Grace A. Poynter
Ms. Brandi Wallace
English 102
19 March 2019
The White Mouse
On September 15, 1942, Odette Marie Celine Sansom stared out of a Whitley bomber window and watched as another plane came straight for the aircraft (Loftis 28). The Whitley bomber fortunately did not blow up, and Odette boarded another plane only twelve days later (Loftis 28). While on that plane, waiting to begin their flight, word came that her contacts in France had been executed by the Gestapo, and she returned home (Loftis 28). One week later, she was attempting to board a plane but the weather stopped take-off (Loftis 28-29). By now, a regular woman would think that maybe this is a sign that she should stay home. But the woman referred to as “Lise,” a code name, persevered and climbed onto yet another aircraft, only for it to crash (Loftis 29; Starns 59). Finally, Major Maurice Buckmaster, head of Special Operation Executive (SOE), told Odette she was going to be transported to France by sea, saying “This country can’t afford to write off any more bombers on your behalf” (Loftis 31). This kind of determination and courage to keep boarding the plane is the kind of courage Odette needed to get her through the torture she later would have to endure by the Nazis. She earned the MBE, the George Cross, and the Legion of Honor for her bravery in Germany, all while being a mother and wife (“Odette Marie Celine Hallowes”). Through her life, Odette Sansom was a model representation of bravery, determination, and honor.
Odette’s patriotism and strength came to her from a young age. Her father, Gaston Brailly, volunteered for military service in the First World War when Odette was only two-years-old (Starns 14). His military career was ended shortly before the Armistice as he was shot while helping fellow soldiers on the field (Sansom). Though Odette was only six-years-old at the time of his death, she and her brother, Louis, were not allowed to forget what their father and other men had done for France (Starns 15-16). According to the biography by Penny Starns, “Odette: World War Two’s Most Darling Spy,” Odette recalls, “I was brought up with the image of my father who had been a very brave man. Every Sunday after church I was taken with my brother to his grave. My grandfather used to say, ‘In another twenty years there will be another war and it will be your duty, both of you, to do as well as your father did’” (Starns 16). She goes on to say that she was “not war minded, but the seed was there […]” (Starns 16). Louis seemed more likely to be the war hero of the family, because he “was strong, lively, outgoing and energetic, whereas Odette was an introverted, temperamental and somewhat sickly child” (Starns 17). Odette gave credit to her grandfather for building strength of her mind, explaining that he “did not suffer weaklings very easily” (Starns 17).
Poliomyelitis left Odette blind and temporarily paralyzed when she was seven-years-old, but this did not stop her grandparents from pushing her to be better than what her illness tried to make her be. Her grandmother “insisted on teaching her granddaughter to bake bread and clean the house […]” and her grandfather “studiously ignored her stubborn sullenness and frequent outbursts of rage” while getting her to play the piano (Starns 18). This fostered a sense of determination in Odette. Her mother, Yvonne, was in the search of finding a doctor and cure for Odette’s blindness, and finally found “an aged and eccentric local herbalist” who ultimately helped Odette’s eyesight improve (Starns 18-19). After two years, her vision was restored (Starns 19). As if Odette did not already grow up with enough sickness, she later had rheumatic fever and was stuck in bed for a whole summer (Starns 20). Once she was finally in decent health, she enjoyed spending time in nature and taking in all the sights that she did not get to see as a blind child (Starns 21). The determination was cultivated throughout her sick years and made her into a strong young woman.
Throughout her early adult life, Odette had concerns about the war. She married her first husband, an Englishman named Roy Sansom, at nineteen-years-old (“Odette Marie Celine Hallowes”). Shortly after, in 1932, the Sansoms moved to Kensington, London, with their daughter Francoise (Starns 24). They had two more daughters, Lily and Marianne, before the tensions of the Second World War really began. By June of 1940, Germans had taken Paris over and Odette was beginning to worry (Starns 28). In an interview for the Imperial War Museum, Sansom said, “I would like to be able to do some little thing, but I have got children, therefore it’s very limited what I can do” (Sansom). She even gave a family heirloom away to help the effort for the war, saying, “I sent my French coffee pot to be melted and that was that, I tried to forget about it all for a moment” (Starns 28). Odette and her daughters could not just forget about this nasty war, though, and when uncertainty and danger began to take its toll, she moved her family to Somerset. She kept herself busy there, using the daily chores to try to forget things such as her husband and brother fighting in the war. Odette and the girls settled into the country life after a short time, keeping account of the war through newspapers and radiobroadcasts (Starns 29-30). One day, while sorting her laundry, she overheard that members of the War Office were interested in discovering the details of the French coastline (Starns 31). Odette, who used to “immerse herself in the peace and tranquility of the coastal countryside,” did the duty for her country and sent pictures in but accidentally sent them to the wrong place (Starns 21; Sansom). This would forever change Odette’s life because the pictures she sent of France’s coast would ultimately bring her to the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) (Starns 35).
Odette had not planned on becoming so tangled with the war. She was called back for an interview in London with the recruiting officer for the F (France) section of the SOE, which she originally thought had something to do with a part-time job (Loftis 6; Sansom). Not only was Odette valuable to the SOE because she knew her home country of France and had adopted England as her home but also because she knew French, English, and German. The job did not appeal to Odette, though, because of her three daughters: “It’s not possible. It’s absolutely not possible” (Loftis 10). Odette recalled the London interview in which they suggested to her how useful women were in the war, and that they thought she would be useful too. She refused to believe her usefulness when she said “[…] you’ve got the wrong person. Certainly, you must be of a certain type to do this kind of job. I am not it! I haven’t got the brain for it, I haven’t got even the physical things that are necessary for the job” (Sansom). She believed herself to be a “simple, ordinary woman” who did not know the things needed to fight in a war (Sansom). Nevertheless, Odette had felt tormented about not making any efforts to help with the war and being in the safety of Somerset with her children (Sansom). The recruiting officer told her that she did not need to give him an answer immediately; however, Odette did not see the need to wait and told him, “Thank you for seeing me […] I think…I think I shall say ‘no’” (Loftis 11). She struggled with her decision, wondering what the future was going to be for the rest of the children if everyone had the same mindset as her (Loftis 11). She felt she had no excuse but to at least try the training, show that she was not the right fit, and then “try to find something else to do like knitting” (Loftis 11; Sansom).
Odette ultimately showed the SOE she was very capable of this job. She made living arrangements for her children in Britain and met with the head of SOE’s F Section, Major Maurice Buckmaster, who was shocked at the mention of her children and exclaimed, “Good God, you look like a child yourself!” (“War Heroes Honoured with [Pounds Sterling] 5 Million Gallery Exhibition; Loftis 12-13). The thirty-year-old woman was then told of the risks and how there was little the SOE could do to save her from the Gestapo if she got caught in one of the many lies she would have to tell (Loftis 13). When asked if she wanted to reconsider, Odette replied, “No. My mind is made up” (Loftis 14). “Celine,” her alias during training, was given “dignity of a unique privilege: a Frenchwoman who had been given the honor of representing England” (Loftis 14-15). While up to eighty percent of candidates for SOE would be disqualified after preliminary school, paramilitary school, parachute school, and finishing school, Odette succeeded (Loftis 16). At preliminary school, Odette was trained in weapons, field craft, and physical development, and moved on to paramilitary school to “expand all aspects of training” (Loftis 17-18). During finishing school at Beaulieu, Odette realized she was not as physically fit as she thought and also that her “methods of disabling” may not be great. The instructor asked what she would do if she were running from someone and they caught up to her, in which she replied, “[…] I would pinch him” and then “I’d pull his hair” (Loftis 18-19). The staff would evaluate what language she spoke if she talked in her sleep and how well she could keep her lies in order (Loftis 19-20). Finishing school was not necessarily easy for Odette, and by the time it was over, she was getting irritated by the “make-believe exercises” (Loftis 22).
The commandant of Beaulieu sent the final evaluation of Odette to Buckmaster, but it was not all nice things. The commandant wrote, “She is, however, impulsive and hasty in her judgments and has not quite the clarity of mind which is desirable […]. She is excitable and temperamental, although she has a certain determination” (Loftis 22). Buckmaster was torn but went with his instincts about this “born fighter,” and Odette continued the training (Loftis 22-23). After suffering a concussion and a badly sprained ankle at parachute training school, she used an “alternate form of insertion” to land in France (Loftis 24-25). Odette, operating under her code name, Lise, was put through all the tests necessary and finally made it to France by sea on November 2, 1942 (Loftis 26-34). With calmness almost like detachment, she was ready (Loftis 34). She met her contact in Cannes, Captain Peter Churchill, who instructed them to go to the temporary headquarters for SPINDLE, the code name for his circuit (Loftis 34-36). At SPINDLE, Churchill sent Odette on her first mission alone to Marseille, where she stayed overnight in a German brothel and was almost caught by German police (Starns 85-87).
Security was sparse for the SPINDLE team. While she was in Marseille, she was instructed by Churchill to bring money to a man named Marsac, the leader of the Marseille Resistance group (Starns 81). Odette was supposed to bring back a briefcase to Cannes, but they could not find the case (Starns 80). In November 1942, Marsac was on a train with this briefcase full of information about the SPINDLE group where he dozed off, and the case was gone (Loftis 55, 89). This irresponsible move clearly was a violation of rules and a very dangerous thing for the Odette, Peter, and another SPINDLE member Arnaud, “one of the best wireless operators in France” (Loftis 38). There were people she worked with that she did not trust, including a pilot named Carte with a lack of security (Loftis 60; Sansom). After a series of escapes, Peter made the decision to move his team to St. Jorioz, a village in the French Alps district bordering Switzerland and Italy (Loftis 80). This relocation of the SPINDLE team, plus a few more couriers, drew attention to the Italian Fascist secret police because of the sudden rise of residents (Loftis 84). In March 1943, the Germans finally acted on the names in Marsac’s briefcase (Loftis 88). They arrested and imprisoned so many agents from the list that it terminated a whole network (Loftis 89). Peter, called by London, was sent to headquarters for a debriefing on the situation and left Odette in charge (Loftis 89-90). Meanwhile, Marsac was arrested in Paris while meeting to replace the men on his team who had been arrested, but spy-catcher Sergeant Hugo Bleicher was on his trail (Loftis 50-54, 87-92). Marsac was arrested in Paris, and Bleicher falsely won his confidence during interrogations at Fresnes where they both began making “plans” of escaping.
Bleicher composed a strategy to trick Marsac into believing he was on his side. The German Sergeant finally asked for the names of his associates, tricking him into a scheme that would help their “escape plan” (Loftis 102). Marsac finally broke, giving him about twenty addresses of other groups (Loftis 102). Roger Bardet, a courier in the CARTE circuit, saw Marsac in Paris and reported to Odette that he was well, and that Colonel Henri, Bleicher’s alias, was trustworthy. After Henri met with her and said he was “disillusioned with the war,” a skeptical Odette sent a telegram to Peter in London, explaining that an “Abwehr officer by name Henri contacted me […] suggested if you provided Hudson he will release Marsac […] and then discuss means of ending war” (Loftis 104; Starns 102). London’s reply told her to not trust Henri and to end the operation in St. Jorioz, but she stayed there and waited for Peter’s return (Starns 103). When he returned, they both stayed another night instead of leaving as they were told to do, and were arrested by the Gestapo (Starns 104).
In the attempt to permanently destroy all of the spy networks, the German’s wanted to know where Odette’s other team members were, but she would not budge (Starns 113). When asked in an interview later if she had ever felt like breaking, she said “I am not brave, I am not courageous. I just make up my mind about certain things” (Sansom). When they were arrested, Odette told the police she and Peter were married, and that he was closely related to Winston Churchill ("Carve Their Names with Pride; Answers to Correspondents”). This plan seemed to work for Peter, who received a bit of special treatment from Henri (Loftis 126-135). Throughout her time with SPINDLE, Odette acted as Peter’s wife because it was less suspicious for couples to travel (Starns 99). Though it was just a ploy, Peter and Odette seemed to greatly admire each other. Peter referred to her sometimes as “an angry gazelle” and respected her feistiness (Loftis 49). As time passed with the two working so closely, they developed a giddy, childlike crush on each other. She was a source of encouragement for Peter, being optimistic and unrelenting (Loftis 81).
Odette’s less-than-conventional start in SOE was just a glimpse of what would be in store for her future against the Nazis. In Fresnes, she was in solitary, sentenced to death twice because she was a Frenchwoman and an Englishwoman (Sansom). She “behaved with fortitude when captured but lacked the showy bravado that we expect of a hero: the Germans nicknamed her the White Mouse” ("Review: Books: History: Everybody Loves a Good Villain…"). After a fire-iron was used to scorch her naked back, her torturers began pulling her toenails off one at a time (Loftis 148-149). When the physical torture did not work, Henri was sent to sweet talk Odette and trick her into breaking, but she still would not give in. Later, when Hitler committed suicide and the prisoners were released or executed, Odette made it back to England. When asked if separation from her children was the worst thing in captivity, she replied, “Yes, that was the only thing. The only thing” (Sansom).
Even though she went through starvation, physical and emotional torture, and other illnesses during her time in prison, Odette had no bitterness toward the Germans. Odette assessed the effects of her torture in an article by Andro Linklater, saying “I had no toenails for three years so I was walking very badly. I learned to walk on my heels to save my toes. In fact, when I came back to England, I could only wear a pair of men’s shoes” (Linklater). When asked how she felt toward her torturer, she answered “I felt he was a sick man, and I think all those people who were doing those things were mentally sick” (Sansom). She explained that she did not want revenge because “you discover if you think that way you are going to end up as they are” and then said, “Bitterness creates such terrible misery” (Sansom).
The “White Mouse’s” life was a picture of bravery and honor, though she never cared to let herself think she was either of those features. In 1946, she was awarded the George Cross – Britain’s second highest honor -- and her response to receiving this award reflects that aspect (“Odette Hallowes, 82, A British Agent Tortured by Nazis”). She was renting a cottage in a small town, relaxing with her girls for a few weeks during the summer, when a man knocked on the door one evening and explained that she had been awarded this medal. She said, “The George Cross. What’s that?” (Loftis 248). Overnight, she had become famous. When reporters asked her what she would be doing in the future, she replied, “I am going to stay home and do some knitting!” (Loftis 248). With childlike innocence, her daughter Marianne asked later that evening, “Mommy, is the George Cross the best you could do?” (Loftis 248). She was the second SOE agent and the first female to ever be awarded this honor, and she would later be honored with France’s Legion of Honor as well (Loftis 248; “Odette Hallowes, 82, A British Agent Tortured by Nazis”). Of World War II, she was the most highly decorated spy and woman (Loftis 265). Had Odette given up at the beginning of her journey when her planes didn't work out, she would not have been able to impact the war so greatly. However, her determination and strength pushed her to keep boarding the planes, and finally board the ship that would take her to a different life.
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