Pearl Witherington: British spy who fought the Nazis

[theHandpuppet]

Fascinating story. I'd never heard of her. Must get her biography!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-23845199

BBC News Magazine
Pearl Witherington: British spy who fought the Nazis

28 August 2013 Last updated at 20:53

The list of heroes who played a critical role in WWII is filled with famous names, but few people are familiar with Pearl Witherington's story. Perhaps that is because for decades she refused to tell it.
Born and raised in Paris, Witherington fled Nazi-occupied France only to parachute back in as part of Churchill's secret army, the Special Operations Executive.
Witherington was trained as a courier but took charge of 3,500 French resistance fighters when her network's leader was arrested.
"I don't consider I did anything extraordinary," she said. "I did it because I wanted to, because it was useful, because it had to be done."

MORE at link (including a video)

[theHandpuppet]

1. I checked on the title of her bio

Code Name Pauline: Memoirs of a World War II Special Agent (Women of Action) by Pearl Witherington Cornioley and Kathryn J. Atwood (Aug 1, 2013) is available at Amazon, both new and used copies. Quite inexpensive! I'm going to get one today.

I also saw this book advertised:

Women Aviators: 26 Stories of Pioneer Flights, Daring Missions, and Record-Setting Journeys (Women of Action) by Karen Bush Gibson (Jul 1, 2013)

The "Women of Action" appears to be a series of books currently being published.

[ismnotwasm]

2. Wow

That is incredible story. Maybe a book will lead to a well made movie..

[theHandpuppet]

3. Would be nice but I doubt it will happen

Hollywood isn't into making movies about women, even women heroes. Their prime demographic is teenaged males, who would much prefer fantasizing about themselves as superheroes or vengeful cops or just guys who drive fast cars and blow things up. They're not going to watch movies about powerful women -- I guess it makes boys feel insecure. I actually think Hollywood was a better venue for women's stories 50 or 60 years ago than it is today and roles for character actresses or older women have all but disappeared.
TV's not really any better. Tune in to the "History Channel" for six months and see if you can count on one hand the shows on women's history. Clue: you won't need to use all your fingers.