recruited into the SOE, she drew on that fighting spirit to get her mother and sisters out of occupied France, a difficult task for the increasingly frail Gee. Once they arrived in London, like many female soldiers before her, Pearl longed to become involved in the action. Her family, who thought she had joined the FANY a nursing unitknew nothing of her real job until after the war. Whatever drove her, Pearl demonstrated enormous moral and physical courage which is illuminated throughout the biography in small, telling detail. When Pearl was dropped into France, her SOE trainers took great care to ensure her authenticity, even scenting her chocolate with garlic and issuing her with a French- bought red Lancome lipstick. When Pearl found it difficult to find accommodation without arousing suspicion as a single woman, she spent her first three months sleeping on unheated, overcrowded trains. Delivering messages across a sprawling network in central France, she could only allow herself the luxury of cat- naps for fear of muttering English words in her sleep. Despite HQ discriminating against Pearl's "Wrestler" circuit, providing it with less money and fewer arms than those run by male organisers, it proved extremely effective. Venerated by her volunteers, Pearl and her network, working alongside one other, cut the train line running between Paris and Toulouse times. This delayed the German advance to Normandy by a fortnight, which enabled the Allies to secure the Normandy bridgehead on D-Day. She arranged weapons drops, distributed explosives and escorted teams of resistance fighters attacking German targets. If Pearl's post-war life — in she was reunited with Henri and they married in — paled into the pedestrian, she fared better than many other SOE women in the field, who endured torture and concentration camps or were executed. Seymour-Jones has undertaken exhaustive research on Pearl Witherington's life but departs from conventional biographical writing, which sets this work apart from her ground-breaking biographies of Vivienne Eliot and jointly Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre. Dialogue is recreated, scenes are set and we are given a character's thoughts, feelings and reactions. While it's understandable that biographers and other history writers are under increasing pressure to produce colourful narratives, this style dangerously strays into the territory of fiction. Pearl's story seems so well-documented and her exploits so extraordinary, that perhaps the reader could have been left to visualise her internal world without such prompts. Call me a Luddite, but I would have been happy with a set of extensive footnotes and allowed to imagine the rest. Already have an account? Log in here. Independent Premium Comments can be posted by members of our membership scheme, Independent Premium. It allows our most engaged readers to debate the big issues, share their own experiences, discuss real-world solutions, and more. Our journalists will try to respond by joining the threads when they can to create She Landed by Moonlight: The Story of Secret Agent Pearl Witherington: The Real Charlotte Gray true meeting of independent Premium. The most insightful comments on all subjects will be published daily in dedicated articles. You can also choose to be emailed when someone replies to She Landed by Moonlight: The Story of Secret Agent Pearl Witherington: The Real Charlotte Gray comment. The existing Open Comments threads will continue to exist for those who do not subscribe to Independent Premium. 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The lowest-priced brand-new, unused, unopened, undamaged item in its original packaging where packaging is applicable. Packaging should be the same as what is found in a retail store, unless the item is handmade or was packaged by the manufacturer in non-retail packaging, such as an unprinted box or plastic bag. See details for additional description. What does this price mean? This is the price excluding postage and handling fees a seller has provided at which the same item, or one that is nearly identical to it, is being She Landed by Moonlight: The Story of Secret Agent Pearl Witherington: The Real Charlotte Gray for sale or She Landed by Moonlight: The Story of Secret Agent Pearl Witherington: The Real Charlotte Gray been offered for sale in the recent past. The price may be the seller's own price elsewhere or another seller's price. The "off" amount and percentage simply signifies the calculated difference between the seller-provided price for the item elsewhere and the seller's price on eBay. The story is fascinating. Pearl Witherington was an amazing woman, and I appreciated the history lessons in addition to her personal story. I did have to skim through some parts, where the narrative drive stalled in minutiae. I respect the thoroughness of Seymour-Jones' research, but some of the details were beyond my interest. Verified purchase: Yes Condition: Pre-owned. Skip to main content. About this product. Stock photo. Brand new: Lowest price The lowest- priced brand-new, unused, unopened, undamaged item in its original packaging where packaging is applicable. See all 2 brand new listings. Buy It Now. Add to cart. Like Sebastian Faulks' heroine, Charlotte Gray, Pearl had a dual mission: to fight for her beloved, broken France and to find her lost love. Pearl's lover was a Parisian parfumier turned soldier, Henri Cornioley, who had been taken prisoner while serving in the French Logistics Corps and subsequently escaped from his German POW camp. Agent Pearl Witherington's wartime record is unique and heroic. As the only woman agent in the history of SOEs in France to have run a network, she became a fearless and legendary guerrilla leader organising, arming and training 3, Resistance fighters. Probably the greatest female organiser of armed maquisards in France, the woman whom her young troops called 'Ma Mere', Pearl lit the fires of Resistance in Central France so that Churchill's famous order to 'set Europe ablaze', which had brought SOE into being, finally came to pass. Pearl's story takes us from her harsh, impoverished childhood in Paris, to the lonely forests and farmhouses of the Loir-et-Cher where she would become a true 'warrior queen'. She had been offered a civilian decoration in which she refused, saying 'There was thing civil about what I did. Two RAF officers travelled to her old people's home and she was finally able to pin the coveted wings on her lapel. Pearl died in February aged Carole Seymour-Jones was born in Wales. She has three children and lives with her husband in London and Surrey. Show more Show less. Any condition Any condition. See all 5 - All listings for this product. Ratings and reviews Write a review. Most relevant reviews. Biography of a very determined and inspiring female The story is fascinating. Peterson Paperback 4. Van der Kolk Paperback, 4. Save on Non-Fiction Books Trending price is based on prices over last 90 days. You may She Landed by Moonlight: The Story of Secret Agent Pearl Witherington: The Real Charlotte Gray like. Agents Paperback Books. Real Estate Paperback Books. Travel Story Paperback Books. True Stories Paperback Books. This item doesn't belong on this page.

The incredible true story of Pearl Witherington. We will use your email address only for sending you newsletters. Please see our Privacy Notice for details of your data protection rights. Pearl pulled back the black-out curtain at the window of the Chrysler and peered out. Her previous parachute jump into Occupied France had been aborted. Now it was the last but one night of the September moon, the brief lunar window which allowed the pilots of the secret "Moon squadrons", andto navigate behind enemy lines. Pearl bit her lip, but allowed no trace of anxiety to betray itself on her face. She had long ago learnt to keep a poker face, whatever the circumstances. At Gibraltar Farm Barn, where she would prepare for take-off in the waiting Halifax bomber, Pearl stepped into a fug of cigarette smoke. Pearl was wearing a brown tweed suit and in the hem of her skirt was sewn a target briefing for her new boss, Squadron Leader Maurice Southgate, aka Agent Hector, chief of a vast SOE circuit named "Stationer" in central France. The SOE rule was that agents must remain silent for 48 hours to allow their comrades time to escape. Pearl hesitated for a moment. Vera Atkins, intelligence officer in the French or "F" Section of SOE, had warned her that there was only a 50 per cent chance that she would return. She shook her head. I'd rather not. Not when she had fought so hard to return to France. Born in Paris on June 24,to an English couple, Wallace and Gertrude Witherington, Pearl had been forced to flee the city when it fell to the Germans in Her father was dead and she had shepherded her invalid mother and two younger sisters across war-torn Europe, reaching England in July She burned with fury at the German invaders. Pearl finally married her sweetheart Henri in October Pearl blamed the Germans for her father's ruin. He had lost his job as secretary to a wealthy Swedish paper manufacturer and become an alcoholic after the war. The family sank into poverty. Gertrude, single mother to four daughters, Gertrude, single mother to four daughters, sent Pearl, the eldest, out every day to collect the 20 francs her father had left behind a bar for her. When he forgot, the little girl stole from the market traders, She Landed by Moonlight: The Story of Secret Agent Pearl Witherington: The Real Charlotte Gray through sacks of rotting vegetables when their backs were turned. It's not me who's tough, it's life! Pearl longed to She Landed by Moonlight: The Story of Secret Agent Pearl Witherington: The Real Charlotte Gray her beloved, broken France but she had another secret reason for hating the Germans and volunteering for SOE: she was in love with a French soldier, Henri Cornioley, an escaped PoW. The Occupiers had snatched away her sweetheart. Pearl was determined to find Henri and together to build the Resistance. They had been separated for three and a half years. Now at last Pearl's chance had come. The despatcher gives her the thumbs up. After a forced landing due to bad weather, Pearl was finally parachuted into the department of the Indre at 2am on September In the vestibule a young woman was polishing a table. When Pearl reached the bedroom, she took a deep breath before knocking. The door opened immediately, and a hand pulled her inside. Is it really you? Pearl embarked on nine months as a courier, taking messages all over Hector's sprawling empire, sleeping overnight on the trains, rubbing shoulders with collaborators. To deceive the Gestapo, and the Milice, the French Vichy paramilitaries who were far more likely to see through her disguise than a German, she plaited her fair hair round her head "in the Teutonic fashion," and endeavoured to look as Aryan as possible. While Henri stayed in Paris helping his father run a fashionable Institute of Beauty, Pearl faced terrible danger alone. F Section was in crisis. A key agent, Major Francis She Landed by Moonlight: The Story of Secret Agent Pearl Witherington: The Real Charlotte Gray codename "Prosper"had been arrested in June with his wireless operator and set. His signalmasters sent fake messages to London and hundreds of resisters were arrested. Colonel Maurice Buckmaster, head of F Section, failed to realise that many of his circuits were enemy-controlled and for 10 months continued to drop arms, She Landed by Moonlight: The Story of Secret Agent Pearl Witherington: The Real Charlotte Gray agents, into enemy hands. In this dark shadow war, Pearl was mouse to the Gestapo cat. Other women agents were arrested: Indian radio operator Noor Inayat Khan, Irish yachtswoman Cicely Lefort, pretty Violette Szabo, all went to their deaths in the camps. Cool, resourceful, street-smart Pearl survived. Her childhood had prepared her well for la clandestinite. Then on May 1,the Gestapo finally caught up with her chief, Hector. With this arrest, it seemed that the great Stationer network would collapse, like Prosper's. Determined not to let this happen, Pearl and Amedee Maingard, Hector's Mauritian radio operator, divided his circuit between them. At one stroke Pearl had become the only woman in the history of SOE to become a circuit commander. D Day minus one: June 5, The most important item on the table was the battered radio. It was 9. The radio crackled into life: "Ici Londres, ici Londres. London calling! In the kitchen you could hear a pin drop. The coded messages had a special meaning: "Intensify the guerrilla; sabotage the telephone cables; obstruct the roads; cut the railway lines. They sabotaged the railway lines times. These actions attracted the notice of the enemy and the Gestapo found Pearl's false ID card, with her photograph, among Hector's papers. In his cell, Hector put his head in his hands. Pearl was in mortal danger; posters went up on town walls, putting a price of one million francs on her head. A fortune to a She Landed by Moonlight: The Story of Secret Agent Pearl Witherington: The Real Charlotte Gray peasant. No one betrayed Pearl. As they torched the chateau, Pearl narrowly escaped with her life. She reconstituted the Wrestler maquis and issued her call to arms to the men of the Indre. Hundreds, then thousands, flocked to her standard. Pearl glowered at him. The late Pearl Witherington in The true story of the heroine who worked for British Intelligence and led the French Resistance in a tale echoing Sebastian Faulks's novel. On June 24, Pearl's 30th birthday, a parachute drop of Sten guns, bazookas, rocket launchers and explosives allowed her to re-arm her men. She organised 23 more drops, blowing up the Loire bridges and causing havoc among German troops going through to the battlefront. Her private army grew to more than 3, in number. The lads of 19 or 20 years old who laid down their scythes and sickles to follow le capitaine Pauline, as Pearl was now known, idolised her. Major General Colin Gubbins, head of SOE, "strongly recommended" Flight Officer Witherington for a Military Cross, praising her "outstanding devotion to duty" and "her remarkable personality, her courage, steadfastness and tact". Instead she was offered a civilian MBE. Pearl sent it back with an icy note: "There was nothing civil about what I did. Finally, insenior RAF parachutists visited Pearl in her retirement home and presented her with her wings. It was one of her proudest moments. Sign up for FREE now and never miss the top politics stories again.