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Lonely Courage: The true story of the SOE heroines who fought to free Nazi-occupied France
‘A fascinating, superbly researched and revelatory book – told with tremendous pace and excitement’ William Boyd
‘Rick Stroud writes brilliantly about war … an astonishing book … a wonderful story’ Ben Macintyre
'Enthralling, edge-of-smart exciting and also heart-breaking...Stroud's book is a reminder and fitting testimony to their immense bravery' James Holland
On 18 June 1940 General de Gaulle broadcast from London to his countrymen in France about the catastrophe that had overtaken their nation – the victory of the invading Germans. He ‘The flame of French Resistance must not and will not be extinguished.' The Resistance began almost immediately. At first it was made up of small, disorganised groups working in isolation. But by the time of the liberation in 1944 around 400,000 French citizens, nearly 2 per cent of the population, were involved.
The Special Operations Executive (SOE) set up by Winston Churchill in 1941 saw its role in France as helping the Resistance by recruiting and organising guerrilla fighters; supplying and training them; and then disrupting the invaders by any means necessary. The aim of this work was to prepare for the invasion of Europe by Allied forces and the eventual liberation of France. It was soon decided that women would play a vital role.
There were 39 female agents recruited from all walks of life, ranging from a London shop assistant to a Polish aristocrat. They all knew France well, were fluent in French and were prepared to sacrifice everything. The women trained alongside the men, learning how to disappear into the background, how to operate a radio transmitter and how to kill a man with their bare hands. Once trained, they were infiltrated behind the lines; some went on to lead thousands of Resistance fighters, while others were arrested, brutally interrogated and sent to concentration camps.
Lonely Courage tells their remarkable story and sheds new light on what life was really like for these brave women.
‘Rick Stroud writes brilliantly about war … an astonishing book … a wonderful story’ Ben Macintyre
'Enthralling, edge-of-smart exciting and also heart-breaking...Stroud's book is a reminder and fitting testimony to their immense bravery' James Holland
On 18 June 1940 General de Gaulle broadcast from London to his countrymen in France about the catastrophe that had overtaken their nation – the victory of the invading Germans. He ‘The flame of French Resistance must not and will not be extinguished.' The Resistance began almost immediately. At first it was made up of small, disorganised groups working in isolation. But by the time of the liberation in 1944 around 400,000 French citizens, nearly 2 per cent of the population, were involved.
The Special Operations Executive (SOE) set up by Winston Churchill in 1941 saw its role in France as helping the Resistance by recruiting and organising guerrilla fighters; supplying and training them; and then disrupting the invaders by any means necessary. The aim of this work was to prepare for the invasion of Europe by Allied forces and the eventual liberation of France. It was soon decided that women would play a vital role.
There were 39 female agents recruited from all walks of life, ranging from a London shop assistant to a Polish aristocrat. They all knew France well, were fluent in French and were prepared to sacrifice everything. The women trained alongside the men, learning how to disappear into the background, how to operate a radio transmitter and how to kill a man with their bare hands. Once trained, they were infiltrated behind the lines; some went on to lead thousands of Resistance fighters, while others were arrested, brutally interrogated and sent to concentration camps.
Lonely Courage tells their remarkable story and sheds new light on what life was really like for these brave women.
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First published February 23, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews
October 6, 2017
An unfortunate creation. The subject matter is fascinating and the stories of the women spies in the SOE are simply amazing - this book is just poorly constructed (sticking to timelines rather than characters, never allowing a narrative to develop), poorly written and inclusive of too many asides of aspects of WW2 not germane to the central story. I'd love to read a book about this subject matter that is better written.
August 27, 2019
In ‘Lonely Courage’ historian Rick Stroud is prepared to go direct to the heart of the contradiction that is SOE, and to make abundantly clear, where other authors have only hinted, in showing that SOE was compromised at the highest level, and unwittingly penetrated, largely on account of the witless charm of old school operators like Maurice Buckmaster and Nicolas Bodington, whose clubbable and easy manner prevailed in the recruitment and organisation as well as operations, conducted from Baker Street. 'Own goals' are made apparent. The reader, at last, can judge the evidence for himself.
I’m sure the families of the SOE operatives in the field will read with considerable dismay, frustration and anger, at the ineptitude, and almost cavalier disregard for good practice and following the protocols that they, the architects of the organisation, had introduced themselves at the beginning of their operation.
And for those who have read other excellent biographies, like Sarah Helm’s exemplary study of Vera Atkins, there has always been a suggestion of a mole at the heart of SOE. But less a mole and more staggering incompetence, led to networks being blown. I am even more convinced having read this excellent work that it was the old school tie, reliance on subjective judgements rather than empirical evidence, that allowed such self promoting ‘jack the lad’ entrepreneurial types as the double-agent, Henri Dericourt, to become entrenched in SOE’s F Section operations. Incredibly this double dealer was trusted with managing all outward flight details of outgoing SOE agents and the repatriation of other agents and airmen back home to England.
Rick Stroud proves beyond doubt that British Intelligence was outwitted by the German counterparts. In the Abwehr Hugo Bleicher, and in the SS Karl Bomelburg & Hans Kieffer, were much more adept at espionage. Buckmaster’s appalling insouciance is apparent with his almost cavalier disregard of Gilbert Norman’s heart breaking subtlety, in notifying London of deep penetration by deliberately not including his safety codes, only to be fobbed off with a curt rejoinder, ‘ You have forgotten your double security check. Be more careful in future.’
Networks were blown and Resistants were rounded up, tortured and shot, and still brave young women completed their training and proceeded to be dropped into France and arrested almost immediately and imprisoned. The author acknowledges these tragic stories only came to light thanks to the dogged detective work of Vera Atkins, who had in large part chosen the young women, and sent them on their missions in the first place, and her determination, from 1944 onwards to find out what happened to them.
The sections involving the tragic story of Noor Khan, and her betrayal and capture, followed by callous solitary confinement, and finally her brutal murder, are almost impossible to read, such is the poignant honesty of the writing. The author presents a taught over-arching narrative, that shows conclusively the despicable inhumanity of the German Intelligence organisation, and the abominable and sadistic treatment of these brave SOE women.
A superb book, based upon extensive reading and detailed research, makes this in many ways a ‘definitive’ and conclusive, if disappointing assessment of the effectiveness, or otherwise, of SOE.
As James Holland sums up the book, ‘Enthralling and also heartbreaking.’
I’m sure the families of the SOE operatives in the field will read with considerable dismay, frustration and anger, at the ineptitude, and almost cavalier disregard for good practice and following the protocols that they, the architects of the organisation, had introduced themselves at the beginning of their operation.
And for those who have read other excellent biographies, like Sarah Helm’s exemplary study of Vera Atkins, there has always been a suggestion of a mole at the heart of SOE. But less a mole and more staggering incompetence, led to networks being blown. I am even more convinced having read this excellent work that it was the old school tie, reliance on subjective judgements rather than empirical evidence, that allowed such self promoting ‘jack the lad’ entrepreneurial types as the double-agent, Henri Dericourt, to become entrenched in SOE’s F Section operations. Incredibly this double dealer was trusted with managing all outward flight details of outgoing SOE agents and the repatriation of other agents and airmen back home to England.
Rick Stroud proves beyond doubt that British Intelligence was outwitted by the German counterparts. In the Abwehr Hugo Bleicher, and in the SS Karl Bomelburg & Hans Kieffer, were much more adept at espionage. Buckmaster’s appalling insouciance is apparent with his almost cavalier disregard of Gilbert Norman’s heart breaking subtlety, in notifying London of deep penetration by deliberately not including his safety codes, only to be fobbed off with a curt rejoinder, ‘ You have forgotten your double security check. Be more careful in future.’
Networks were blown and Resistants were rounded up, tortured and shot, and still brave young women completed their training and proceeded to be dropped into France and arrested almost immediately and imprisoned. The author acknowledges these tragic stories only came to light thanks to the dogged detective work of Vera Atkins, who had in large part chosen the young women, and sent them on their missions in the first place, and her determination, from 1944 onwards to find out what happened to them.
The sections involving the tragic story of Noor Khan, and her betrayal and capture, followed by callous solitary confinement, and finally her brutal murder, are almost impossible to read, such is the poignant honesty of the writing. The author presents a taught over-arching narrative, that shows conclusively the despicable inhumanity of the German Intelligence organisation, and the abominable and sadistic treatment of these brave SOE women.
A superb book, based upon extensive reading and detailed research, makes this in many ways a ‘definitive’ and conclusive, if disappointing assessment of the effectiveness, or otherwise, of SOE.
As James Holland sums up the book, ‘Enthralling and also heartbreaking.’
June 29, 2017
My husband has been reading several books about the British spies sent into France during WW2 and as this has been his main topic of conversation for a while (!) and he’s done a good job of making his enthusiasm contagious I got this out from the library. It’s an overview of several SOE agents working in France and though it’s very well written and researched it perhaps takes on too much material. Because the narrative jumps from one individual to another I never quite felt a connection with any of them. That said it’s a heartbreaking story, tracking the many young women from their exuberant days at training schools in England to their horrible deaths in the Nazi concentration camps. It’s astounding how brave these women were and also how incompetently let down they often were by their superiors in London. On a side note, a detail that shocked me was that De Gaulle’s spy network in London tortured a French Resistance fighter because they were annoyed he had been working for the British. Hard to imagine what this man felt, having fought the Germans and then subjected to brutal torture by his fellow countrymen who were on the same side.
3.5 stars.
3.5 stars.
May 8, 2020
The courage of these women was astonishing and their stories deserve to be told. However, I found the style of this book quite hard work - it's not one you can dip into and read a few pages, you have to really go for it as there are so many people in it if you don't read it in huge chunks then you forget who all the people are. This impaired the book's enjoyment for me (but no doubt others will not be affected). The fact that it states that George V was the King at the time of WWII I found disappointing - surely this should have been picked up by proof-readers? It made me wonder how many other inaccuracies there were. I really wanted to like this book more than I did.
July 23, 2018
Well researched and nicely written. The book takes a chronological view of pre-war and then to the end of the war, and weaves in the stories of some of these remarkable women along the timeline.
Personally I found this a distracting and fragmented approach. I would probably have found it better if it had concentrated on each of the women in turn. I suppose maybe he though that had been done in earlier biographies, and this was his new ‘spin’ on matters.
I was horrified by some of the things the nazis did. You might argue I shouldn’t be surprised, but I still was by their deliberate inhumanity. I was also disappointed at the failings of the man in charge of the SOE. How many lives might have been spared if he had followed the most basic of the spy principles he had had set up.
This shouldn’t detract from the amazing courage of these women who had been unheralded for so long though. It is for them that I read the book.
Personally I found this a distracting and fragmented approach. I would probably have found it better if it had concentrated on each of the women in turn. I suppose maybe he though that had been done in earlier biographies, and this was his new ‘spin’ on matters.
I was horrified by some of the things the nazis did. You might argue I shouldn’t be surprised, but I still was by their deliberate inhumanity. I was also disappointed at the failings of the man in charge of the SOE. How many lives might have been spared if he had followed the most basic of the spy principles he had had set up.
This shouldn’t detract from the amazing courage of these women who had been unheralded for so long though. It is for them that I read the book.
July 5, 2020
This was superb. Well-researched and authoritative, it’s also an incredibly dramatic read, and achingly poignant. The book’s subjects are unbelievably impressive.
I like how Stroud wove the stories together, along with key events during the war. Other, similar books have tended to do a chapter per person, but Stroud went for a chronological approach, and that really helped me understand who was doing what when, and how it all fitted together. I thought it was an excellent approach.
The subjects are deeply, deeply impressive. There were 39 female agents of F Section SOE (responsible for France), and this book focuses on seven of them. Twelve of the 39 were executed, and two died of illness. I want to touch on some of the stories here, and while it is ridiculous to talk about spoilers for historical events, I also want to avoid at least some of their fates as I’m conscious that many people will not know them, and it certainly adds to the tension.
I was particularly moved by the story of Noor Inayat Khan, the first female SOE agent to be infiltrated into France. She seemed a fascinating individual, gentle and naive, conscientious, a writer of children’s stories who found it difficult to lie. Yet when she was arrested, she fought like mad and then made two escape attempts from her jail - the first one on her own by climbing out of a small window onto a ledge and then up onto a steep roof, some five or so stories above street level. I was impressed by her courage and how much she seemed to enjoy it, for such a gentle person. Noting that her story took place in 1943, I was shocked at the poor security generally in place, and the idea of not turning up to a risky situation without some armed heavies for protection boggled my mind.
I couldn’t believe Nancy Wake’s story. She was a hard-drinking Australian who took part in a great deal of combat, more than most. She lived in the field in a converted bus, with red frilly nighties, and a bodyguard of tough Spanish Civil War veterans. There was something of a bandit queen about her. She died in 2011 and I felt a slight regret that I never met her.
Pearl Witherington commanded several fighting battalions of the FFI. She’s probably the only female officer to have commanded so many forces in combat in the last century.
American Virginia Hall did everything she did with a false leg.
Violette Szabo and Christina Granville were also deeply impressive.
One of the moments that stayed with me for a while was the execution of Andrée Borrel, who was executed alongside fellow SOE agents Vera Leigh, Sonya Olschanezky and Diana Rowden on 6 July 1944 at Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp. The circumstances were ghastly. They were first injected by the SS doctors with the corrosive-to-the-touch poison phenol. Each in turn. This made them drowsy but didn’t kill them. They were then placed, again each in turn, naked on the metal trolley used to feed the crematorium and pushed while alive into the incinerating fire. The first three women were drowsy and disorientated, but the fourth woman resisted frantically, and was forced into the oven while struggling on the trolley. I was appalled at the actions of the SS. When I looked into it a bit more, I was aghast at the light punishment some of their executioners received after the war; the camp executioner, Peter Straub, whose face the fourth woman managed to scratch deeply while resisting her death received only a 13-year sentence. Felt quite angry at that.
Twelve executions out of 39 agents is quite high, and I was appalled at some of the poor security in SOE. The organisation seemed beset with traitors - the worst among them being Henri Dericourt. The commander of F Section, Col Buckmaster, seemed dangerously idiotic. He completely trusted Dericourt and refused to believe numerous reports of his traitorous activities. Buckmaster was also completely fooled by the German “radio games”. When SOE radio operators were arrested, the Germans pretended to be them to feed false information back to SOE in London, creating further traps for SOE agents.
One incident particularly appalled me:
“On 7 July [1943], in the avenue Foch, wireless expert Dr Goetz sat in front of a radio transmitter preparing to impersonate Gilbert Norman. His set had been fitted with the radio crystals captured in Pierre Culioli’s car and his staff had used the captured materials to work out Norman’s codes, his transmission schedule and security checks. Goetz was nervous, Norman had a very distinctive Morse style, fast and fluent. Sturmbannführer Kieffer kept visiting the room to check on progress, adding to the tension.
“In London, Vera Atkins waited in the wireless room as she did every day. Fixed on one wall of the room was a blackboard onto which was chalked the name of any agent in the process of transmitting. There had been no transmissions from France for more than two weeks. Then a clerk went to the board and wrote Butcher, Gilbert Norman’s code name. When the decoded message arrived it read: ‘Prosper captured’. It was checked and noted that the transmitting hand had been stilted, and the secret security check had been left out. The Records officer, Captain Penelope Torr, suggested that Norman might have been captured, tortured and given away his codes and crystals. Buckmaster said, ‘He’d rather have shot himself.’ Torr pointed out that Norman had sent 149 messages, all faultless; she questioned why he should suddenly start making mistakes. Buckmaster dismissed the idea that Norman had been turned and ordered that a reply be sent pointing out the error of the security check.
“In the radio room in the avenue Foch, Kieffer and Goetz waited to see if their trick had worked. Then a signal came in: ‘You have forgotten your double security check. Be more careful in future.’ Goetz took it to Norman’s cell and read it to him. The 27-year-old former accountant heard Buckmaster’s Signal in amazement and anger.”
Unfortunately those weren’t Buckmaster’s only errors. He compromised Noor by ordering her to meet two Canadian agents who had already been reported to him as lost. When Noor met the two Gestapo agents impersonating the Canadians, it was the first time the Gestapo found out what she looked like. Buckmaster’s naïveté or incompetence seems to have gotten a number of his agents killed.
That is what also makes it a poignant read. Those women who survived the war seem to have found it hard to receive recognition and acceptance - though not at all impossible, and I was pleased to see some George Crosses awarded.
One final aside, I was interested to read that one of the reasons the Allies were keen for the French resistance to cut German telephone lines around D-Day was to move German communications to Enigma-encrypted radio, which of course could be monitored by Bletchley Park.
I like how Stroud wove the stories together, along with key events during the war. Other, similar books have tended to do a chapter per person, but Stroud went for a chronological approach, and that really helped me understand who was doing what when, and how it all fitted together. I thought it was an excellent approach.
The subjects are deeply, deeply impressive. There were 39 female agents of F Section SOE (responsible for France), and this book focuses on seven of them. Twelve of the 39 were executed, and two died of illness. I want to touch on some of the stories here, and while it is ridiculous to talk about spoilers for historical events, I also want to avoid at least some of their fates as I’m conscious that many people will not know them, and it certainly adds to the tension.
I was particularly moved by the story of Noor Inayat Khan, the first female SOE agent to be infiltrated into France. She seemed a fascinating individual, gentle and naive, conscientious, a writer of children’s stories who found it difficult to lie. Yet when she was arrested, she fought like mad and then made two escape attempts from her jail - the first one on her own by climbing out of a small window onto a ledge and then up onto a steep roof, some five or so stories above street level. I was impressed by her courage and how much she seemed to enjoy it, for such a gentle person. Noting that her story took place in 1943, I was shocked at the poor security generally in place, and the idea of not turning up to a risky situation without some armed heavies for protection boggled my mind.
I couldn’t believe Nancy Wake’s story. She was a hard-drinking Australian who took part in a great deal of combat, more than most. She lived in the field in a converted bus, with red frilly nighties, and a bodyguard of tough Spanish Civil War veterans. There was something of a bandit queen about her. She died in 2011 and I felt a slight regret that I never met her.
Pearl Witherington commanded several fighting battalions of the FFI. She’s probably the only female officer to have commanded so many forces in combat in the last century.
American Virginia Hall did everything she did with a false leg.
Violette Szabo and Christina Granville were also deeply impressive.
One of the moments that stayed with me for a while was the execution of Andrée Borrel, who was executed alongside fellow SOE agents Vera Leigh, Sonya Olschanezky and Diana Rowden on 6 July 1944 at Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp. The circumstances were ghastly. They were first injected by the SS doctors with the corrosive-to-the-touch poison phenol. Each in turn. This made them drowsy but didn’t kill them. They were then placed, again each in turn, naked on the metal trolley used to feed the crematorium and pushed while alive into the incinerating fire. The first three women were drowsy and disorientated, but the fourth woman resisted frantically, and was forced into the oven while struggling on the trolley. I was appalled at the actions of the SS. When I looked into it a bit more, I was aghast at the light punishment some of their executioners received after the war; the camp executioner, Peter Straub, whose face the fourth woman managed to scratch deeply while resisting her death received only a 13-year sentence. Felt quite angry at that.
Twelve executions out of 39 agents is quite high, and I was appalled at some of the poor security in SOE. The organisation seemed beset with traitors - the worst among them being Henri Dericourt. The commander of F Section, Col Buckmaster, seemed dangerously idiotic. He completely trusted Dericourt and refused to believe numerous reports of his traitorous activities. Buckmaster was also completely fooled by the German “radio games”. When SOE radio operators were arrested, the Germans pretended to be them to feed false information back to SOE in London, creating further traps for SOE agents.
One incident particularly appalled me:
“On 7 July [1943], in the avenue Foch, wireless expert Dr Goetz sat in front of a radio transmitter preparing to impersonate Gilbert Norman. His set had been fitted with the radio crystals captured in Pierre Culioli’s car and his staff had used the captured materials to work out Norman’s codes, his transmission schedule and security checks. Goetz was nervous, Norman had a very distinctive Morse style, fast and fluent. Sturmbannführer Kieffer kept visiting the room to check on progress, adding to the tension.
“In London, Vera Atkins waited in the wireless room as she did every day. Fixed on one wall of the room was a blackboard onto which was chalked the name of any agent in the process of transmitting. There had been no transmissions from France for more than two weeks. Then a clerk went to the board and wrote Butcher, Gilbert Norman’s code name. When the decoded message arrived it read: ‘Prosper captured’. It was checked and noted that the transmitting hand had been stilted, and the secret security check had been left out. The Records officer, Captain Penelope Torr, suggested that Norman might have been captured, tortured and given away his codes and crystals. Buckmaster said, ‘He’d rather have shot himself.’ Torr pointed out that Norman had sent 149 messages, all faultless; she questioned why he should suddenly start making mistakes. Buckmaster dismissed the idea that Norman had been turned and ordered that a reply be sent pointing out the error of the security check.
“In the radio room in the avenue Foch, Kieffer and Goetz waited to see if their trick had worked. Then a signal came in: ‘You have forgotten your double security check. Be more careful in future.’ Goetz took it to Norman’s cell and read it to him. The 27-year-old former accountant heard Buckmaster’s Signal in amazement and anger.”
Unfortunately those weren’t Buckmaster’s only errors. He compromised Noor by ordering her to meet two Canadian agents who had already been reported to him as lost. When Noor met the two Gestapo agents impersonating the Canadians, it was the first time the Gestapo found out what she looked like. Buckmaster’s naïveté or incompetence seems to have gotten a number of his agents killed.
That is what also makes it a poignant read. Those women who survived the war seem to have found it hard to receive recognition and acceptance - though not at all impossible, and I was pleased to see some George Crosses awarded.
One final aside, I was interested to read that one of the reasons the Allies were keen for the French resistance to cut German telephone lines around D-Day was to move German communications to Enigma-encrypted radio, which of course could be monitored by Bletchley Park.
March 4, 2022
Wow.
This book focuses on a few of the women who, for a variety of reasons, wanted to get involved in the war. Their stories are truly remarkable - their courage, dogged determination , ingenuity and tenacity needs to be remembered and celebrated. Heroines all.
❤📚❤📚❤📚❤
This book focuses on a few of the women who, for a variety of reasons, wanted to get involved in the war. Their stories are truly remarkable - their courage, dogged determination , ingenuity and tenacity needs to be remembered and celebrated. Heroines all.
❤📚❤📚❤📚❤
September 10, 2017
Shame many of them were tortured, abused and then died at the end.
The story of the French occupation in WW2 was never clear to me. Despite reading Gravity's Rainbow several times, I've read almost nothing around the subject of occupied Europe, Allo Allo being my most reliable advisor. The incremental story, allied retreat-resistance-invasion, is expertly painted in as a background to these stories of resistance.
Several remarkable lives are described, so varied in experience and outcome. The stories are bittersweet, sad and inevitably inspiring. That inspiration being selfishly tainted by the feeling that your contrasting peaceful life, sunning by the pool in C21 France (as I was), is mere meaningless hedonism.
I got lost in places with some of the to-and-fro espionage and counter-espionage in the middle. But that's undoubtedly my fault for making this a casual holiday read.
I was occasionally distracted, pulled out of the read, when some of the author's favourite images were repeated – various vehicles often "bounce along" for example. But the actions of war are monotonous to describe, and that's commendably hidden well enough most of the time.
Finally, if you are male and have not read this, that means that I am better than you at the feminism.
The story of the French occupation in WW2 was never clear to me. Despite reading Gravity's Rainbow several times, I've read almost nothing around the subject of occupied Europe, Allo Allo being my most reliable advisor. The incremental story, allied retreat-resistance-invasion, is expertly painted in as a background to these stories of resistance.
Several remarkable lives are described, so varied in experience and outcome. The stories are bittersweet, sad and inevitably inspiring. That inspiration being selfishly tainted by the feeling that your contrasting peaceful life, sunning by the pool in C21 France (as I was), is mere meaningless hedonism.
I got lost in places with some of the to-and-fro espionage and counter-espionage in the middle. But that's undoubtedly my fault for making this a casual holiday read.
I was occasionally distracted, pulled out of the read, when some of the author's favourite images were repeated – various vehicles often "bounce along" for example. But the actions of war are monotonous to describe, and that's commendably hidden well enough most of the time.
Finally, if you are male and have not read this, that means that I am better than you at the feminism.
September 25, 2018
A completely fascinating story given severely botched treatment. There are a few gripping passages and at times the book evokes the brutal lottery of wartime espionage, but the facts – and stories – are marshalled in erratic, haphazard manner, so it’s difficult to stay immersed in the material, or indeed to remember (or follow) who everyone is. Stroud’s writing style is also clunky and repetitive: light on quotes and with a truly singular use of commas.
It all seems rather half-finished.
Perhaps I’m spoiled by Ben MacIntyre’s WWII books, which while invariably boiling every story down to a bromance – and each character to three disparate traits or hobbies – are absolutely cracking.
It all seems rather half-finished.
Perhaps I’m spoiled by Ben MacIntyre’s WWII books, which while invariably boiling every story down to a bromance – and each character to three disparate traits or hobbies – are absolutely cracking.
September 13, 2018
I first heard about this book through The Guilty Feminist podcast, who had Rick Stroud on as a guest. Some excerpts of the book were read on the podcast and I fell in love with the language and decided to give the book a try. I wasn't disappointed. A beautifully written book about a fascinating subject, Lonely Courage illuminates the vital role that women played in the success of the allies in World War 2. I particularly enjoyed that Stroud chose women from a broad spectrum of backgrounds for the book . Again, the language is beautiful, making a fascinating book a pleasant read.
December 2, 2020
Stroud talks about several agents in this book and therefore he takes the timeline approach to the story. Most, maybe all books of this type, ones that talk about several people who acted during the same period of time, take the same approach. But Stroud mostly devoted a paragraph at a time to each person, and there were several main actors plus several more auxilliary ones, and that constant jumping around from one to another made it a confusing read. You (or at least I) had to think twice about what was the backstory to the current protagonist each time they changed. For that reason and because I thought the writing was a little flat, I didn't rate it highly. But the stories themselves are very interesting and the people deserve to be read about the honored.
All but two. If you've read even one other book about secret agents, you know that when a radio operator send a transmission, it will include his secret codeword, so that those who receive it in London will know it is really him (or her). Each agent has a real codeword and a fake one. If London receives the fake one they know that the agent is transmitting under duress, meaning he's been captured, or that the Germans are sending a message in his name.
These wireless transmissions were the only way the agents in the field had to communicate with London -- sending information about German troops, and all that, asking for supplies, and letting London know that there was trouble.
So if the secret codeword was the key to knowing that it really was the operator sending a message and that he was free, how do you explain that London received more than one message that did not include that secret code? When Maurice Buckmaster, head of the French unit (this book is about France) saw those messages, he decided to ignore the danger. It's the first and only tool the operators had to let London know they were in trouble, and yet he ignored that tool several times. In fact, in one instance, he sent a signal back admonishing the operator for leaving the secret codeword out. When the Germans saw that message, you can imagine (and Stroud mentions it) how the Germans reacted and what kind of treatment that operator received in their hands. Because, of course, he was in their hands -- in their prison in Paris. Vera Adams, his right-hand assistant, saw those same messages, knew as well as he did (or should have) what those omissions meant, and also ignored them.
Maybe Buckmaster was simply an idiot. I haven't seen anyone suggest it, but I've read several books about the SOE and this gross fuck-up, and it makes me think that maybe Buckmaster was really working for the Germans. In any case, it is no wonder the other British secret service agencies didn't trust and didn't want to support SOE. They had wonderful agents, but at best it was fun by idiots.
Buckmaster's French section lost at least two networks -- not only the agents sent over, but also all the French volunteers who they had been sent to work with. That would mean hundreds of people (not just the few named in the book) were arrested and killed by the Germans because Buckmaster didn't want to be bothered with the most basic safety measure he had at his disposal. And never mind another agent that was working for him, one that had been denounced as a German double agent by more than one person and was in charge of the logistics of the air transports. He ignored that too. I suppose he was trying to protect his territory (or he was a traitor) and didn't want to admit any weakness or failures with his organization. Altogether hundreds of people who had volunteered to work with the allies were sacrified for no good reason because of Buckmaster and Atkins.
After the war, Buckmaster was awarded an OBE and Atkins a CBE. They both should have been court martialed.
All but two. If you've read even one other book about secret agents, you know that when a radio operator send a transmission, it will include his secret codeword, so that those who receive it in London will know it is really him (or her). Each agent has a real codeword and a fake one. If London receives the fake one they know that the agent is transmitting under duress, meaning he's been captured, or that the Germans are sending a message in his name.
These wireless transmissions were the only way the agents in the field had to communicate with London -- sending information about German troops, and all that, asking for supplies, and letting London know that there was trouble.
So if the secret codeword was the key to knowing that it really was the operator sending a message and that he was free, how do you explain that London received more than one message that did not include that secret code? When Maurice Buckmaster, head of the French unit (this book is about France) saw those messages, he decided to ignore the danger. It's the first and only tool the operators had to let London know they were in trouble, and yet he ignored that tool several times. In fact, in one instance, he sent a signal back admonishing the operator for leaving the secret codeword out. When the Germans saw that message, you can imagine (and Stroud mentions it) how the Germans reacted and what kind of treatment that operator received in their hands. Because, of course, he was in their hands -- in their prison in Paris. Vera Adams, his right-hand assistant, saw those same messages, knew as well as he did (or should have) what those omissions meant, and also ignored them.
Maybe Buckmaster was simply an idiot. I haven't seen anyone suggest it, but I've read several books about the SOE and this gross fuck-up, and it makes me think that maybe Buckmaster was really working for the Germans. In any case, it is no wonder the other British secret service agencies didn't trust and didn't want to support SOE. They had wonderful agents, but at best it was fun by idiots.
Buckmaster's French section lost at least two networks -- not only the agents sent over, but also all the French volunteers who they had been sent to work with. That would mean hundreds of people (not just the few named in the book) were arrested and killed by the Germans because Buckmaster didn't want to be bothered with the most basic safety measure he had at his disposal. And never mind another agent that was working for him, one that had been denounced as a German double agent by more than one person and was in charge of the logistics of the air transports. He ignored that too. I suppose he was trying to protect his territory (or he was a traitor) and didn't want to admit any weakness or failures with his organization. Altogether hundreds of people who had volunteered to work with the allies were sacrified for no good reason because of Buckmaster and Atkins.
After the war, Buckmaster was awarded an OBE and Atkins a CBE. They both should have been court martialed.
March 13, 2023
I sometimes struggle with historical non-fiction. If it is too dry or full of dates and figures I find myself zoning out. I am there for the human stories, the real lives lived in other times.
Thankfully, Stroud's book is firmly in the human stories camp. His style is delightfully narrative in tone. We are introduced to each agent like a character in a novel: background, appearance, wishes, desires and fears. Places and events are described in full technicolour, laid out like stage directions. Through use of diaries and autobiographies we find out what the figures involved felt and thought in each moment. Sometimes the detail is such that I found myself pondering how he could possibly know this or that and how much he was making up for cinematic effect - a detraction, perhaps, for those readers who prefer their history coldly factual but a bonus for people like me.
Stroud takes us step-by-step through the Second World War, dipping into the agents' lives as their timelines intersect with the narrative. The effect of this is sometimes disjointed; we often see an operative for only a few paragraphs at a time and it is possible to mix up who is where and doing what. The similar temperaments of the main personages involved also sometimes added to the confusion such that I never really got a feel for the distinct personalities of the individual agents. (Helpfully, my edition featured an insert with images of the key figures and it helped to be able to put names to faces.) That said, putting everything in the context of the war as a whole made for a very clean narrative and helped to contextualise the efforts being made against the dangers being faced.
The most remarkable thing is remembering that the incredible stories Stroud tells were real actions carried out by real people. The courage of these women is staggering. Their determination in the face of hardships and very real danger is both humbling and an inspiration, all the more so given that they were operating in what was still considered to be a man's world .
These are women who deserve to be remembered every bit as much as the generals and commanders whose names have gone down in history. While I would not recommend this book to everyone, I would encourage everyone to read their stories.
Thankfully, Stroud's book is firmly in the human stories camp. His style is delightfully narrative in tone. We are introduced to each agent like a character in a novel: background, appearance, wishes, desires and fears. Places and events are described in full technicolour, laid out like stage directions. Through use of diaries and autobiographies we find out what the figures involved felt and thought in each moment. Sometimes the detail is such that I found myself pondering how he could possibly know this or that and how much he was making up for cinematic effect - a detraction, perhaps, for those readers who prefer their history coldly factual but a bonus for people like me.
Stroud takes us step-by-step through the Second World War, dipping into the agents' lives as their timelines intersect with the narrative. The effect of this is sometimes disjointed; we often see an operative for only a few paragraphs at a time and it is possible to mix up who is where and doing what. The similar temperaments of the main personages involved also sometimes added to the confusion such that I never really got a feel for the distinct personalities of the individual agents. (Helpfully, my edition featured an insert with images of the key figures and it helped to be able to put names to faces.) That said, putting everything in the context of the war as a whole made for a very clean narrative and helped to contextualise the efforts being made against the dangers being faced.
The most remarkable thing is remembering that the incredible stories Stroud tells were real actions carried out by real people. The courage of these women is staggering. Their determination in the face of hardships and very real danger is both humbling and an inspiration, all the more so given that they were operating in what was still considered to be a man's world .
These are women who deserve to be remembered every bit as much as the generals and commanders whose names have gone down in history. While I would not recommend this book to everyone, I would encourage everyone to read their stories.
January 31, 2022
Rick Stroud's book on the women of the SOE will keep you on the edge of your seat. The book shows deep research but does not bog you down in detail. Stroud skillfully details their recruitment and training before moving on to their hair-raising adventures in Occupied Europe fighting and subverting vicious Nazis; detestable collaborators and turncoats, and, often, their incompetent and obtuse superiors. I was propelled forward with a sense of context as Stroud deftly integrated the events leading up to the war and throughout the war with the work of the SOE agents. His depiction of their characters and that of those around them made all come alive - keeping you in taut suspense over their fates and even breaking your heart at their betrayals, tortures, and murders. You have a full picture of these women's lives even before the war and a deep understanding of how they grew under pressure of war. I do wish the author would learn the difference between who and whom and whom and which, though.
October 6, 2020
This is the true story of extraordinary brave women who in WW11 joined the British Special Operations Executive to help the Resistance in France defeat the enemy. Some 39 women, ranging from a London shop assistant to a Polish aristocrat, all linked by their knowledge of France and fluency in French trained to operate a radio transmitter and how to kill a man with their bare hands before being dropped behind enemy lines by parachute. Many were betrayed within minutes of landing on French soil by double agents and while some of these women went on to lead thousands of Resistance fighters, others were arrested, brutally interrogated and sent to their death in concentration camps. The author Rick Stroud concentrates on just seven of these women and describes in detail their amazing courage and the terrible things that happened to them once they were arrested including being burnt alive in the crematorium of Natweiler-Struthof concentration camp.
January 17, 2025
I couldn't just leave this book without writing my thoughts...
I picked this up in the library out of curiosity and ended up having a hard time putting it down. The stories of these extraordinary women are moving, inspiring and truly humbling.
It is impossible to believe the extremes of inhumanity discussed in this. Stroud doesn't spare many details, which will be ever more important as time goes on, but there were moments when I felt sick. It puts a lot into perspective: the experiences of the individuals in this book - whether military or civilian - were not unique. That seems obvious, but the fact that millions of people suffered similar or worse is difficult to comprehend.
This was a very eye-opening and important book, and one I would recommend.
edit to add: I lost track of how many times I wanted to go into the book and yell at Buckmaster for being so ignorant
I picked this up in the library out of curiosity and ended up having a hard time putting it down. The stories of these extraordinary women are moving, inspiring and truly humbling.
It is impossible to believe the extremes of inhumanity discussed in this. Stroud doesn't spare many details, which will be ever more important as time goes on, but there were moments when I felt sick. It puts a lot into perspective: the experiences of the individuals in this book - whether military or civilian - were not unique. That seems obvious, but the fact that millions of people suffered similar or worse is difficult to comprehend.
This was a very eye-opening and important book, and one I would recommend.
edit to add: I lost track of how many times I wanted to go into the book and yell at Buckmaster for being so ignorant
May 8, 2017
The subject is one that has always enthralled me. Moreover, I have visited some of the camps where SOE members were murdered (notably Natweiller, where I have attended their annual June memorial on three occasions). For that reason, I know why one account in this otherwise fascinating book could not have occurred as described.
If I am totally candid, the tale was a bit higgledy-pigglety, with odd parcels of information appearing where they didn't really belong. This did not substantially detract from the story, but I felt that the editorial staff could have sharpened up the delivery
If I am totally candid, the tale was a bit higgledy-pigglety, with odd parcels of information appearing where they didn't really belong. This did not substantially detract from the story, but I felt that the editorial staff could have sharpened up the delivery
March 15, 2019
I can agree with the reviews of this book that say it is meticulously researched. My problem with it is that it feels as if the author doesn’t want to exclude any of the information that he’s discovered. So every single detail is included, whether it fits in or not. I also wonder whether there was a rush to get this released or another issue that meant it was hurried through to publication, because it is very badly edited.
I really wanted to enjoy it but I found the vast number of details given out of the context and the sloppy writing such a distraction.
I really wanted to enjoy it but I found the vast number of details given out of the context and the sloppy writing such a distraction.
October 24, 2023
The true stories of these heroines are so very interesting but the book is not so well structured in my opinion. Rather than writing the stories in a timeline, it should have been written in chapters according to the characters and it would have been easier to follow. Nonetheless the title is aptly chosen as indeed these very strong women endured long lonely days as either runaways, prisoners or leaders of resistance groups in a world where men did not think it possible for women to be so resourceful.
December 8, 2024
I heard about this book through a podcast and although I'm glad I read it to find out about these women's amazing stories, the writing meant it took me so long to read, which reduced my interest and overall enjoyment. I would have preferred a section on each woman rather than the book going in chronological order (as I completely lost track of who was who!) and I think it would have benefitted from the removal of some of the war history - sounds silly when a book is centred around the war, but I felt a lot wasn't relevant to what the women were up to at the time!
June 4, 2017
This book gives a much needed understanding of the role "Churchill's women" played in the French Resistance. The portraits the author assembles of seven of them reveal the tremendous courage as well as the terrible suffering these women went through to help free France. My only reproach is that, choosing to follow a time line, the author switches from one woman's story to another so often that it was hard for me to remember just who was who, but that may be more my fault than the author's.
October 19, 2025
I really like the idea for this book, but I didn't like the way it was written. I thought there would be a chapter or two for each female spy. Instead, Stroud writes the book in order from the beginning of the war to the end, with spies filtering in and out. I found this style difficult to follow as there were just so many names to remember. I think it's still an important book to read; there are so many brave men and women within these pages whose stories deserve to be told.
November 14, 2018
I really enjoyed this, it was a very interesting read about some very inspirational women. I would have loved more detail as to what they actually did. Although on the cover, I don't think I learnt a great deal about Violette Szabo! That said, really fascinating (if horrifically sad at times), and I will definitely go on to read more about these awesome ladies!
July 13, 2019
This was a massive slog to get through. The stories were interesting but the way it was written was tedious and confusing and could have been better constructed.
I’ve been reading it on and off for over a year because of that.
I’ve been reading it on and off for over a year because of that.
November 13, 2022
One of the best general books I’ve read about the women of SOE. Stroud pulls no punches and the truth is told in all it’s stark and brutal reality.
A great introduction to read if you’re interested in the subject
A great introduction to read if you’re interested in the subject
July 2, 2018
Absolutely fascinating stories, but the author follows the lives of too many figures. It makes reading very difficult; I found myself constantly flipping back through the book to check who was who.
August 18, 2018
Fascinating stories but not as well-written as I would have liked.
September 17, 2018
Very dull, poorly written and the stories were not interesting enough to keep me reading.
I only got about a third of the way through before giving up.
I only got about a third of the way through before giving up.
January 4, 2019
I mainly enjoyed the book but the way it was written as a timeline let it down as it was hard to get a real sense of the people involved.
August 13, 2019
The courage and sacrifice of the women was remarkable. This book does then justice.
September 15, 2019
The construction of the book made it difficult to follow
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