Andree Raymonde Borrel was born on 18 Nov 1919 in Louveciennes, Yvelines, France. She was executed at the Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp on 6 Jul 1944.
CODE NAMES:
CODE NAMES:
Agent Prosper
Denise
When World War II broke out, nineteen-year-old Andree went to the Mediterranean port city of Toulon where she trained as a nurse's aid with the "Association des Dames de France" (ADF). Following her training, she worked in Beaucaire treating wounded soldiers. After France fell to the Germans in June 1940, the ADF came under the control of Marshal Pétain, and Andree, who was not willing to accept her country's defeat, joined the French Resistance helping British airmen shot down over France to escape through the "underground railway" back to Britain.
When World War II broke out, nineteen-year-old Andree went to the Mediterranean port city of Toulon where she trained as a nurse's aid with the "Association des Dames de France" (ADF). Following her training, she worked in Beaucaire treating wounded soldiers. After France fell to the Germans in June 1940, the ADF came under the control of Marshal Pétain, and Andree, who was not willing to accept her country's defeat, joined the French Resistance helping British airmen shot down over France to escape through the "underground railway" back to Britain.
With Maurice Dufour, she established a villa in Perpignan near the Spanish border and co-operated with the escape network of Albert Guérisse.
In December 1941 her resistance group was uncovered and she fled to Lisbon, Portugal. There, she worked at the Free French Propaganda Office for a short time until April 1942 when she travelled to London. From General de Gaulle's Free French bureau she learned about the French Section of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) and immediately signed up.
On the night of 24 Sept 1942, Andree and fellow SOE agent, Lise de Baissac (Odile)became the first female agents to be parachuted into occupied France. They were flown in from RAF Tempsford. Andree dropped first. In the darkness, Baissac dropped near Poitiers while Andree dropped into a field near the village of Mer, not far from the Loire River and was picked up by members of a local resistance team.
Because of her intimate knowledge of Paris, Andree was sent there to work as a courier for the new Prosper network run by Francis Suttill. She made contact in Paris with Germaine and Madeleine Tambour. Suttill was impressed with her performance and in the spring of 1943 she was made second in command of the Paris network. While working in the Prosper network she took part in sabotage, especially raiding a power station, and supervising weapons drops.
Probably because of a traitor, in June 1943 several members of the Prosper network were arrested by the Gestapo on 23 Jun 1943, including network leader Francis Suttill and Andrée. She was interrogated in the Gestapo's Paris headquarters and then held in Fresnes prison. She remained there until May 1944 when, together with three other captured female SOE agents (Vera Leigh, Sonya Olschanezky and Diana Rowden), she was shipped to the Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp in the Vosges Mountains of Alsace.
On 6 Jul 1944, 24-year-old Andree and her three compatriots were given lethal injections of phenol, then incinerated in the camp's crematorium. Evidence collected immediately after the war by Squadron Officer Vera Atkins and Major Bill Barkworth of the SAS War Crimes investigation team (included in the Justice - SAS Style program in the television series Nazi Hunters), indicates that Andree regained consciousness before being placed in the cremation oven and fought to save her life, facially scarring the camp executioner who was placing her in the oven. However, she was unable to escape and was put into the flames while still alive. Both the doctor who administered the injection and the camp executioner were later executed by the Allies for war crimes.
In 1985, SOE agent and painter Brian Stonehouse, who saw Andree Borrel and the three other female SOE agents at the Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp just before their deaths, painted a poignant watercolor of the four women which now hangs in the Special Forces Clubin London, England.
In December 1941 her resistance group was uncovered and she fled to Lisbon, Portugal. There, she worked at the Free French Propaganda Office for a short time until April 1942 when she travelled to London. From General de Gaulle's Free French bureau she learned about the French Section of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) and immediately signed up.
On the night of 24 Sept 1942, Andree and fellow SOE agent, Lise de Baissac (Odile)became the first female agents to be parachuted into occupied France. They were flown in from RAF Tempsford. Andree dropped first. In the darkness, Baissac dropped near Poitiers while Andree dropped into a field near the village of Mer, not far from the Loire River and was picked up by members of a local resistance team.
Because of her intimate knowledge of Paris, Andree was sent there to work as a courier for the new Prosper network run by Francis Suttill. She made contact in Paris with Germaine and Madeleine Tambour. Suttill was impressed with her performance and in the spring of 1943 she was made second in command of the Paris network. While working in the Prosper network she took part in sabotage, especially raiding a power station, and supervising weapons drops.
Probably because of a traitor, in June 1943 several members of the Prosper network were arrested by the Gestapo on 23 Jun 1943, including network leader Francis Suttill and Andrée. She was interrogated in the Gestapo's Paris headquarters and then held in Fresnes prison. She remained there until May 1944 when, together with three other captured female SOE agents (Vera Leigh, Sonya Olschanezky and Diana Rowden), she was shipped to the Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp in the Vosges Mountains of Alsace.
On 6 Jul 1944, 24-year-old Andree and her three compatriots were given lethal injections of phenol, then incinerated in the camp's crematorium. Evidence collected immediately after the war by Squadron Officer Vera Atkins and Major Bill Barkworth of the SAS War Crimes investigation team (included in the Justice - SAS Style program in the television series Nazi Hunters), indicates that Andree regained consciousness before being placed in the cremation oven and fought to save her life, facially scarring the camp executioner who was placing her in the oven. However, she was unable to escape and was put into the flames while still alive. Both the doctor who administered the injection and the camp executioner were later executed by the Allies for war crimes.
In 1985, SOE agent and painter Brian Stonehouse, who saw Andree Borrel and the three other female SOE agents at the Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp just before their deaths, painted a poignant watercolor of the four women which now hangs in the Special Forces Clubin London, England.
No comments:
Post a Comment