Advent Calendar - Day 13 - Marie Moravcová

Marie Moravcova was born in Prague (now in Czechia) on 24 August 1898. She is included in this year’s advent calendar for her role in Operation Anthropoid, the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich.

With Hitler’s rise to power in Germany in the 1930s, he set about delivering on his policy promise of delivering Lebensraum, ‘living space’, first by annexing the Sudetenland on 1st October 1938. Just a couple of months previous to this, the Munich Agreement had been signed by representatives of Britain, France, and Italy, in essence agreeing to Germany's claim over the Sudetenland in exchange for a pledge of peace. On 15th March 1939, Germany invaded the Czech provinces of Bohemia and Moravia, breaking the Munich Pact.

Marie joined the Czech resistance that month.

Czechoslovakia would governed by a Reichsprotektor, in this case, Reinhard Heydrich, also known as the Butcher of Prague. Heydrich was chief of the Reich Security Main Office (including the Gestapo, Kripo, and SD). He chaired the January 1942 Wannsee Conference which formalised plans for the "Final Solution to the Jewish question"—the deportation and genocide of all Jews in German-occupied Europe. Other than the Fuhrer himself, he was one of the top targets for elimination.

In 1942, two Czechoslovak paratroopers (Jozef Gabčík and Jan Kubiš) were flown in. Marie’s apartment would become the most important contact point for the assassins. Marie, also known as Aunt Moravcová, worked not only to look after the two men when they were in Prague before the operation, but she also worked as a courier and food supplier. Her husband and younger son Vlastimil were also involved in helping the paratroopers.

Operation Anthropoid was successfully carried out on 27th May 1942 although Heydrich only died of wounds on 4th June.

After the assassination, the family’s involvement in the plot was revealed and on the night of 17th June, the Gestapo raided their apartment. Marie poisoned herself with an ampoule of cyanide, which the paratroopers had previously given her at her request, so that she would not fall alive into the hands of the Nazis. Her husband, Alois Moravec, and younger son Vlastimil were executed in the Mauthausen concentration camp on 24th October 1942.

Marie was an ordinary woman that saw her country being taken from her by an evil regime. She wanted to do her bit, knowing full well the consequences not just for her life, but for that of her family. Often the names of service personnel are those that live on in history, but those combatants cannot do their duty without the support of civilians risking everything. That is why today, we honour Marie and her family.

Travel to Prague

Prague is a wonderful city of explore with hundreds of years of history to be discovered, great food, music and of course, Pilsner! It is still possible to visit the site of Heydrich’s assassination. Contact the team today and we’d love to plan the perfect historical weekend getaway.

Advent Calendar - day 12 - Norman Jackson

Today’s advent post is that of Norman Cyril Jackson VC, perhaps the most extraordinary VC citation I have ever read. Though, to be awarded a VC, one must do something rather spectacular, so reading citations are often jaw-dropping moments.

Norman was born on 8th April 1919 and was adopted just one week later by the Gunter family.

Norman qualified as a fitter and turner so technically was in a reserved occupation. He joined the RAF Volunteer Reserve in 1939 and originally served as a Classified Fitter IIE (engines).

In January 1941, he was assigned to a Sunderland flying boat squadron based in Freetown, Sierra Leone. He applied for retraining as a flight engineer and returned to England in September 1942.

On 28 July 1943, he joined No. 106 Squadron which operated Lancaster bombers. He completed his tour of 30 missions on 24 April 1944, but, as he had flown one sortie with a different crew, he wanted to do one more with his original crew mates. This 31st mission was to be a raid on the German ball bearing factories at Schweinfurt on the night of 26–27 April 1943.

Having bombed the target, Jackson's Lancaster was attacked by a German night fighter and a fuel tank in the starboard wing caught fire. Norman, already wounded from shell splinters, strapped on a parachute, grabbed a fire extinguisher and clambered outside onto the wing.

The plane was travelling at 140 miles per hour. He gripped the air intake on the leading edge of the wing with one hand, and fought the fire with the other. The flames seared his hands, face, and clothes. A fighter came back and attacked the bomber again, a burst of gunfire sending two bullets into Norman’s his legs. The burst also swept him off the wing.

He fell 20,000 feet but his parachute saved his life. He broke his ankle on landing but he managed to crawl to a nearby German village the next morning.

He spent 10 months recovering in hospital before being transferred to Stalag IX-C prisoner-of-war camp. He made two escape attempts, the second of which was successful.

Norman’s exploit on the burning Lancaster wing became known when the surviving crewmen of his bomber were released from POW camps at the end of the war.

He was promoted to warrant officer and his Victoria Cross award was gazetted on 26 October 1945.

Norman’s VC citation read:

The KING has been graciously pleased to confer the VICTORIA CROSS in recognition of most conspicuous bravery to:-

905192 Sergeant (Now Warrant Officer) Norman Cyril Jackson R.A.F.V.R., 106 Squadron.

This airman was the flight engineer in a Lancaster detailed to attack Schweinfurt on the night of 26th April 1944. Bombs were dropped successfully and the aircraft was climbing out of the target area. Suddenly it was attacked by a fighter at about 20,000 feet. The captain took evading action at once, but the enemy secured many hits. A fire started near a petrol tank on the upper surface of the starboard wing, between the fuselage and the inner engine.

Sergeant Jackson was thrown to the floor during the engagement. Wounds which he received from shell splinters in the right leg and shoulder were probably sustained at that time. Recovering himself, he remarked that he could deal with the fire on the wing and obtained his captain's permission to try to put out the flames.

Pushing a hand fire-extinguisher into the top of his life-saving jacket and clipping on his parachute pack, Sergeant Jackson jettisoned the escape hatch above the pilot's head. He then started to climb out of the cockpit and back along the top of the fuselage to the starboard wing. Before he could leave the fuselage his parachute pack opened and the whole canopy and rigging lines spilled into the cockpit.

Undeterred, Sergeant Jackson continued. The pilot (Fred Mifflin), bomb aimer (Maurice Toft) and navigator (Frank Higgins) gathered the parachute together and held on to the rigging lines, paying them out as the airman crawled aft. Eventually he slipped and, falling from the fuselage to the starboard wing, grasped an air intake on the leading edge of the wing. He succeeded in clinging on but lost the extinguisher, which was blown away.

By this time, the fire had spread rapidly and Sergeant Jackson was involved. His face, hands and clothing were severely burnt. Unable to retain his hold he was swept through the flames and over the trailing edge of the wing, dragging his parachute behind. When last seen it was only partly inflated and was burning in a number of places.

Realising that the fire could not be controlled, the captain gave the order to abandon aircraft. Four of the remaining members of the crew landed safely. The captain and rear gunner have not been accounted for.

Sergeant Jackson was unable to control his descent and landed heavily. He sustained a broken ankle, his right eye was closed through burns and his hands were useless. These injuries, together with the wounds received earlier, reduced him to a pitiable state. At daybreak he crawled to the nearest village, where he was taken prisoner. He bore the intense pain and discomfort of the journey to Dulag Luft with magnificent fortitude. After ten months in hospital he made a good recovery, though his hands require further treatment and are only of limited use.

This airman's attempt to extinguish the fire and save the aircraft and crew from falling into enemy hands was an act of outstanding gallantry. To venture outside, when travelling at 200 miles an hour, at a great height and in intense cold, was an almost incredible feat. Had he succeeded in subduing the flames, there was little or no prospect of his regaining the cockpit. The spilling of his parachute and the risk of grave damage to its canopy reduced his chances of survival to a minimum. By his ready willingness to face these dangers he set an example of self-sacrifice which will ever be remembered.

Wow. Just wow. What some people can do in the most difficult of circumstances, where almost certain death is just around the corner, in order to save others, is truly staggering.

Norman survived the war, went on to marry and had seven children. He died in 1994 and is buried in 1994.

Advent Calendar - Day 11 - Anne Frank

Perhaps one of the most famous individuals chosen for this year’s advent calendar is Anne Frank.

Anne Frank was born in the German city of Frankfurt am Main in 1929. She was born in a country that was still recovering from the social and economic disaster of the First World War and a global financial crisis was just around the corner.

Through this chaos came a man that claimed he had the answers and knew who had caused all of Germany’s problems. Adolf Hitler hated the Jews and blamed them for the problems that the country faced. Anne’s parents could see this blatant rise in anti-semitism and opted to move to Amsterdam, Netherlands. There, Otto founded a company that traded in pectin, a gelling agent for making jam.

Life in Amsterdam

It didn’t take long for the Frank’s to settle into a new homeland. They learnt the language, made new connections and Anne went to school not far from home.

When Anne was aged 10, the Second World War broke out. Just eight months later, the Netherlands was invaded and the Nazi regime established itself across all parts of life. Regulations prohibited many things for Jews, included a ban on visiting sites such as parks, cinemas and non-Jewish run shops. All Jewish children had to go to separate Jewish schools.

Into Hiding

When Anne’s sister Margot received a call-up to report for a so-called ‘labour camp’ in Nazi Germany on 5 July 1942, her parents were suspicious. They did not believe the call-up was about work and decided to go into hiding the next day.

Otto Frank had a good idea of what was happening to his fellow Jewish man, and so began furnishing a hiding place in the annex of his business premises at Prinsengracht 263. Moving into this set of rooms, the Frank’s were to be joined by four others.

The Diary

On her thirteenth birthday, just before they went into hiding, Anne was presented with a diary. During the two years in hiding, Anne wrote about events in the Secret Annex, but also about her feelings and thoughts. In addition, she wrote short stories, started on a novel and copied passages from the books she read in her Book of Beautiful Sentences. Writing was a method of passing the time.  

When the Minister of Education of the Dutch government in England made an appeal on Radio Orange to hold on to war diaries and documents, Anne was inspired to rewrite her individual diaries into one running story, titled Het Achterhuis (The Secret Annex). 

The hiding place is discovered 

Anne started rewriting her diary, but before she was done, the annex was discovered on 4 August 1944. The police also arrested two of the helpers. To this day, the identity of those who betrayed the family remains uncertain.

Auschwitz 

Via the offices of the Sicherheitsdienst (the German security police), a prison in Amsterdam, and the Westerbork transit camp, all those from the Secret Annex were put on transport to Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Upon arrival at Auschwitz around 350 people from Anne's transport were immediately taken to the gas chambers and murdered. Anne, her sister and mother were sent to a labour camp for women, their father to the men’s equivalent.

Bergen-Belsen

In early November 1944, Anne was put on transport again. She was deported to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp with Margot. Their parents stayed behind in Auschwitz. While in Belsen, the sisters contracted typhus, the disease that would claim their lives in February 1945, just three months before the end of the war in Europe. Anne was 15 years old.

Only Otto Frank would survive the war. He was liberated from Auschwitz by Soviet troops and during his long journey back to the Netherlands he learned that his wife Edith had died. Once in the Netherlands, he heard that Anne and Margot had also perished.

The Diary

Anne's writing made a deep impression on Otto. He read that Anne had wanted to become a writer or a journalist and that she had intended to publish her stories about life in the Secret Annex. Friends convinced Otto to publish the diary and in June 1947, 3,000 copies of Het Achterhuis (The Secret Annex) were printed. 

The book would be translated into 70 languages and adapted for stage and screen. People all over the world were introduced to Anne's story and in 1960 the hiding place became a museum: the Anne Frank House. Until his death in 1980, Otto remained closely involved with the Anne Frank House and the museum: he hoped that readers of the diary would become aware of the dangers of discrimination, racism, and hatred of Jews. 

While one can say Anne Frank did not serve or save, her writings have taught millions of people about the horrors of the Nazi regime and the terror of hiding from it. Her work had educated and inspired and she will forever be one of the most published authors of all time. She is but one voice from over 6 million Jews that murdered, and countless million more than suffered at the hands of National Socialism.

Never Forget

If you would like to take a special pilgrimage to Belsen, Auschwitz or other areas synonymous with the Holocaust, please contact Sophie’s Great War Tours today.

Advent Calendar - Day 10 - Nicholas Winton

Sir Nicholas George Winton MBE is deservedly on the SGWT advent calendar due to his role in saving the lives of 669 children from Nazi occupied Czechoslovakia.

Nicholas was born on 19 May 1909 in London, to German Jewish parents, Rudolph and Barbara. The family name was Wertheim, but it was anglicized in a bid to integrate. They also converted to Christianity, and Winton was baptised.

His school education was not illustrious despite the institutions he went to, however, he went on to pursue work in banking in Hamburg, Paris and later back in London. He became a broker at the London Stock Exchange. Though a stockbroker, Winton was also an ardent socialist.

Shortly before Christmas 1938, Winton was planning to travel to Switzerland for a skiing holiday, however, friends had called him asking for help in assisting at risk Czech children from Nazi persecution. Winton spent three weeks in Prague setting up a system to get children evacuated.

Alongside a few volunteers including his mother, they worked tirelessly to arrange everything the children needed, including finding host families in the UK and raising funds to cover the travel expenses of the children.

He wrote to all manner of European politicians, urging them to take child refugees and to make the process of paperwork and finance easier.

He also wrote to U.S. politicians such as President Franklin D. Roosevelt, asking them to take more children. He said that two thousand more might have been saved if they had helped, but only Sweden took any besides those sent to Britain. The last group of children, scheduled to leave Prague on 1 September 1939, was unable to depart. With Hitler's invasion of Poland on the same day, the Second World War had begun and of the 250 children due to leave on that train, only two survived the war.

Winton always acknowledged the vital roles in Prague of Doreen Warriner, Trevor Chadwick, Nicholas Stopford, Beatrice Wellington, Josephine Pike and Bill Barazetti as those that played key roles in getting children out of Prague.

His humanitarian accomplishments remained unknown and unnoticed by the world for nearly 50 years until 1988 when he was invited to the BBC television programme That's Life!, where he was reunited with dozens of the children he had helped come to Britain and was introduced to many of their children and grandchildren.

If you haven’t seen this clip, please google it, it is a heartbreakingly wonderful moment that can’t fail to bring a tear to the eye.

He was to become known as the "British Schindler". He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for "services to humanity, in saving Jewish children from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia". In 2014, he was awarded the highest honour of the Czech Republic, the Order of the White Lion (1st class), by Czech President Miloš Zeman.

Directly Nicholas with the help of others of course, saved 669 children from Nazi persecution. Who knows how many live now because of his efforts. He encouraged others not to give up the fight. He must remembered as a truly great man, that served to save others.

Advent Calendar - Day 9 - Edith Cavell

Edith Louisa Cavell was born on 4th December 1865 to the Reverend Frederick and ?? She was to grow up in Swardeston. Norfolk, UK, in the house financed by her father. This project nearly financially destroyed him and as a result, the family grew up in near poverty. She was educated at home and latterly Norwich.

After a period as a governess, including for a family in Brussels from 1890 to 1895, Cavell returned home to care for her father during a serious illness. The experience led her to pursue a career as a nurse after her father’s recovery.

She worked across London and Maidstone, Kent during the Maidstone typhoid epidemic, from 15 October 1897 until early January 1898.

Once fully qualified she was a private nurse employed by the Private Nursing Institution of the London Hospital, treating patients in their homes. In November 1903, she became assistant matron of St Leonard's Infirmary in Shoreditch, London.

In 1907, Cavell was recruited by Dr. Antoine Depage, the Belgian royal surgeon, and the founder and president of the Belgian Red Cross, to be matron of a newly established nursing school, L'École Belge d'Infirmières Diplômées. Within a year, she was training nurses for three hospitals, twenty-four schools, and thirteen kindergartens in Belgium. In 1910, Cavell was asked if she would be the matron for the new secular hospital at Saint-Gilles.

At the outbreak of war, Edith is back in Norfolk visiting her mother. She decides to return to Brussels to carry on her work as her clinic and nursing school have been taken over by the Red Cross. She writes, ‘My duty is with my nurses’. As the German forces approaches Brussels, she said ‘Any wounded soldier must be treated, friend or foe. Each man is a father, husband or son. As nurses you must take no part in the quarrel – our work is for humanity. The profession of nursing knows no frontiers.’ 

In November 1914, after the German occupation of Brussels, Cavell began sheltering British soldiers and arranging their escape out of occupied Belgium to neutral Netherlands. She would hide wounded British and French soldiers in her house and elsewhere and provide money and papers to aid their escape.

Cavell was arrested on 3rd August 1915 and charged with harbouring Allied soldiers. She had been betrayed by Georges Gaston Quien, who was later convicted by a French court as a collaborator. She was held in Saint-Gilles prison for ten weeks, the last two of which were spent in solitary confinement. She made three depositions to the German police (on 8, 18 and 22 August), admitting that she had been instrumental in conveying about 60 British and 15 French soldiers, as well as about 100 French and Belgian civilians of military age, to the frontier and had sheltered most of them in her house.

At her court-martial, Cavell was prosecuted for aiding British and French soldiers, and young Belgian men, to cross the Dutch border and eventually enter Britain. She admitted her guilt when she signed a statement the day before the trial. Cavell declared that the soldiers she had helped escape thanked her in writing when they arrived safely in Britain. This admission confirmed that Cavell had not only helped the soldiers navigate the Dutch frontier, but it also established that she helped them escape to a country at war with Germany.

The penalty, according to German military law, was death. Paragraph 58 of the German Military Code determined that "In time of war, anyone who, with the intention of aiding a hostile power, or of causing harm to German or allied troops", commits any of the crimes defined in paragraph 90 of the German Penal Code "shall be punished with death for war treason". Specifically, Cavell was charged under paragraph 90 (1) no. 3 Reichsstrafgesetzbuch, for "conveying troops to the enemy", a crime normally punishable by life imprisonment in peacetime. It was possible to charge Cavell with war treason s paragraph 160 of the German Military Code extended application of paragraph 58 to foreigners "present in the zone of war". While the First Geneva Convention ordinarily guaranteed protection of medical personnel, such protection was forfeit if medical practices were seen to be used as cover for belligerent action. This forfeiture is expressed in article 7 of the 1906 version of the convention, which was the version in force at the time and was used to justify the sentence.

German civil governor Baron von der Lancken is known to have stated that Cavell should be pardoned because of her complete honesty and because she had helped save so many lives, German as well as Allied.

Execution

The night before her execution, Cavell told the Reverend H Stirling Gahan, the Anglican chaplain of Christ Church Brussels, who had been allowed to see her and to give her Holy Communion, "I am thankful to have had these ten weeks of quiet to get ready. Now I have had them and have been kindly treated here. I expected my sentence and I believe it was just. Standing as I do in view of God and Eternity, I realise that patriotism is not enough, I must have no hatred or bitterness towards anyone." Cavell's final words to the German Lutheran prison chaplain, Paul Le Seur, were recorded as, "Ask Father Gahan to tell my loved ones later on that my soul, as I believe, is safe, and that I am glad to die for my country."

At 7am on 12th October 1915, Edith Cavell was shot.

Her body was buried next to the prison but after the war her body returned for a memorial service at Westminster Abbey before being laid to rest at Norwich Cathedral. Cavell was one of only three sets of British remains repatriated following the end of the War.

Edith Cavell devoted her life to serving and saving others. She treated and cared for thousands of lives during her nursing career and while in wartime Belgium she treated soldiers on both sides of the wire.

Follow Nurses of 1WW

If you’d like to take a tour of the locations closely associated with either Edith or nursing units during the Great War, contact us today.

Advent Calendar - Day 8 - Freddie Stowers

Corporal Freddie Stowers was born in Sandy Springs, South Carolina, USA. Before the outbreak of the Great War, he worked as a farm hand. He married Pearl and they had a daughter called Minnie Lee.

Stowers was drafted into the Army in 1917, and assigned to Company C, 1st Battalion of the 371st Infantry Regiment, originally part of the 93d Infantry Division, a segregated unit.

Despite General Pershing’s express desire that American troops would fight as an independent force, not to be subsumed into French or British units for example, this zeal did not carry forward when it came to African American soldiers.

Initially, African American troops were officially barred from serving as front line infantry troops alongside their white comrades. Instead, they were put into the Service of Supply, labour units. This was critical work and no war can be fought without it, but these men wanted to do more. It was a very deliberate act of segregation. Facing mounting criticism from civil rights movements back home, two all black divisions were created, the 92nd and the 93rd. The 93rd served as part of the French 4th Army, wearing French uniforms and taking orders from French officers.

Early on the morning of 28th September 1918, Stowers' company was ordered to assault Côte 188, a heavily defended hill in the Ardennes region of the Western Front.

German resistance was initially strong with rapid rifle fire, machine gun nests littering the hillside and artillery raining down. American troops slowly made their way forward, until the Germans signalled that they would surrender. This proved to be a false flag, and the machine guns opened up once again on unsuspecting American troops. This took a terrible toll on Freddie’s unit, his Lieutenant and most senior NCO going down.

Freddie immediately took command of the situation and rallied his men. He began crawling toward a German machine gun nest and shouted for his men to follow. The platoon successfully reached the first German trench line and neutralised the machine guns by enfilade fire. Stowers then reorganised his force and led a charge against the second German line of trenches. During this second assault, Stowers was struck by fire from an enemy machine gun, but kept going until he was struck for a second time. He collapsed from loss of blood, but ordered his men not to be discouraged but to keep going. Inspired by Stowers' courage, the men forged ahead and successfully drove the Germans from the hill. Stowers however, was to die from those wounds. Freddie died wearing a French uniform.

He is buried at the stunning Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery.

Shortly after his death, Stowers was recommended for the Medal of Honor; however, this recommendation was never processed. Three other black soldiers were recommended for Medals of Honor, but were instead awarded the next highest award, the Distinguished Service Cross. In Stowers' case, the official position is that his recommendation was "misplaced," which is plausible given that the other three MOH recommendations for black soldiers were at least processed, even if the decision to award the DSC remains controversial and possibly racism-related.

In 1990, at the instigation of Congress, the Department of the Army conducted a review and the Stowers recommendation was uncovered. Subsequently, a team was dispatched to France to investigate the circumstances of Stowers' death. Based on information collected by this team, the Army Decorations Board approved the award of the Medal of Honor. On 24th April 1991, 73 years after his death, Stowers' surviving sisters, Georgina and Mary, received the medal from President George H. W. Bush at the White House.

His citation read:

Cpl. Freddie Stowers distinguished himself by exceptional heroism on 28 September 1918 while serving as a squad leader in Company C, 371st Infantry Regiment, 93d Infantry Division. His company was the lead company during the attack on Hill 188, Champagne Marne Sector, France, during World War I. A few minutes after the attack began, the enemy ceased firing and began climbing up onto the parapets of the trenches, holding up their arms as if wishing to surrender. The enemy's actions caused the American forces to cease fire and to come out into the open. As the company started forward and when within about 100 meters of the trench line, the enemy jumped back into their trenches and greeted Cpl. Stowers' company with interlocking bands of machine-gun fire and mortar fire causing well over fifty percent casualties. Faced with incredible enemy resistance, Cpl. Stowers took charge, setting such a courageous example of personal bravery and leadership that he inspired his men to follow him in the attack. With extraordinary heroism and complete disregard of personal danger under devastating fire, he crawled forward, leading his squad toward an enemy machine-gun nest which was causing heavy casualties to his company. After fierce fighting, the machine-gun position was destroyed and the enemy soldiers were killed. Displaying great courage and intrepidity Cpl. Stowers continued to press the attack against a determined enemy. While crawling forward and urging his men to continue the attack on a second trench line, he was gravely wounded by machine-gun fire. Although Cpl. Stowers was mortally wounded, he pressed forward, urging on the members of his squad, until he died. Inspired by the heroism and display of bravery of Cpl. Stowers, his company continued the attack against incredible odds, contributing to the capture of Hill 188 and causing heavy enemy casualties. Cpl. Stowers' conspicuous gallantry, extraordinary heroism, and supreme devotion to his men were well above and beyond the call of duty, follow the finest traditions of military service, and reflect the utmost credit on him and the United States Army.

I have read this citation to guests on tour while standing at his grave - it is always a struggle to get through in one go without a little lip wobble.

In this post, we give thanks to a man whos quick thinking and leadership undoubtedly saved many of his men.

Visit Freddie Stowers

If you’d like to walk in the footsteps of Freddie or other American soldiers in the First World War, please contact us today so we can help you plan the perfect itinerary.

Advent Calendar - 7th December - Witold Pilecki

Witold Pilecki is the only inmate known to be voluntarily imprisoned at Auschwitz.

Witold was born on 13th May 1901 to patriotic Polish Catholic parents in Olonets, then a small town in the Russian Empire.

After serving in the Polish Army and seeing action in the Polish–Soviet War, he settled in Lida (then in Poland, now in Belarus). He married a local school teacher Maria Ostrowska in 1931 and they had two children.

Witold was called up to defend Poland against the Nazi invasion but following defeat he made his way to Warsaw to join the underground resistance. In August 1940, a group of Polish political opponents were imprisoned in Auschwitz. When telegrams arrived announcing their death, Witold become suspicious as to what was really happening at this place, he volunteered to investigate.

On 19th September 1940, Witold intentionally allowed himself to be arrested by the Nazis. He was transported to Auschwitz with around 1,800 other Polish political prisoners. He was to remain there for two and a half years as prisoner 4859.

His mission was to raise the morale of Polish political prisoners by bringing news from outside the camp, as well as to report on camp conditions, to the Home Army in Warsaw. In October 1940, he successfully sent out his first report, taken by a released inmate as Auschwitz at this time was a concentration camp for political prisoners. The report made it to the Polish Government-in-exile in March 1941, who passed it onto the Allies.

Witold’s time in the camp meant he saw it evolve from a place of holding individuals in depraved conditions, to the experiments that were conducted on Soviets and Roma and finally the preparations for industrial slaughter.

Witold established a secret network of captured resistance fighters inside Auschwitz and set about discovering as much as they could about the operations of Auschwitz. They build a radio transmitter from smuggled parts and reported on conditions until the risk of discovery became too high.

His bravery and will-power cannot be overstated. In his report he describes the hunger as ‘the hardest battle of [his] life’. He harboured doubts during stays in the lice-ridden hospital ward suffering from Pneumonia and Typhus. He was overwhelmed by his mission at times, but refused to admit it to his colleagues in case it damaged their morale.

To begin with, escape attempts for his group of resistance fighters were forbidden due to the nature of group reprisals enacted by the Nazis. However, once group punishment was abandoned, the organisation actively assisted escapees. On one occasion, Witold gave up his own planned escape route through the sewers, to an inmate in more imminent danger.

He eventually escaped in April 1943 when he and his two companions removed the bolts from a heavy door whilst the guards’ backs were turned. The three escapees journeyed for 100km on foot before they could rest in relative safety. It took them a week. He would then return to Warsaw some months later to take arm ups in the Warsaw uprising of 1944 but he was captured and sent to Germany.

When the camps were liberated at the end of the war, he was sent to Italy where he joined the Polish Armed Forces. It was here that he wrote his comprehensive report on his time in Auschwitz, now known as ‘Witold’s Report’. Despite his relative safety in Italy, Pilecki returned once again to Warsaw to gather intelligence on the newly established Polish Communist government. The Nazis had been overthrown, but so had the Polish Government-in-exile. To Witold and the Home Army, Poland was still not free, but subservient to their Soviet ‘liberators’.

Witold was captured by the Communist Polish authorities on 8th May 1947. Accused of spying and of planning to assassinate key figures in the Polish police, he was coerced and tortured to sign his ‘confession’. A sham trial was set up and he was subsequently executed on 25th May 1948 in Mokotow prison.

It took many years for Witold’s name to be recognised for the hero he was, not only for Poland but for democracy as a whole.

What bravery and determination it took to stay in a place for so long, that we now know is synonymous for death and despair. His vital reports helped the allies build an understanding of what the Nazis were creating, not only in Poland, but across Europe, reports that could be used in war crimes trials. How awful that Witold’s life would be taken by the replacing regime.

Advent Calendar - 6th December 2024 - Noor Inayat Khan

Noor-Un-Nissa Inayat Khan, also known as Noor Inayat Khan, Nora Baker or Madeline as was her codename, was to be the first female Special Operations Executive wireless operator to be dropped into occupied France during the Second World War.

Noor was born in Russia in 1914. Her father, Inayat Khan was from India and came from a family of Indian Muslims with hereditary nobles and classical musicians among both sides of his ancestors. Inayat Khan's great-great-grandfather was Tipu Sultan the ruler of Mysore. Noor’s mother, Pirani Ameena Begum, was an American.

Shortly before the outbreak of the First World War, the family left Russia, destined for London and settling in Bloomsbury. Six years later they moved to Paris. After the death of her father in 1927, Noor had to grow up fast, evolving from a quiet child to protector of her siblings and carer for her grief stricken mother. Through her studies and talents, Noor was to become an accomplished musician and writer.

When France fell to the Nazis in May 1940, the family fled to Bordeaux and then boarded a ship to Cornwall, UK.

Noor was to write:

"I wish some Indians would win high military distinction in this war. If one or two could do something in the Allied service which was very brave and which everybody admired it would help to make a bridge between the English people and the Indians."

She was compelled to do something for the war effort, and in November 1940, she joined the Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) as an Aircraftwoman 2nd Class. She was sent for training as a wireless operator. Upon assignment to a bomber training school in June 1941, she applied for a commission in a bid to do more and relieve the boredom!

Noor was recruited to join F (France) Section of the Special Operations Executive; and in early February 1943 she was posted to the Air Ministry, Directorate of Air Intelligence, seconded to First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (FANY). She was sent to Wanborough Manor, near Guildford in Surrey, after which she was ordered to Aylesbury, in Buckinghamshire, for special training as a wireless operator in occupied territory. Having had previous wireless telegraphy training, Noor had an edge on others just starting out and proved to be both fast and accurate.

The ultimate training exercise however, was the mock Gestapo interrogation, intended to give agents a taste of what might be in store for them if they were captured. The report into this part of her training was fairly damning, "she seemed terrified … so overwhelmed she nearly lost her voice", and that afterwards, "she was trembling and quite blanched. Her final report read: "Not overburdened with brains but has worked hard and shown keenness, apart from some dislike of the security side of the course. She has an unstable and temperamental personality and it is very doubtful whether she is really suited to work in the field." Next to this comment, Maurice Buckmaster, the head of F Section, had written in the margin "Nonsense" and that "We don't want them overburdened with brains."

Noor's superiors held mixed opinions on her suitability for clandestine work and her training was cut short due to the need to get agents out in the field as soon as possible. Her physical exercise field reports were also far from top marks, notes including "Can run very well but otherwise clumsy. Unsuitable for jumping", and "Pretty scared of weapons but tries hard to get over it." As the time came for a final assessment on Noor’s suitablitie’s, the intelligence officer for F Section, Vera Atkins, insisted Noor's commitment was unquestioned.

Noor's work was to be one of the most dangerous jobs going. The wireless operator was the linchpin of a resistance group, receiving and transmitted messages between London and in the field. Without such communication it was almost impossible for any resistance strategy to be co-ordinated - nothing would happen without her.

Hiding themselves as best they could, with aerials strung up in attics or disguised as washing lines, they tapped out Morse on the key of transmitters, and would often wait alone for hours for a reply saying the messages had been received. If they stayed on the air transmitting for more than 20 minutes, their signals were likely to be picked up by the enemy, and detection vans would trace the source of these suspect signals. When the operator moved location, the bulky transmitter had to be carried, sometimes concealed in a suitcase or in a bundle of firewood. If stopped and searched, the operator would have no cover story to explain the transmitter. In 1943, an operator's life expectancy was six weeks.

Just before Noor was to leave for France, Atkins was told that she may not be up for the mission, but Noor was adamant, she was happy to go. The core issues was saying goodbye to her mother. Atkins asked if there was anything she could do to help with family matters. Noor said that, should she go missing, she would like Atkins to avoid worrying her mother as far as possible. The normal procedure, as Noor knew, was that when an agent went to the field, Vera would send out a periodic "good news" letters to the family, letting them know the person concerned was well. If the agent went missing, the family would be told so. What Noor was suggesting was that bad news should be broken to her mother only if it was beyond any doubt that she was dead. Atkins said she would agree to this arrangement if it was what she wanted. With this assurance Noor seemed content and confident once more.

Promoted to Assistant Section Officer (the WAAF equivalent of RAF pilot officer), Noor was to fly into France by Lysander and make her way to Paris to link up with the leader of a Prosper sub-circuit named Emile Garry. Once on the ground Noor would make contact with the Prosper circuit organizer, Francis Suttill, and take on her new persona as a children's nurse, "Jeanne-Marie Renier", using fake papers in that name. To her SOE colleagues, however, she would be known simply as "Madeleine".

From 24 June 1943 the 'Prosper' network that Noor had been sent to be a radio operator for began to be rounded up by the Germans. Noor remained in radio contact with London. When Buckmaster told her she would be flown home, she told him she would prefer to remain, as she believed she was the only radio operator remaining in Paris. Buckmaster agreed to this, though she was told only to receive signals, not to transmit.

Noor Inayat Khan was betrayed to the Germans, possibly by Renée Garry. Garry was the sister of Émile Henri Garry, the head agent of the 'Cinema' and 'Phono' circuits, and Inayat Khan's organiser in the Cinema network.

Renée Garry was allegedly paid 100,000 francs (some sources state 500 pounds). Her actions have been attributed at least partially to Garry's suspicion that she had lost the affections of SOE agent France Antelme to Noor. After the war, she was tried but escaped conviction by one vote. On or around 13 October 1943, Noor was arrested and interrogated at the SD Headquarters at 84 Avenue Foch in Paris. During that time, she attempted escape twice.

Noor did not talk about her activities under interrogation but the SD found her notebooks. Contrary to security regulations, Noor had copied out all the messages she had sent as an SOE operative (this may have been due to her misunderstanding what a reference to filing meant in her orders, and also the truncated nature of her security course due to the need to insert her into France as soon as possible). Although Noor refused to reveal any secret codes, the Germans gained enough information from them to continue sending false messages imitating her.

Some claim London failed to properly investigate anomalies which would have indicated the transmissions were sent under enemy control, in particular the change in the 'fist' (the style of her type)

As a result, however, three more agents sent to France were captured by the Germans at their parachute landing. Colonel Maurice Buckmaster ignored the message as unreliable because he did not know who Olschanezky was. As a result, German transmissions from Noor's radio continued to be treated as genuine, leading to the unnecessary deaths of SOE agents, including Olschanezky herself, who was executed at Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp on 6 July 1944.

On 25 November 1943, Noor escaped from the SD Headquarters, along with fellow SOE agent John Renshaw Starr and resistance leader Léon Faye, but was recaptured in the vicinity. There was an air raid alert as they escaped across the roof. Regulations required a count of prisoners at such times and their escape was discovered before they could get away. After refusing to sign a declaration renouncing future escape attempts, Noor was taken Pforzheim for ten months. She gave nothing away, but she scratched messages on the base of her mess cup, informing her inmates of her identity, giving the name of Nora Baker and the London address of her mother's house.

On 12 September 1944, Noor Inayat Khan was transferred to Dachau concentration camp along with three fellow agents. At dawn on the following morning the four women were executed.

George Cross and Ribbon bar.

The announcement of the award of the George Cross was made in the London Gazette of 5 April 1949 and gives us a much better understating of what Noor endured,

The KING has been graciously pleased to approve the posthumous award of the GEORGE CROSS to:— Assistant Section Officer Nora INAYAT-KHAN (9901), Women's Auxiliary Air Force.
Assistant Section Officer Nora INAYAT-KHAN was the first woman operator to be infiltrated into enemy occupied France, and she was landed by Lysander aircraft on 16th June, 1943. During the weeks immediately following her arrival, the Gestapo made mass arrests in the Paris Resistance groups to which she had been detailed. However, she refused to abandon what had become the principal and most dangerous post in France, even though she had been given the opportunity to return to England, because she did not want to leave her French comrades without communications and she also hoped to rebuild her group. Therefore, she remained at her post and did the excellent work which earned her a posthumous Mention in Despatches.
The Gestapo had a full description of her, but it only knew her code name "Madeleine". It deployed considerable forces in its effort to catch her and break the last remaining link with London. After 3 months, she was betrayed to the Gestapo and taken to its H.Q. in the Avenue Foch. The Gestapo had found her codes and messages and as a result, it was now in a position to work back to London. It asked her to co-operate, but she refused and gave it no information of any kind. She was imprisoned in one of the cells on the 5th floor of the Gestapo H.Q. and she remained there for several weeks during which time she made two unsuccessful attempts to escape. She was asked to sign a declaration which stated that she would make no further escape attempts, but she refused to sign it and the Chief of the Gestapo obtained permission to send her to Germany for "safe custody" from Berlin. She was the first enemy agent to be sent to Germany.
Assistant Section Officer INAYAT-KHAN was sent to Karlsruhe in November 1943, and then she was sent to Pforzheim where her cell was apart from the main prison. She was considered a particularly dangerous and uncooperative prisoner. The Director of the prison was also interrogated and confirmed that Assistant Section Officer INAYAT-KHAN refused to give any information whatsoever, either about her work or her colleagues when she was interrogated by the Karlsruhe Gestapo.
She was taken to the Dachau Concentration Camp with three other female prisoners on 12 September 1944. On her arrival, she was taken to the crematorium and shot.
Assistant Section Officer INAYAT-KHAN displayed the most conspicuous courage, both moral and physical over a period of more than 12 months.

Noor is such a deserving figure in our 2024 advent calendar. She chose one of the most dangerous jobs and when offered a way out, she said no. When she was offered an escape route, she declined, as there was no one else to do the job. She paid the ultimate. We must never forget her name, her work, her dedicated.

Advent Calendar 2024 - 5th December - Sophie Scholl

We couldn’t have an advent calendar of historical figures that have served or saved other, without including one of Sophie’s personal heroes, Sophie Scholl.

Sophie Scholl was born in May 1921, the fourth of six children. The family moved to Ulm in the south west German state of Baden-Württemberg when Sophie was 10.

After the Nazis came to power in January 1933, Sophie, along with most of her siblings and it has to be said, many many Germans, were excited to see what was considered a positive change for Germany and a chance at a brighter future.

Sophie was particularly intrigued by the Party’s focus on nature and community experiences (youth groups, away days, group activities for example). She joined the Bund Deutscher Mädel (League of German Girls) and quickly rose in their ranks.

Sophie’s parents however, made it very clear they did not share their children’s enthusiasm for the Nazi Party. Their father Robert was a strong Christian and made it a daily practice to debate views and ideals at the dinner table.

The White Rose Movement

The Scholl children were to become founding members of the White Rose movement, a group for young people that loved outdoor exploration and adventure, music, literature and German Romanticism.

Originally seen as compatible with Nazi ideology by many, these alternative groups were slowly dissolved and finally banned by 1936. Hans remained active in one such group and was subsequently arrested in 1937. Some say that this was the key moment that changed the opinions of Sophie and Hans, how could the German state use such force again a group with such light hearted ideals?

Outbreak of War

At the outbreak of war, life for German citizens was to change immediately. Her older brothers were sent off to fight and Sophie’s plans for her studies and future career were taken from her.

She wanted to study biology and philosophy but in order to be allowed this, students had to spend a period of time working for the state in the National Labour Service which she did in the spring of 1941. She hated the intense authority, regimented work and the fact she could no longer express herself as an individual. She wrote down her thoughts, noting that her “soul was hungry"—she longed for an autonomous life, an end to the war, and for happiness with her boyfriend Fritz Hartnagel, who was now fighting on the Eastern front. Her doubts about the regime grew.

When she finally moved to Munich to study biology and philosophy in May 1942, her brother Hans, a medical student at the same university, and some of his friends had already begun to actively question the regime. Having served on the Eastern Front, they learned about the atrocities committed and saw the misery with their own eyes. They knew they couldn’t remain quiet. Starting in June 1942, they began printing and distributing leaflets in and around Munich, calling their fellow students and the German public to action. We must remember that questioning the regime, even in the privacy of your own home, was a crime. To publicly criticise and question was an incredibly dangerous move.

Sophie had no idea that her brother Hans was one of the students involved, but when she did, she immediately requested to join the group and participate.

Actions of the White Rose in Munich

At the core of the movement were siblings Hans and Sophie Scholl, their fellow students Alexander Schmorell, Willi Graf, Christoph Probst, and a professor of philosophy and musicology at the University of Munich, Kurt Huber. Together they published and distributed six pamphlets, first typed on a typewriter, then multiplied via mimeograph. At first, they only distributed them via mail, going through phone books for addresses and hand-writing each envelope. Eventually they were distribute thousands, reaching households all over Germany. Acquiring such large amounts of paper, envelopes, and stamps at a time of strict rationing without raising suspicion was problematic, but the students managed by engaging a wide-ranging network of supporters in cities and towns as far north as Hamburg, and as far south as Vienna. These networks were also activated to distribute the pamphlets, attempting to trick the Gestapo into believing the White Rose had locations all across the country.

He we see the text of their third pamphlet:

“Our current ‘state’ is the dictatorship of evil. We know that already, I hear you object, and we don’t need you to reproach us for it yet again. But, I ask you, if you know that, then why don’t you act? Why do you tolerate these rulers gradually robbing you, in public and in private, of one right after another, until one day nothing, absolutely nothing, remains but the machinery of the state, under the command of criminals and drunkards?”

Their fifth pamphlet escalated calls for active resistance and sabotage:

“And now every convinced opponent of National Socialism must ask himself how he can fight against the present ‘state’ in the most effective way….We cannot provide each man with the blueprint for his acts, we can only suggest them in general terms, and he alone will find the way of achieving this end: Sabotage in armament plants and war industries, sabotage at all gatherings, rallies, public ceremonies, and organizations of the National Socialist Party. Obstruction of the smooth functioning of the war machine….Try to convince all your acquaintances…of the senselessness of continuing, of the hopelessness of this war; of our spiritual and economic enslavement at the hands of the National Socialists; of the destruction of all moral and religious values; and urge them to passive resistance!”

By early January 1943, the group believes their work is making a real difference in the way Germans view the Party. They seek to intensify their activity:

Their sixth and last pamphlet read:

“Even the most dull-witted German has had his eyes opened by the terrible bloodbath, which, in the name of the freedom and honour of the German nation, they have unleashed upon Europe, and unleash anew each day. The German name will remain forever tarnished unless finally the German youth stands up, pursues both revenge and atonement, smites our tormentors, and founds a new intellectual Europe. Students! The German people look to us! The responsibility is ours: just as the power of the spirit broke the Napoleonic terror in 1813, so too will it break the terror of the National Socialists in 1943.”

On 18th February 1943, Hans and Sophie set off for University ready to distribute further. In an attempt to show more people their work, Sophie pushes a stack of leaflets off the side of a balcony, leaving them to flutter their way down like confetti. In this moment, Sophie would bring the group down and end their lives.

She was spotted by a janitor, a staunch supporter of the Nazis, who had Hans and Sophie immediately arrested by the Gestapo. The draft for the seventh pamphlet was still in Hans’ bag, which led to Christoph Probst’s arrest the same day.

The three young people endured a mock trial after long and arduous interrogations. In an attempt to save their friends, Hans and Sophie took all the blame for the White Rose’s actions. Sadly Willi Graf, Alexander Schmorell, and Kurt Huber were arrested later in February and put to death shortly after.

After a half-day trial led by the infamous Roland Freisler, president of the People’s Court, Hans, Sophie, and Christoph were sentenced to death for treason. Despite this horrific prospect, Sophie did not waver. Freisler asked her as the closing question whether she hadn’t “indeed come to the conclusion that [her] conduct and the actions along with [her] brother and other persons in the present phase of the war should be seen as a crime against the community?” Sophie answered: 

“I am, now as before, of the opinion that I did the best that I could do for my nation. I therefore do not regret my conduct and will bear the consequences that result from my conduct.”

What an incredible statement by one so young .

Sophie Scholl, Hans Scholl, and Christoph Probst were executed by guillotine on 22nd February 1943. Sophie was just 21 years old.

The text of the sixth leaflet was smuggled into the United Kingdom where they were reprinted and dropped over Germany by Allied planes in July of the same year.

Legacy

The actions of the White Rose Movement definitely caused concern and created increased activity for the Gestapo, as it was believed they were a much bigger group. Thousands would have read the pamphlets but ultimately, the impact of the group was small in scale at the time.

Sophie and the group’s legacy post war and for us today however, is much larger and it is a story that we must tell as often as we can.

Watching evil unfold, these young people refused to stay silent. When presented with a slim chance to save themselves by denouncing others, they refused. They knew their fate and went bravely to it for a cause much larger that themselves. History will be forever kind to Sophie, her brother and friends.

Visit Munich Memorial

Outside the entrance to Munich University is a memorial to Sophie and her group’s actions - a moving set of pamphlets on the ground that every student will see as they enter their place of education.

If you’d like to explore key historical sites including Munich, with one of Sophie’s Great War Tours experts, contact us today: sophie@sophiesgreatwartours.com

White Rose Memorial Munich

Advent Calendar 2024 - 4th December - Noel Chavasse

On Day 4 of our advent calendar we have chosen to focus on another extraordinary man, one that is part of an extremely exclusive club.

Noel Chavasse is one of only 3 men in the world ever to receive the Victoria Cross, twice!

Noel was the younger of identical twins, their father being the Rev Francis Chavasse, later the Bishop of Liverpool. The Chavasse family were from Oxford, but when the Anglican Bishopric of Liverpool became an available post and awarded to Noel’s father, they all moved.

Noel returned to Oxford to study medicine at Trinity College but he was also a great sportsman, eventually competing for Great Britain at the 400m at the Olympics.

In January 1909, Noel joined the Oxford University Officers' Training Corps Medical Unit. By the following May, he was promoted to lance-sergeant. Noel finished his studies at Oxford in July 1909 and returned to Liverpool to continue his studies there.

On 22 July 1912, he registered as a doctor with the General Medical Council. In early 1913, after discussions with some of his fellow doctors, Chavasse applied for and was accepted by the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC).

Once over on the Western Front, Chavasse was awarded the Military Cross for gallantry at Hooge, Belgium in June 1915. He was promoted to Captain on 1 April 1915 amd later in the year was Mentioned in Despatches.

Chavasse was first awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions on 9 August 1916, at Guillemont on the Somme when he attended to the wounded all day under heavy fire. The full citation reads:

For most conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty.

During an attack, he tended the wounded in the open all day, under heavy fire, frequently in view of the enemy. During the ensuing night, he searched for wounded on the ground in front of the enemy's lines for four hours.

The next day, he took one stretcher-bearer to the advanced trenches and, under heavy shell fire, carried an urgent case for 500 yards into safety, being wounded in the side by a shell splinter during the journey. The same night, he took up a party of twenty volunteers, rescued three wounded men from a shell hole twenty-five yards from the enemy's trench, buried the bodies of two officers, and collected many identity discs, although fired on by bombs and machine guns.

Altogether, he saved the lives of some twenty badly wounded men, besides the ordinary cases that passed through his hands. His courage and self-sacrifice were beyond praise.

Chavasse's second award was made during the period 31 July to 2 August 1917, at Wieltje, Belgium; the full citation reading:

His Majesty the KING has been graciously pleased to approve of the award of a Bar to the Victoria Cross to Capt. Noel Godfrey Chavasse, V.C., M.C., late R.A.M.C., attd. L'pool R.

For most conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty when in action.

Though severely wounded early in the action while carrying a wounded soldier to the Dressing Station, Capt. Chavasse refused to leave his post and, for two days, not only continued to perform his duties but, in addition, went out repeatedly under heavy fire to search for and attend to the wounded who were lying out.

During these searches, although practically without food during this period, worn with fatigue and faint with his wound, he assisted in carrying in a number of badly wounded men over heavy and difficult ground.

Through his extraordinary energy and inspiring example, he was instrumental in rescuing many wounded who would have otherwise undoubtedly succumbed under the bad weather conditions.

This devoted and gallant officer subsequently died of his wounds.

Chavasse is buried Brandhoek New Military Cemetery close to the centre of Ypres.

It is always something to see a Victoria Cross on a headstone. You know instantly that the individual you are stood by did something extraordinary. To see two crosses is quite a wow moment. It is also quite difficult to read the citations as you stand next to Noel’s final resting place. He clearly was an incredible human being, devoted to the wellbeing of others.

It is my belief that given Noel’s expertise in infection and immunology, he knew just how important was for soldiers to be off the battlefield and wounds kept clean. I think this is what drove him to keep going out to recover men.

Visit Brandhoek New Military Cemetery

If you’d like to visit the places that Noel served and pay your respects at his graveside, contact a member of the team today: sophie@sophiesgreatwartours.com

Advent Calendar 2024 - 3rd December - Jerzy Iwanow-Szajnowicz

Jerzy Iwanow-Szajnowicz was born in Warsaw on 14 December 1911, to a Russian army colonel and Polish mother. His parents divorced and his mother re-married a Greek man, moving them to Thessaloniki. Here he settled and excelled in sports, becoming a swimming champion and then part of the national Polish water polo team. 

With the outbreak of the Second World War and the Nazi invasion of Europe, Iwanow set about trying to help Poles evacuate to Greece.

Fleeing the German invasion of Greece in April 1941, he left the country for the Middle East, joining the exiled Polish forces there. There he was selected by the Polish intelligence and the SOE for an undercover mission in Greece.

On 13 October 1941, the British submarine HMS Thunderbolt (N25) brought him to the coast of Attica near Nea Makri, Greece. His underground activity in Greece was to become legendary, subsequently making him one of the Nazis most wanted men.

He established an extensive intelligence network for the Allies reporting on the military and political situation in Greece, on the Greek war industry, and began a campaign of mass sabotage.

He was responsible for destroying the German aircraft motor repair facilities in the Maltsiniotis plant, which is credited with affecting over 400 engines and causing the crash of several German aircraft due to engine malfunctions. His name is also associated with the destruction of two German U-boats, U-133 and U-372, sabotaging the latter and forcing it to surface so it could be attacked by the RAF off Haifa.

He was captured by the Gestapo after being betrayed by one of his associates, Konstantinos Pantos, but he managed to escape after 3 days. The price on his head was 500,000 drachmas, a tempting proposition for some, and he was betrayed once more on 8 September 1942. He was sentenced to a triple death sentence but intriguingly, he was offered up in a spy exchange for a German general - something rejected by the British. Iwanow was executed at the Kaisariani shooting range on 4 January 1943. In the seconds before execution he attempted to escape. He was just a few meters from a bush when he was shot, wounded and put back in front of the execution squad. 

On 30 March 1945, the Polish government in exile honoured Iwanow with the Virtuti Militari cross and in 1962 he was decorated by the British government for his service with the Polish forces. In the 1970s he was awarded the highest Greek medal for gallantry, the Cross of Valourin Gold. 

In spite of these eventual accolades, recognising the number of 'hits' of strategic important throughout the war, Iwanow’s name as an exceptional allied asset remains little known. 

He was clearly a man of exceptional spirit, talent and courage, wanting to do his bit to bring the war to an end as soon as possible, riding Nazism from Europe altogether. 

Sophie’s Great War Tours 2025

Thousands of years of history in Greece can be explored with the help of experts at Sophie’s Great War Tours. Get in touch today to start planning your historical adventure.

Advent Calendar 2024 - 2nd December

Lady Dorothie Mary Evelyn Feilding-Moore MM was to become one of the most highly decorated volunteer nurses and ambulance drivers of the First World War. 

She was the first woman to be awarded the Military Medal for bravery in the field. She also received the 1914 Star, the Croix de Guerre from the French and the Order of Leopold II from the Belgians for services to their wounded.

Dorothie was born on 6th October 1889 to Rudolph Feilding, 9th Earl of Denbigh and the Countess of Denbigh.

She was educated at home in Monks Kirby, Warwickshire, and at the Convent of the Assumption in Paris, where she became fluent in French. She made her debut in May 1908 at the age of 18, being presented to the King and Queen of the United Kingdom by her mother.

At the outbreak of the First World War, like so many others, Dorothie was compelled to do her bit, as did her siblings, three of her brothers and sisters would serve.  Her brother Lieutenant-Commander (Royal Navy) the Hon. Hugh Feilding, was killed at the Battle of Jutland, 1916. 

In September 1914, after a short training course at Rugby Hospital, Feilding travelled to Belgium where she began driving ambulances for the Munro Ambulance Corps (founded by Dr Hector Munro). 

This corps, comprising a convoy of motor ambulances donated by the British Red Cross, would transport men from close to front line positions between Nieuwpoort and Diksmuide to the hospitals at Veurne (Belgium). 

Although from an aristocratic background, Feilding was said to have an easy demeanour that transcended social boundaries, one that endeared her to all.  Her "five o'clock teas" among the ruins of Furnes became legendary.

Dorothie's work took her to well within artillery range and therefore she was often in great danger.

She was recognised in a 'special order of the day' issued on 31 December 1914 by French Rear-Admiral Pierre Ronarc'h, commanding the Fusiliers Marins for which she subsequently received the French Croix de Guerre (bronze star). In 1916, Commander Henry Crosby Halahan, RN, Officer Commanding Royal Naval Siege Guns, wrote the following letter of recommendation to Prince Alexander of Teck, head of the British Military Mission in Belgium:

I venture to submit that Lady Dorothie Feilding should in like manner be rewarded. The circumstances are peculiar in that, this being an isolated Unit, no Medical organization existed for clearing casualties other than this voluntary one and owing to indifferent means of communication etc, it was necessary for the Ambulance to be in close touch with the guns when in action. (She) was thus frequently exposed to risks which probably no other woman has undergone. She has always displayed a devotion to duty and contempt of danger which has been a source of admiration to all. I speak only of her work with the Naval Siege Guns, but your Serene Highness is also aware of her devoted services to the Belgian Army and to the French – notably to the Brigade des Marins.

This citation ultimately resulted in Feilding becoming the first woman awarded the Military Medal for bravery on 1 September 1916 as notified in the London Gazette.

She served with the corps in Flanders until June 1917 when she returned home to marry Captain Charles Joseph Henry O'Hara Moore, MC, of Mooresfort, County Tipperary. After a brief honeymoon period, Feilding was back behind the wheel of an ambulance, ferrying the wounded around London.

I stumbled across Dorothie's grave in lockdown, one of those moments where we were finally able to go out for a walk locally. Despite living in the area for more than a decade, I had never walked around the picturesque village of Monks Kirby. I noticed a slightly shabby grave (it had picked up all the dirt that comes from being under several trees) but then I saw a detailed increspription. I went straight home to research her. 

Wow! What a woman. I was drawn back to her graveside two further times in quick succession, one time placing a poppy cross. 

While we often think of the combatants and what they endured in war, we must never forget those non-combatants, their contribution to saving lives, and in this case, an incredibly heroic woman who volunteered to be there. 

Advent Calendar 2024 - 1st December

Lt Maurice Dease is our first historical figure we remember as part of our advent calendar.

Dease was born on 28 September 1889 in Gaulstown, Ireland. He was educated in Lancashire and London before being accepted into Royal Military College, Sandhurst. Maurice was commissioned into the 4th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) on the 25th May 1910. 

Britain declared war on Germany on 4th August 1914, and the 4th Battalion Royal Fusiliers were amongst the first deployed to meet and stop the advance of the German army.

On the 23rd August the British Expeditionary Force came into contact with the German army for the first time around the small town of Mons, Belgium. Mons was a strategically important place given its position next to a canal with multiple bridges.

At this point, only a single company of the 4th Battalion (5 officers and 240 men at full strength) including the machine gun section commanded by Lt Dease, were defending the railway bridge that crossed the Mons-Conde canal. They were outnumbered two to one, although to begin with, they had no knowledge of the force they were to face.

Nimy Bridge Mons

As the first German troops approached Nimy Bridge, the Royal Fusiliers opened with fast and accurate fire, forcing the first wave back. The next waves however, were to be stronger and supported by artillery which began to take its toll on British troops.

Lieutenant Dease was the only man left from his machine-gun section and so took to firing the weapon himself. He was wounded five times, refusing to leave his position until he could fight on, no more. He was evacuated but succumbed to his wounds later that day.

Dease was to be the first man of the First World War to receive the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry.

His citation read "Though two or three times badly wounded he continued to control the fire of his machine guns at Mons on 23rd Aug., until all his men were shot. He died of his wounds."

When Lieutenant Dease had been mortally wounded, Private Sidney Godley took over the defence of the bridge, giving others time to retreat. He was also awarded the VC for his actions. He was taken prisoner.

An account of the day reads, "The machine gun crews were constantly being knocked out. So cramped was their position that when a man was hit he had to be removed before another could take his place. The approach from the trench was across the open, and whenever a gun stopped Lieutenant Maurice Dease... went up to see what was wrong. To do this once called for no ordinary courage. To repeat it several times could only be done with real heroism. Dease was badly wounded on these journeys, but insisted on remaining at duty as long as one of his crew could fire. The third wound proved fatal, and a well deserved VC was awarded him posthumously.”

From around 08:00 to 13:00 on 23rd August 1914, British troops were in constant action desperately trying to stop the German advance. It became clear that with overwhelming numbers and firepower of the Germans, it was only a matter on time.

The actions of Lt Maurice Dease gave his men the best chance at retreating and living to fight another day. Without his leadership, the position would have been overwhelmed a lot sooner with many more men being killed or captured. He was just 24 years old.

His calm and courageousness in the face of this situation, knowing he would face almost certain death is something I cannot comprehend. Today we remember Maurice and give thanks for his life.

He lies peacefully in the beautiful St. Symphorien Military Cemetery, two km east of Mons.

Lt Dease Grave

Visiting Mons

With the help of the team at SGWT, you can trace the actions of Lt Dease and his men on the exact spot. Follow the other engagements of the day and finish at St. Symphorien Military Cemetery which holds so many fascinating stories.

Contact us today to find out more: sophie@sophiesgreatwartours.com

Advent Calendar 2024!

Each year at SGWT, we like to launch our own advent calendar, with a historical twist of course!

Previously behind each door, we have revealed a military object and described its use. We have also looked into special battlefield locations, pertinent to each of our guides.

This year, each day in the run up to Christmas we will look at the life of a key historical figure, some you may not have heard of.

We have chosen men and women that have done something amazing to serve and save others.

Do follow along - we hope you enjoy and learn something on the way.

Sophie & the team.

OTD in History: French Retake Fort Douamont

There was no greater testament that Imperial Germany’s plan to “Bleed the French white” at Verdun had spectacularly backfired than the recapture to the lynchpin fortress of Fort Douaumont.

Douamont had been captured within four days of the battle, with relative ease, a time when it seemed that the Verdun salient would fall to the Germans.

However, early German successes were met with dogged French defence as General Robert Nivelle exhorted his men to hold: vous ne les laisserez pas passer (you shall not let them pass).

Verdun became a byword for futility, with the French fighting the seemingly unstoppable German army to a standstill and then gradually, yard by yard rolling them back to their starting positions. Nine months of the some of the most brutal and uncompromising fighting in human history.

The French Offensives of October, is when the Germans defences finally buckled. Douamont, was one of the final pieces of the jigsaw of victory as it occupied a key observation point for the both banks of the Meuse river. Under cover of fog on the 24th the French attacked from nearby Souville Hill taking some 6000 German prisoners. The nearby Fort Vaux, which had earlier in this epic battle been the scene of a famous French defence, was recaptured a week later. The German tide had been turned and wouldn’t again crash into the allies until the spring offensive of 1918. 

Sophie’s Great War tours runs regular bespoke, personalised, visits to Fort Douaumont and the Verdun battlefield. Tours of this iconic battlefield, which can be said to have changed world history, can be combined with visits to Paris and the beautiful Champagne region nearby. Sophie’s Great War Tours has an unrivalled reputation for designing bespoke experiences which combine the very best that France has to offer with exceptional knowledge of the battles of WW1 and WW2. If you want to visit Verdun - see and walk the trenches of WW1 today - then consider Sophie’s Great War Tours for your needs. 

Planned EU Border Entry Rules Postponed Indefinitely

The planned EU border entry rules have been postponed indefinitely. New rules for Non-EU nationals crossing EU borders were set to roll out by no later than 10th November. The proposed changes would have required individuals to submit fingerprints and facial biometric data.

It has been announced today that the scheme will be phased in over a period of time, once resilience testing has been completed.

Any customers of SGWT will always be kept up to date with the latest travel regulations, irrespective of destination.

Battle of Britain Day: 15th September

Battle of Britain Day is commemorated annually on 15th September to mark a crucial turning point during the Battle of Britain, 1940. It was a day of heavy & sustained fighting with the Germans suffering their highest losses since the 18th August.

The German offensive came in two distinct waves, giving the RAF time to refuel and rearm, ready to meet wave number two. As many as 17 squadrons, well placed were able to meet the incoming threat.

Fighting would continue for another few weeks, but the action on 15 September was seen as an overwhelming and decisive defeat for the Luftwaffe. Hitler's plans to invade Britain would have to be put on hold.

On This Day in 1914: 1st August: Germany Declares War on Russia. France Mobilizes

On this day in August 1914, Germany declares war on Russia and France mobilizes.

Receiving no response to their ultimatum of the day before, asking the Russians to cancel their mobilization, the Imperial German government declares war on the massive Tsarist empire.

The Austro-Hungarians realising, far too late, that they are now likely to be involved in a two-front war (one with the Serbs the other with Russia) is busy shifting its focus of mobilization from south to north all with predictably catastrophic results.

Meanwhile, Russia’s entente ally France, has ordered its own mobilization. It is an open secret in the Chancelleries of Europe that Germany’s war planning is predicated on delivering a mighty knockout blow to the west before turning to face the massive Russian steamroller to the east.

This is a conflict, if not long sought in France certainly long envisaged. France is less populous than Germany but can field nearly as many men as it introduced three-year national service to give itself a huge initial well of reserves. 

In Britain, the mood is one of deep anxiety and alarm; but the Liberal government of Prime Minister Asquith is still not set to join the fray. Chancellor David Lloyd George would later say that at this point there were only two members of the British cabinet who were pro-intervention. However, the invasion of Belgium would change all that. 

WW1 is one of the great break points in history. Nothing was the same after the events of 1914-1918 and we are still feeling the reverberations today. For many, one of Sophie’s Great War Tours trips is an ideal way of understanding the reality of this most bloody and significant of conflicts. Guests can follow the story of a loved one, a particular battle or be given an overview of the whole conflict. There is no better way to understand the war that shaped the modern world. 

On This Day in 1914: 30th July: Russia Orders General Mobilization

On this day in 1914, 30th July, Russia orders general mobilization. The countdown for British involvement in this conflict, is on.

What was meant to be the fourth Balkans War is fast morphing into the First World War. A little over twenty hours earlier the guns of Austro-Hungarian warships had commenced shelling Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, Tsarist Russia’s main ally in the Balkans.

A few days earlier, in response to Austrian mobilization, the Tsar orders Russian forces in the four sectors facing the Austro-Hungarian empire to go onto alert. Will it stop here? Can the war that has already broken out be contained to the Balkans?

A series of ten telegrams between the German Emperor (Willy) and the Russian Tsar (Nicky) then commences. They are full of cousinly warmth and declarations of good intent but they boil down to a simple metric, one side has to back down or there will be war.

The German’s want the Russian to stay out of the war between Austria and Serbia, while the Russians want the Germans to rein in their Hapsburg junior partners. This gives the Tsar pause for thought and he resists general mobilization initially. However, the Russian government fear that should they not mobilize their forces then they will be caught out by a swift attack from the Central Powers. 

As the hours tick away and tensions rise, the Willy-Nicky telegrams change tone and the cousins start to warn each that they will not be able to hold off general mobilization. They each profess themselves almost to be trapped by the tide of events leading their nations to war. Finally, on 30th July 1914, the Tsar takes the momentous step of confirming the order for general mobilization across the whole of its frontier facing the Central Powers. Europe is on the brink of calamity. 

Sophie’s Great War Tours undertake bespoke tours to all the major battlefields and trenches of WW1. Whether you would like to follow the war story of a relative or are interested in this titanic of conflicts, our team of professional planners and guides is here to help.  

On This Day in 1914: 28th July: The Great War Begins

On this day in 1914, Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia. The First World War begins and the countdown for Britain’s involvement is on. The world would change in so many ways, forever.

Here at Sophie’s Great War Tours, we can take you on a fascinating journey through all parts of First World War history, from Sarajevo to Versailles.

In a private and bespoke tour with an award winning operator with the backing of a luxury travel agency, you can be assured of the best in history and hospitality.

Contact a member of the team today to discuss your next adventure.