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Eliane Plewman

March 03, 2024

Éliane Sophie Plewman (6 December 1917 – 13 September 1944) was a British agent of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) and a member of the French Resistance working as a courier for the "MONK circuit" in occupied France during World War II. SOE's objective was to conduct espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance against the Axis Powers, especially Nazi Germany in occupied Europe and to aid local resistance movements. Plewman was captured by the Gestapo, and later executed by the SS in Dachau.

Eliane Plewman
Eliane Plewman
Birth nameEliane Sophie Browne-Bartroli
Nickname(s)Gaby, Dean, Madame Dupont
(SOE codenames)
Eliane Jacqueline Prunier
(SOE alias)
Born(1917-12-06)6 December 1917
Marseille, France
Died13 September 1944(1944-09-13) (aged 26)
Dachau concentration camp, Bavaria Nazi Germany
Buried
Brookwood Memorial
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service/branchSpecial Operations Executive
Years of service1943–1944
RankEnsign
Service numberF/23
UnitMonk (SOE)
Battles/warsSecond World War
AwardsKing's Commendation for Brave Conduct
Croix de Guerre 1939-1945 (France)

Pre-war life edit

Plewman was born Éliane Sophie Browne-Bartroli in Marseille, France. The daughter of Eugene Henry Browne-Bartroli, an English manufacturer based in France, and his Spanish wife Elisa Francesca (née Bartroli),[1] she was educated in England and in Spain at the British School in Madrid.

When she finished college she moved to Leicester to work for a clothing and fabric import/export company in Albion Street, using her language skills in English, French, Spanish and some Portuguese.[2]

World War II edit

 
Lt T. L. Plewman (l) with Bdr O. Seman, July 1944, Caen, Normandy.

After the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, Plewman worked for the Press Section of the British Embassies in Madrid and Lisbon until 1941. In 1942, she returned to Britain to work for the Spanish Press section of the Ministry of Information.[3]

On 28 July 1942, Plewman married Thomas Langford "Tom" Plewman (1911–2000) in Lutterworth, Leicestershire. Originally from Athy in County Kildare, Ireland, he had recently been commissioned as an officer in the Royal Artillery.[4][5] Their home was at 14 Queen's Gate Terrace, Leicester.

Special Operations Executive edit

In mid-February 1943, Plewman joined the Special Operations Executive (SOE) and was accepted on 25 February 1943 for training to serve as an "agent in the field". Plewman signed the Official Secrets Act on 29 March 1943 and a second time on 19 April 1943 (this time as second lieutenant Auxiliary Territorial Service) and commenced training at Wanborough Manor at the start of May 1943.[6][3] Despite her sylph-like figure and tiny frame – she was just over five feet tall – Plewman took the same training course near Inverness as the men did, showing determination in every exercise.[7] She learnt weapons handling, hand-to-hand combat, techniques for sabotage, clandestine survival, security, orientation, radio communications.[7] Plewman also learnt how to kill with – or without – a weapon, how to handle explosives and detonators, sabotage railway lines, blow up trains, take on a new identity, improvise answers to any question, invent a plausible past and cover story, including a likely occupation, without ever giving herself away or contradicting herself.[7] Plewman passed the psychological tests set for future agents by the various officers in charge of evaluating candidates, tests which assessed their determination and mental fortitude. Her trainers described her as "calm, efficient, and conscientious, and with admirable composure" and "a great asset to the gaiety of the party."[8]

 
The Handley Page Halifax B.II Special were used for SOE operations.

After two failed attempts on preceding nights due to bad weather, Plewman parachuted into France on the night of 13/14 August 1943 from a special duties Handley Page Halifax Mark II bomber of No. 161 Squadron RAF from an altitude of little over 1,000 feet, keeping low to avoid German radar.[9] Her cover name was "Eliane Jacqueline Prunier", her codenames were "Gaby" and "Dean", or sometimes "Madame Dupont".[10] Plewman worked for Captain Charles Milne Skepper (alias "Henri Truchot"), the organiser of SOE's Monk circuit, in which she was to be the courier in the area of Marseille, Roquebrune and St. Raphael, providing the communications link between groups of saboteurs and intelligence gathering agents, Monk's wireless operator Arthur Steele, and other involved groups.[11]

Major General Colin Gubbins Head of SOE wrote as a part of his recommendation for Plewman's gallantry award: "She was dropped in the Jura and was separated from her circuit for some time. Instead of remaining in hiding she showed outstanding initiative and made several contacts on her own which were later of great value to her circuit. For six months Plewman worked as a courier and her untiring devotion to duty and willingness to undergo any risk largely contributed to the successful establishment of her circuit. She travelled constantly maintaining liaison between the various groups, acting as guide to newly arriving agents and transporting wireless telegraphy equipment and compromising documents."[3]

At this time Plewman's older brother, Albert John Browne-Bartroli, was working as an SOE agent in a different part of France.[12][13] He survived the war and was awarded a Distinguished Service Order.[13][12] Browne-Bartroli (codename "Tiburce") had, after undergoing identical training, become head of SOE's Ditcher circuit, which was active in Bourgogne from October 1943 to September 1944, which he led until the Allies' final victory.[14] Tiburce received, on 14 July 1944, the biggest parachute drop of arms ever made to the maquis in daylight.[10]

Capture and imprisonment edit

Plewman's organiser Charles Skepper and several other people were arrested in Marseilles about 23 March 1944 when the Gestapo raided a safe house. The Germans left agents behind in the apartment to arrest any other agents who came to the house. The next day Plewman and wireless operator Arthur Steele came to the apartment. Plewman was regarded as impulsive by her colleagues and, despite suspicions that the safe house was compromised, she rang the doorbell. Two Germans opened the door and captured her. Plewman was taken to Gestapo headquarters. After being interrogated for three or four weeks, she was transferred to Fresnes Prison in Paris where seven other female SOE agents were also incarcerated. On 12 May 1944, the eight women were transported to Karlsruhe prison in Germany.[15]

Execution edit

During the night of 11 September 1944, the Gestapo collected Éliane Plewman, Yolande Beekman and Madeleine Damerment from the prison and drove them to Karlsruhe railway station in time to catch the early train to Munich. From there they caught a local train to Dachau and late in the evening walked to Dachau concentration camp arriving at about midnight. Between 0800 and 1000 hours the next morning, 13 September 1944, Plewman and three other SOE agents (Yolande Beekman, Madeleine Damerment and Noor Inayat Khan) were taken from their cell and forced to kneel in pairs before being executed by a single shot to the head by executioner Wilhelm Ruppert.[16][17][3][18][19]

A Gestapo man named Max Wassmer was in charge of prisoner transports at Karlsruhe and accompanied the women to Dachau.[20] Another Gestapo man named Christian Ott gave a statement to American investigators after the war as to the fate of Plewman and her three companions.[21] Ott was stationed at Karlsruhe and volunteered to accompany the four women to Dachau as he wanted to visit his family in Stuttgart on the return journey.[22] Though not present at the execution, Ott told investigators what Wassmer had told him.

 
Memorial to Plewman and fellow agents in Dachau

The four prisoners had come from the barrack in the camp, where they had spent the night, into the yard where the shooting was to be carried out. Here he [Wassmer] had announced the death sentence to them. Only the Lagerkommandant and the two SS men had been present. The German-speaking Englishwoman (the major) had told her companions of this death sentence. All four had grown very pale and wept; the major asked whether they could protest against the sentence. The Kommandant declared that no protest could be made against the sentence. The major had then asked to see a priest. The camp Kommandant refused this on the grounds that there was no priest in the camp.

The four prisoners now had to kneel with their heads towards a small mound of earth and were killed by the two SS, one after another by a shot through the back of the neck. During the shooting the two Englishwomen held hands and the two Frenchwomen likewise. For three of the prisoners, the first shot caused death, but for the German-speaking Englishwoman [Beekman] a second shot had to be fired as she still showed signs of life after the first shot.

After the shooting of these prisoners, the Lagerkommandant said to the two SS men that he took a personal interest in the jewellery of the women and that this should be taken into his office.[18]

 
Post-war request and report on the efforts to locate Éliane Plewman

This cannot be considered a reliable account as Ott told the investigator he had asked Wasser the following question after being told what had happened to the women: "But tell me, what really happened", to which Wasser replied: "So you want to know how it really happened?"[23]

Honours and awards edit

 
FANY (SOE) memorial, Brookwood Military Cemetery

Éliane Plewman is remembered on the Brookwood Memorial in Surrey (Panel 26 Column 3),[24][25] and the F Section Memorial, in Valençay, France.[25] In 1998 the Mayor of Marseille unveiled a plaque on 8, rue Mérentié to commemorate the place where Plewman, Charles Skepper and Arthur Steele, all Monk agents, were arrested by the Gestapo; and, in the 13th arondissement, a street was named in her honour.[26]

Major General Colin Gubbins recommended Éliane Plewman for an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) on 13 July 1945; however he was overruled, as the statutes of the award do not allow posthumous awards, and instead she was awarded the King's Commendation for Brave Conduct.[3]

       

Notes edit

Post-war investigations determined very clear evidence of the fate of the group of female British SOE agents and, unlike some of their colleagues, their families had detailed accounts of their time in captivity and of their deaths. Eliane Plewman's estate was settled on 25 April 1947.[28]

References edit

Citations edit

  1. ^ Birth Certificate (Consul General at Marseille), 10 December 1917 – Eliane Sophie
  2. ^ "Women's Transport Service". Leicester Mercury. Retrieved 10 September 2017.[permanent dead link]
  3. ^ a b c d e f SOE. "Eliane Sophie Plewman" [textual record]. HS 9 – Special Operations Executive: Personnel Files (PF Series), ID: HS 9/1195/1, pp. 1. Kew, UK: The National Archives.
  4. ^ "No. 35448". The London Gazette (Supplement). 6 February 1942. pp. 647–648.
  5. ^ "No. 38382". The London Gazette (Supplement). 5 August 1949. p. 3796.
  6. ^ "Wanborough Manor – SOE training school". johnowensmith.co.uk. Retrieved 10 September 2017.
  7. ^ a b c Contrucci, Jean; Virbel, Jacques. "8, rue Mérentié" (PDF). p. 4. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  8. ^ Vigurs 2021, p. 67.
  9. ^ Contrucci, Jean; Virbel, Jacques. "8, rue Mérentié" (PDF). p. 2. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  10. ^ a b Contrucci, Jean; Virbel, Jacques. "8, rue Mérentié" (PDF). pp. 3–4. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  11. ^ Contrucci, Jean; Virbel, Jacques. "8, rue Mérentié" (PDF). pp. 3–4, 22. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  12. ^ a b Foot 1966, pp. p.286.
  13. ^ a b "No. 37228". The London Gazette (Supplement). 14 August 1945. p. 4188.
  14. ^ Contrucci, Jean; Virbel, Jacques. "8, rue Mérentié" (PDF). p. 9. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  15. ^ Vigurs 2021, pp. 175–176.
  16. ^ Binney 2005, p. 275.
  17. ^ Foot 1966, p. 429.
  18. ^ a b Helm 2005, pp. 286–287.
  19. ^ Vigurs 2021, pp. 177–220.
  20. ^ Helm 2005, pp. 280.
  21. ^ Helm 2005, p. 283.
  22. ^ Helm 2005, pp. 284.
  23. ^ Helm 2005, pp. 344.
  24. ^ . Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Archived from the original on 5 September 2017. Retrieved 9 September 2017.
  25. ^ a b "Plewman, Eliane Sophie - TracesOfWar.com". www.tracesofwar.com. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  26. ^ "Des noms emblématiques pour les rues de Marseille". LaProvence.com (in French). 17 October 2016. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  27. ^ "No. 37693". The London Gazette (Supplement). 16 August 1946. p. 4176.
  28. ^ "No. 37887". The London Gazette. 21 February 1947. p. 913.

Bibliography edit

Further reading edit

  • Aubrac, Raymond; Aubrac, Lucie (2014). The French Resistance. France: Hazan Editeur. ISBN 978-2850255670. Overview of the French Resistance.
  • Binney, Marucs (1995). The Women Who Lived for Danger: The Women Agents of SOE in the Second World War. London, UK: Hodder and Stoughton. ISBN 0-340-81840-9. Focus on the four female SOE agents (Borrel, Leigh, Olschanezky and Rowden) executed in the Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp.
  • Bourne-Patterson, Robert (2016). SOE in France 1941-1945: An Official Account of the Special Operations Executive's French Circuits. Barnsley, UK: Frontline Books. ISBN 978-1-4738-8203-4. A once classified report compiled in 1946 by a former member of SOE's F Section, Major Robert Bourne-Patterson, who was a planning officer.
  • Buckmaster, Maurice (2014). They Fought Alone: The True Story of SOE's Agents in Wartime France. Biteback Publishing. ISBN 978-1849-5469-28. Buckmaster was the head of SOE's F Section, who infamously ignored security checks by captured SOE wireless operators that indicated their capture, resulting in agents being captured and executed.
  • Crowdy, Terry (2007). French Resistance Fighter: France's Secret Army. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84603-076-5. Comprehensive coverage of the French Resistance.
  • Escott, Beryl (1992). A Quiet Courage: The story of SOE's women agents in France. Sparkford, UK: Patrick Stevens Ltd (Haynes). ISBN 978-1-8526-0289-5.
  • Foot, M.R.D. (1999). The Special Operations Executive 1940–1946. London, UK: Pimlico. ISBN 0-7126-6585-4. Overview of SOE (Foot won the Croix de Guerre as a SAS operative in Brittany, later becoming Professor of Modern History at Manchester University and an official historian of the SOE).
  • Grehan, John; Mace, Martin (2012). Unearthing Churchill's Secret Army: The Official List of SOE Casualties and Their Stories. Pen and Sword. ISBN 978-1848847941. Detailed look at SOE casualties and selected stories that are representative of the experience of SOE personnel.
  • Howarth, Patrick (1980). Undercover: Men and Women of the Special Operations Executive. Abingdon, UK: Routledge. ISBN 978-0710005731.
  • Marshall, Bruce (2000). The White Rabbit: The Secret Agent the Gestapo Could Not Crack. London, UK: Cassell. ISBN 978-2280022071.
  • McDonald-Rothwell, Gabrielle (2017). Her Finest Hour. Stroud, UK: John Murray. ISBN 978-1445661643. The second and most recent biography of Rowden.
  • Milton, Giles (2016). Churchill's Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare. London, UK: Amberley Publishing. ISBN 978-1-444-79898-2. A thorough overview of SOE.
  • Nicholas, Elizabeth (1958). Death Be Not Proud. London, UK: Cresset Press. ASIN B0006D98MW. The first biography of Rowden.
  • O'Conner, Bernard (2014). Churchill's Angels. Stroud, UK: Amberley Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4456-3431-9. Overview of the scores of female SOE agents sent into occupied Europe during WW2 including Borrel.
  • Ousby, Ian (2000) [1999]. Occupation: The Ordeal of France, 1940–1944. New York City: Cooper Square Press. ISBN 978-0815410430. Comprehensive coverage of the German occupation of France.
  • Sebba, Anne (2016). Les Parisiennes: How the Women of Paris Lived, Loved, and Died Under Nazi Occupation. New York City: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 978-1250048592. Look at the lives of women in Paris during WW2.
  • Stevenson, William (2006). Spymistress: The Life of Vera Atkins, the Greatest Female Secret Agent of World War II. New York City: Arcade Publishing. ISBN 978-1-5597-0763-3. Overview of Atkins' activity at SOE (served as Buckmaster's intelligence officer in the F Section).
  • Suttill, Francs J. (2014). Shadows in the Fog: The True Story of Major Suttill and the Prosper French Resistance Network. Stroud, UK: The History Press. ISBN 978-0-7509-5591-1. Written by the son of Major Francis Suttill, the Prosper network chief executed by the Nazis in 1945.
  • Stroud, Rick (2017). Lonely Courage: The true story of the SOE heroines who fought to free Nazi-Occupied France. New York City: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-14711-5565-9. Documents the activities of female SOE agents in France including Borrel.
  • Thomas, Gordon; Lewis, Greg (2016). Shadow Warriors: Daring Missions of World War II by Women of the OSS and SOE. Stroud, UK: Amberley Publishing. ISBN 978-1445-6614-45. Documents the activities of female OSS and SOE agents in France including Borrel.
  • Verity, Hugh (2000). We Landed By Moonlight: The Secret RAF landings in France 1940-1944. Manchester, UK: Crécy. ISBN 0947554-75-0. Documents RAF small aircraft landings in France during WW2 (author was one of the pilots).
  • West, Nigel (1992). Secret War: The Story of SOE, Britain's Wartime Sabotage Organization. London, UK: Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 0-34-051870-7. Overview of SOE activities.
  • Yarnold, Patrick (2009). Wanborough Manor: School for secret agents. Hopfield Publications. ISBN 978-0956348906.

External links edit

  • Spartacus Educational about Eliane Plewman
  • Directory of SOE agents, biographical sketch of Eliane Plewman
  • The story of the "Monk" network and the capture of its agents

March 03, 2024
eliane, plewman, Éliane, sophie, plewman, december, 1917, september, 1944, british, agent, special, operations, executive, member, french, resistance, working, courier, monk, circuit, occupied, france, during, world, objective, conduct, espionage, sabotage, re. Eliane Sophie Plewman 6 December 1917 13 September 1944 was a British agent of the Special Operations Executive SOE and a member of the French Resistance working as a courier for the MONK circuit in occupied France during World War II SOE s objective was to conduct espionage sabotage and reconnaissance against the Axis Powers especially Nazi Germany in occupied Europe and to aid local resistance movements Plewman was captured by the Gestapo and later executed by the SS in Dachau Eliane PlewmanEliane PlewmanBirth nameEliane Sophie Browne BartroliNickname s Gaby Dean Madame Dupont SOE codenames Eliane Jacqueline Prunier SOE alias Born 1917 12 06 6 December 1917Marseille FranceDied13 September 1944 1944 09 13 aged 26 Dachau concentration camp Bavaria Nazi GermanyBuriedBrookwood MemorialAllegianceUnited KingdomService wbr branchSpecial Operations ExecutiveYears of service1943 1944RankEnsignService numberF 23UnitMonk SOE Battles warsSecond World WarAwardsKing s Commendation for Brave ConductCroix de Guerre 1939 1945 France Contents 1 Pre war life 2 World War II 2 1 Special Operations Executive 3 Capture and imprisonment 4 Execution 5 Honours and awards 6 Notes 7 References 7 1 Citations 7 2 Bibliography 8 Further reading 9 External linksPre war life editPlewman was born Eliane Sophie Browne Bartroli in Marseille France The daughter of Eugene Henry Browne Bartroli an English manufacturer based in France and his Spanish wife Elisa Francesca nee Bartroli 1 she was educated in England and in Spain at the British School in Madrid When she finished college she moved to Leicester to work for a clothing and fabric import export company in Albion Street using her language skills in English French Spanish and some Portuguese 2 World War II edit nbsp Lt T L Plewman l with Bdr O Seman July 1944 Caen Normandy After the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 Plewman worked for the Press Section of the British Embassies in Madrid and Lisbon until 1941 In 1942 she returned to Britain to work for the Spanish Press section of the Ministry of Information 3 On 28 July 1942 Plewman married Thomas Langford Tom Plewman 1911 2000 in Lutterworth Leicestershire Originally from Athy in County Kildare Ireland he had recently been commissioned as an officer in the Royal Artillery 4 5 Their home was at 14 Queen s Gate Terrace Leicester Special Operations Executive edit In mid February 1943 Plewman joined the Special Operations Executive SOE and was accepted on 25 February 1943 for training to serve as an agent in the field Plewman signed the Official Secrets Act on 29 March 1943 and a second time on 19 April 1943 this time as second lieutenant Auxiliary Territorial Service and commenced training at Wanborough Manor at the start of May 1943 6 3 Despite her sylph like figure and tiny frame she was just over five feet tall Plewman took the same training course near Inverness as the men did showing determination in every exercise 7 She learnt weapons handling hand to hand combat techniques for sabotage clandestine survival security orientation radio communications 7 Plewman also learnt how to kill with or without a weapon how to handle explosives and detonators sabotage railway lines blow up trains take on a new identity improvise answers to any question invent a plausible past and cover story including a likely occupation without ever giving herself away or contradicting herself 7 Plewman passed the psychological tests set for future agents by the various officers in charge of evaluating candidates tests which assessed their determination and mental fortitude Her trainers described her as calm efficient and conscientious and with admirable composure and a great asset to the gaiety of the party 8 nbsp The Handley Page Halifax B II Special were used for SOE operations After two failed attempts on preceding nights due to bad weather Plewman parachuted into France on the night of 13 14 August 1943 from a special duties Handley Page Halifax Mark II bomber of No 161 Squadron RAF from an altitude of little over 1 000 feet keeping low to avoid German radar 9 Her cover name was Eliane Jacqueline Prunier her codenames were Gaby and Dean or sometimes Madame Dupont 10 Plewman worked for Captain Charles Milne Skepper alias Henri Truchot the organiser of SOE s Monk circuit in which she was to be the courier in the area of Marseille Roquebrune and St Raphael providing the communications link between groups of saboteurs and intelligence gathering agents Monk s wireless operator Arthur Steele and other involved groups 11 Major General Colin Gubbins Head of SOE wrote as a part of his recommendation for Plewman s gallantry award She was dropped in the Jura and was separated from her circuit for some time Instead of remaining in hiding she showed outstanding initiative and made several contacts on her own which were later of great value to her circuit For six months Plewman worked as a courier and her untiring devotion to duty and willingness to undergo any risk largely contributed to the successful establishment of her circuit She travelled constantly maintaining liaison between the various groups acting as guide to newly arriving agents and transporting wireless telegraphy equipment and compromising documents 3 At this time Plewman s older brother Albert John Browne Bartroli was working as an SOE agent in a different part of France 12 13 He survived the war and was awarded a Distinguished Service Order 13 12 Browne Bartroli codename Tiburce had after undergoing identical training become head of SOE s Ditcher circuit which was active in Bourgogne from October 1943 to September 1944 which he led until the Allies final victory 14 Tiburce received on 14 July 1944 the biggest parachute drop of arms ever made to the maquis in daylight 10 Capture and imprisonment editPlewman s organiser Charles Skepper and several other people were arrested in Marseilles about 23 March 1944 when the Gestapo raided a safe house The Germans left agents behind in the apartment to arrest any other agents who came to the house The next day Plewman and wireless operator Arthur Steele came to the apartment Plewman was regarded as impulsive by her colleagues and despite suspicions that the safe house was compromised she rang the doorbell Two Germans opened the door and captured her Plewman was taken to Gestapo headquarters After being interrogated for three or four weeks she was transferred to Fresnes Prison in Paris where seven other female SOE agents were also incarcerated On 12 May 1944 the eight women were transported to Karlsruhe prison in Germany 15 Execution editDuring the night of 11 September 1944 the Gestapo collected Eliane Plewman Yolande Beekman and Madeleine Damerment from the prison and drove them to Karlsruhe railway station in time to catch the early train to Munich From there they caught a local train to Dachau and late in the evening walked to Dachau concentration camp arriving at about midnight Between 0800 and 1000 hours the next morning 13 September 1944 Plewman and three other SOE agents Yolande Beekman Madeleine Damerment and Noor Inayat Khan were taken from their cell and forced to kneel in pairs before being executed by a single shot to the head by executioner Wilhelm Ruppert 16 17 3 18 19 A Gestapo man named Max Wassmer was in charge of prisoner transports at Karlsruhe and accompanied the women to Dachau 20 Another Gestapo man named Christian Ott gave a statement to American investigators after the war as to the fate of Plewman and her three companions 21 Ott was stationed at Karlsruhe and volunteered to accompany the four women to Dachau as he wanted to visit his family in Stuttgart on the return journey 22 Though not present at the execution Ott told investigators what Wassmer had told him nbsp Memorial to Plewman and fellow agents in DachauThe four prisoners had come from the barrack in the camp where they had spent the night into the yard where the shooting was to be carried out Here he Wassmer had announced the death sentence to them Only the Lagerkommandant and the two SS men had been present The German speaking Englishwoman the major had told her companions of this death sentence All four had grown very pale and wept the major asked whether they could protest against the sentence The Kommandant declared that no protest could be made against the sentence The major had then asked to see a priest The camp Kommandant refused this on the grounds that there was no priest in the camp The four prisoners now had to kneel with their heads towards a small mound of earth and were killed by the two SS one after another by a shot through the back of the neck During the shooting the two Englishwomen held hands and the two Frenchwomen likewise For three of the prisoners the first shot caused death but for the German speaking Englishwoman Beekman a second shot had to be fired as she still showed signs of life after the first shot After the shooting of these prisoners the Lagerkommandant said to the two SS men that he took a personal interest in the jewellery of the women and that this should be taken into his office 18 nbsp Post war request and report on the efforts to locate Eliane PlewmanThis cannot be considered a reliable account as Ott told the investigator he had asked Wasser the following question after being told what had happened to the women But tell me what really happened to which Wasser replied So you want to know how it really happened 23 Honours and awards edit nbsp FANY SOE memorial Brookwood Military CemeteryEliane Plewman is remembered on the Brookwood Memorial in Surrey Panel 26 Column 3 24 25 and the F Section Memorial in Valencay France 25 In 1998 the Mayor of Marseille unveiled a plaque on 8 rue Merentie to commemorate the place where Plewman Charles Skepper and Arthur Steele all Monk agents were arrested by the Gestapo and in the 13th arondissement a street was named in her honour 26 King s Commendation for Brave Conduct awarded posthumously in the London Gazette 20 August 1946 For services in France during the enemy occupation 27 Croix de Guerre 1939 1945 with bronze star France on 16 January 1946 3 Major General Colin Gubbins recommended Eliane Plewman for an MBE Member of the Order of the British Empire on 13 July 1945 however he was overruled as the statutes of the award do not allow posthumous awards and instead she was awarded the King s Commendation for Brave Conduct 3 nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 1939 1945 Star France and Germany Star War Medal with King s Commendation for Brave Conduct Croix de Guerre France Notes editPost war investigations determined very clear evidence of the fate of the group of female British SOE agents and unlike some of their colleagues their families had detailed accounts of their time in captivity and of their deaths Eliane Plewman s estate was settled on 25 April 1947 28 References editCitations edit Birth Certificate Consul General at Marseille 10 December 1917 Eliane Sophie Women s Transport Service Leicester Mercury Retrieved 10 September 2017 permanent dead link a b c d e f SOE Eliane Sophie Plewman textual record HS 9 Special Operations Executive Personnel Files PF Series ID HS 9 1195 1 pp 1 Kew UK The National Archives No 35448 The London Gazette Supplement 6 February 1942 pp 647 648 No 38382 The London Gazette Supplement 5 August 1949 p 3796 Wanborough Manor SOE training school johnowensmith co uk Retrieved 10 September 2017 a b c Contrucci Jean Virbel Jacques 8 rue Merentie PDF p 4 Retrieved 11 September 2017 Vigurs 2021 p 67 Contrucci Jean Virbel Jacques 8 rue Merentie PDF p 2 Retrieved 11 September 2017 a b Contrucci Jean Virbel Jacques 8 rue Merentie PDF pp 3 4 Retrieved 11 September 2017 Contrucci Jean Virbel Jacques 8 rue Merentie PDF pp 3 4 22 Retrieved 11 September 2017 a b Foot 1966 pp p 286 a b No 37228 The London Gazette Supplement 14 August 1945 p 4188 Contrucci Jean Virbel Jacques 8 rue Merentie PDF p 9 Retrieved 11 September 2017 Vigurs 2021 pp 175 176 Binney 2005 p 275 Foot 1966 p 429 a b Helm 2005 pp 286 287 Vigurs 2021 pp 177 220 Helm 2005 pp 280 Helm 2005 p 283 Helm 2005 pp 284 Helm 2005 pp 344 Ensign E S Plewman Commonwealth War Graves Commission Archived from the original on 5 September 2017 Retrieved 9 September 2017 a b Plewman Eliane Sophie TracesOfWar com www tracesofwar com Retrieved 25 January 2022 Des noms emblematiques pour les rues de Marseille LaProvence com in French 17 October 2016 Retrieved 25 January 2022 No 37693 The London Gazette Supplement 16 August 1946 p 4176 No 37887 The London Gazette 21 February 1947 p 913 Bibliography edit Binney Marcus 2005 Secret War Heroes Hodder ISBN 0 340829109 Foot M R D 1966 SOE in France Her Majesty s Stationery Office ASIN B0006D68X4 Helm Sarah 2005 A Life in Secrets Vera Atkins and the Missing Agents of WWII New York City Anchor Books ISBN 978 1 4000 3140 5 Vigurs Kate 2021 Mission France The True History of the Women of SOE Yale University Press ISBN 978 0 300 20857 3 Overview of the 39 female SOE agents Further reading editAubrac Raymond Aubrac Lucie 2014 The French Resistance France Hazan Editeur ISBN 978 2850255670 Overview of the French Resistance Binney Marucs 1995 The Women Who Lived for Danger The Women Agents of SOE in the Second World War London UK Hodder and Stoughton ISBN 0 340 81840 9 Focus on the four female SOE agents Borrel Leigh Olschanezky and Rowden executed in the Natzweiler Struthof concentration camp Bourne Patterson Robert 2016 SOE in France 1941 1945 An Official Account of the Special Operations Executive s French Circuits Barnsley UK Frontline Books ISBN 978 1 4738 8203 4 A once classified report compiled in 1946 by a former member of SOE s F Section Major Robert Bourne Patterson who was a planning officer Buckmaster Maurice 2014 They Fought Alone The True Story of SOE s Agents in Wartime France Biteback Publishing ISBN 978 1849 5469 28 Buckmaster was the head of SOE s F Section who infamously ignored security checks by captured SOE wireless operators that indicated their capture resulting in agents being captured and executed Crowdy Terry 2007 French Resistance Fighter France s Secret Army Oxford UK Osprey Publishing ISBN 978 1 84603 076 5 Comprehensive coverage of the French Resistance Escott Beryl 1992 A Quiet Courage The story of SOE s women agents in France Sparkford UK Patrick Stevens Ltd Haynes ISBN 978 1 8526 0289 5 Foot M R D 1999 The Special Operations Executive 1940 1946 London UK Pimlico ISBN 0 7126 6585 4 Overview of SOE Foot won theCroix de Guerreas a SAS operative in Brittany later becoming Professor of Modern History at Manchester University and an official historian of the SOE Grehan John Mace Martin 2012 Unearthing Churchill s Secret Army The Official List of SOE Casualties and Their Stories Pen and Sword ISBN 978 1848847941 Detailed look at SOE casualties and selected stories that are representative of the experience of SOE personnel Howarth Patrick 1980 Undercover Men and Women of the Special Operations Executive Abingdon UK Routledge ISBN 978 0710005731 Marshall Bruce 2000 The White Rabbit The Secret Agent the Gestapo Could Not Crack London UK Cassell ISBN 978 2280022071 McDonald Rothwell Gabrielle 2017 Her Finest Hour Stroud UK John Murray ISBN 978 1445661643 The second and most recent biography of Rowden Milton Giles 2016 Churchill s Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare London UK Amberley Publishing ISBN 978 1 444 79898 2 A thorough overview of SOE Nicholas Elizabeth 1958 Death Be Not Proud London UK Cresset Press ASIN B0006D98MW The first biography of Rowden O Conner Bernard 2014 Churchill s Angels Stroud UK Amberley Publishing ISBN 978 1 4456 3431 9 Overview of the scores of female SOE agents sent into occupied Europe during WW2 including Borrel Ousby Ian 2000 1999 Occupation The Ordeal of France 1940 1944 New York City Cooper Square Press ISBN 978 0815410430 Comprehensive coverage of the German occupation of France Sebba Anne 2016 Les Parisiennes How the Women of Paris Lived Loved and Died Under Nazi Occupation New York City St Martin s Press ISBN 978 1250048592 Look at the lives of women in Paris during WW2 Stevenson William 2006 Spymistress The Life of Vera Atkins the Greatest Female Secret Agent of World War II New York City Arcade Publishing ISBN 978 1 5597 0763 3 Overview of Atkins activity at SOE served as Buckmaster s intelligence officer in the F Section Suttill Francs J 2014 Shadows in the Fog The True Story of Major Suttill and the Prosper French Resistance Network Stroud UK The History Press ISBN 978 0 7509 5591 1 Written by the son of Major Francis Suttill the Prosper network chief executed by the Nazis in 1945 Stroud Rick 2017 Lonely Courage The true story of the SOE heroines who fought to free Nazi Occupied France New York City Simon amp Schuster ISBN 978 14711 5565 9 Documents the activities of female SOE agents in France including Borrel Thomas Gordon Lewis Greg 2016 Shadow Warriors Daring Missions of World War II by Women of the OSS and SOE Stroud UK Amberley Publishing ISBN 978 1445 6614 45 Documents the activities of female OSS and SOE agents in France including Borrel Verity Hugh 2000 We Landed By Moonlight The Secret RAF landings in France 1940 1944 Manchester UK Crecy ISBN 0947554 75 0 Documents RAF small aircraft landings in France during WW2 author was one of the pilots West Nigel 1992 Secret War The Story of SOE Britain s Wartime Sabotage Organization London UK Hodder amp Stoughton ISBN 0 34 051870 7 Overview of SOE activities Yarnold Patrick 2009 Wanborough Manor School for secret agents Hopfield Publications ISBN 978 0956348906 External links editSpartacus Educational about Eliane Plewman Directory of SOE agents biographical sketch of Eliane Plewman The story of the Monk network and the capture of its agents Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Eliane Plewman amp oldid 1175469643, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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