![Gers-Position](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/49/Gers-Position.svg)
Anne-Marie Walters (born,
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
, 16 March 1923 – died,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, 3 October 1998), code name ''Colette,'' was a
WAAF WAAF may refer to:
* w3af, (short for web application attack and audit framework), an open-source web application security scanner
* Women's Auxiliary Air Force, a British military service in World War II
** Waaf, a member of the service
* WAAF (AM ...
officer recruited into the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
's clandestine
Special Operations Executive
The Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a secret British World War II organisation. It was officially formed on 22 July 1940 under Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton, from the amalgamation of three existing secret organisations. Its pu ...
(SOE) organization during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. SOE agents allied themselves with
groups resisting the occupation of their countries by
Axis powers
The Axis powers, ; it, Potenze dell'Asse ; ja, 枢軸国 ''Sūjikukoku'', group=nb originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis, was a military coalition that initiated World War II and fought against the Allies. Its principal members were ...
. The purpose of SOE was to conduct espionage, sabotage, and reconnaissance in occupied countries. The SOE supplied resistance groups with weapons and equipment parachuted in from
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
.
Walters was a courier for the
Wheelwright
A wheelwright is a craftsman who builds or repairs wooden wheels. The word is the combination of "wheel" and the word "wright", (which comes from the Old English word "''wryhta''", meaning a worker or shaper of wood) as in shipwright and arkw ...
network, working from 3 January 1944 until August 1944 in southwestern
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
. Twenty-years old when she arrived in France, she was, next to
Sonya Butt
Sonya Esmée Florence Butt (14 May 1924 – 21 December 2014), also known as Sonia d'Artois, code named ''Blanche,'' was an agent of the clandestine Special Operations Executive during the Second World War. SOE agents allied themselves with gro ...
, the youngest female agent of SOE.
Early life
Walters was born in
Geneva
Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...
of an English father, F.P. Walters, who was Deputy Secretary-General of the
League of Nations
The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...
, and a French mother. She pursued her studies in the
International School of Geneva
The International School of Geneva (in French: ''Ecole Internationale de Genève''), also known as "Ecolint" or "The International School", is a private, non-profit international school based in Geneva, Switzerland.
Founded in 1924 in the servic ...
, founded in 1924 by officials of the
League of Nations
The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...
and the
International Labour Organization
The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is the first and o ...
, in collaboration with educators from the
Institut Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Rousseau Institute (also known as Jean-Jacques Rousseau Institute or Academy of Geneva; ''french: Académie De Genève'' or ''Institut Jean-Jacques Rousseau'') is a private school in Geneva, Switzerland. It is considered the first institute of edu ...
. The family left Switzerland for England after the outbreak of World War II and Walters initially joined the
WAAF WAAF may refer to:
* w3af, (short for web application attack and audit framework), an open-source web application security scanner
* Women's Auxiliary Air Force, a British military service in World War II
** Waaf, a member of the service
* WAAF (AM ...
in 1941 (Service Number 2001920.) On 6 July 1943 she was recruited into SOE and during the summer and autumn of that year underwent training as an agent at the
SOE Special Training School 23 at Loch Morar, Scotland.
World War II
In France with SOE
SOE's appraisal of Walters after the completion of her training was cautionary. "She is well-educated, intelligent, quick, practical, and cunning...
utShe will not hesitate always to make use of her physical attractiveness in gaining influence over men. In this respect she is likely to have a disturbing effect in any group in which she is a member." Nevertheless, she was approved to be sent to France as an agent of SOE.
The first attempt to parachute her into France in December 1943 failed because of bad weather over the drop zone and ended with a return to England and a crash-landing at a diversionary airfield because of widespread fog. She suffered a minor head injury in the landing.
[National Archives, Kew, HS 9/339/2]
In the company of a fellow agent,
Claude Arnault (code name ''Néron,'' but more commonly called ''Jean-Claude''), she was successfully dropped into the
Armagnac
Armagnac (, ) is a distinctive kind of brandy produced in the Armagnac region in Gascony, southwest France. It is distilled from wine usually made from a blend of grapes including Baco 22A, Colombard, Folle blanche and Ugni blanc, traditionally ...
area in SW France on the night of 3/4 January 1944, to join
George Starr's
WHEELWRIGHT
A wheelwright is a craftsman who builds or repairs wooden wheels. The word is the combination of "wheel" and the word "wright", (which comes from the Old English word "''wryhta''", meaning a worker or shaper of wood) as in shipwright and arkw ...
network (also called circuit and ''reseau''). Walters acted as a courier for Starr until after D-Day.
Yvonne Cormeau
Yvonne Cormeau, born Beatrice Yvonne Biesterfeld (18 December 1909 – 25 December 1997), code name ''Annette,'' was an agent of the United Kingdom's clandestine organization, the Special Operations Executive (SOE), in World War II. She was the ...
was Starr's wireless operator. Arnault, who was the same age as Walters, was an explosives expert. Walter's cover story was that she was a student from Paris recovering from pneumonia who was visiting a farmer friend of her fathers. She stayed with the family in their farmhouse at Mamoulens. Starr's headquarters were distant at
Castelnau-sur-l'Auvignon. Early in her stay in France, Starr visited her almost every day and she had to interrupt work to chat with him. She said she wished for more independence. In her book Walters never mentions the presence of Cormeau, the efficient wireless operator.
As a courier, Walters traveled widely by bus, train, bicycle, and charcoal-powered vehicle around southwestern France. One of her first jobs was to organize the flight to
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
across the
Pyrenees
The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to C ...
of a group of 15 members of the
French Resistance
The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...
who had escaped from a French prison. She also helped convey several suitcases full of explosives to
Toulouse
Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...
to blow up a powder factory.
Walters, in the words of local historian Raymond Escholier, was well liked by the resistance fighters, the
marquisards. She was regarded as "the true sister of the marquisards."
Battle of Castelnau
With the
Normandy Invasion
Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Norma ...
on 6 June 1944, the
maquis
Maquis may refer to:
Resistance groups
* Maquis (World War II), predominantly rural guerrilla bands of the French Resistance
* Spanish Maquis, guerrillas who fought against Francoist Spain in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War
* The network ...
of the resistance became bolder and the Germans more aggressive in suppressing any opposition to their occupation of France. Starr collected about 300 men, one-half French and one-half Spanish, and arms at Castelnau sur l'Auvignon, but on 21 June an estimated 2,000 soldiers of the German army attacked Starr's men. During the battle, Walters distributed hand grenades to the maquisards, buried incriminating documents, and collected SOE money and took it with her when she and the maquisards withdrew from the village. Nineteen of the maquisards were killed. After the battle, Starr and his men joined with other factions of the resistance to form the "Armagnac Battalion" commanded by a French officer, Maurice Parisot, which harried the Germany army in the region.
Starr wars
Walter's appraisal of Starr was unflattering. She later said, "
tarr
''Tarr'' is a modernist novel by Wyndham Lewis, written in 1909–11, revised and expanded in 1914–15 and first serialized in the magazine ''The Egoist (periodical), The Egoist'' from April 1916 until November 1917. The American version was pu ...
is strictly an agent and neither a politician nor a military strategist...the guerrilla action he commanded was most unsuccessful." Starr was even more critical of his youthful courier. Among his complaints about Walters, was that she wore "high Paris fashion," thus violating his principle that couriers should be inconspicuous. He ordered her to leave France. On 31 July 1944, Starr sent a message to SOE headquarters in London explaining his action. "Have had to send Colette
altersback because she is undisciplined in spite of my efforts to train her...Most indiscreet. Very man-mad, also disobedient...totally unsuitable." However, he acknowledged her courage and willingness to undertake any mission. She left France approximately 1 August 1944 and traveled through Spain en route to
Algiers
Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques ...
.
In Algiers, Walters met with British military authorities who proposed that she return to France to assist the military personnel involved in
Operation Jedburgh
Operation Jedburgh was a clandestine operation during World War II in which three-man teams of operatives of the British Special Operations Executive (SOE), the U.S. Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the Free French Bureau central de renseignem ...
. She was agreeable, but SOE vetoed that proposal and ordered her to return to London.
When Walters returned to London, she wrote a report (which has not survived) to
Maurice Buckmaster
Colonel Maurice James Buckmaster (11 January 1902 – 17 April 1992) was the leader of the French section of Special Operations Executive and was awarded the ''Croix de Guerre''.
Apart from his war service, he was a corporate manager with the ...
, head of the French section of SOE. Later, in another report, she said that while she was in France Starr had ordered her to be thrown into prison, accused her of having an affair with another agent and of spreading stories that he was having an affair with a female SOE agent. Walters praised Starr's courage and abilities, but criticized him severely on other counts. Starr, she said, had a Russian bodyguard named Buresie who "carried out absolutely horrible tortures" on captured French collaborators. She said Starr was under the influence of his bodyguard and cited several examples of tortures. She added, however, that "Had
tarr
''Tarr'' is a modernist novel by Wyndham Lewis, written in 1909–11, revised and expanded in 1914–15 and first serialized in the magazine ''The Egoist (periodical), The Egoist'' from April 1916 until November 1917. The American version was pu ...
not been influenced in all this....I am sure that he would never have started it
he tortures"
On 1 November 1944, Starr, who had returned to London, was interviewed by SOE. He recounted "with relish" an incident of torture, causing consternation in the SOE although the interviewers said that he could not be blamed for the tortures committed by the French Resistance. In February 1945, a court of enquiry with testimony from Starr, Walters, and others took place. The part of the transcript of the enquiry containing Walter's testimony has disappeared from the record. On 28 February, the conclusion of the "rather perfunctory court of enquiry" (in the words of
M.R.D. Foot
Michael Richard Daniell Foot, (14 December 1919 – 18 February 2012) was a British political and military historian, and former British Army intelligence officer with the Special Operations Executive during the Second World War.
Biography
The ...
), was that "there is no justification whatever for any imputation against Lt. Col. Starr of inhumanity or cruel treatment to any prisoner at any time under his control or under the control or troops or resistance forces under his immediate command or control."
Honours and awards
On 17 July 1945, in recognition of her "personal courage and willingness to undergo any danger," Walters was awarded the
MBE Mbe may refer to:
* Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo
* Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria
* Mbe language, a language of Nigeria
* Mbe' language, language of Cameroon
* ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language
Molal ...
(Civil list) for her work in occupied France
and, from France, the
Croix de Guerre
The ''Croix de Guerre'' (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awa ...
and the
Médaille de la Reconnaissance française
The Medal of French Gratitude (french: "Médaille de la Reconnaissance française") was a French honour medal created on 13 July 1917 and solely awarded to civilians. The medal was created to express gratitude by the French government to all t ...
.
[Hewson, p. 236]
Later life
In 1946, Walters published an account of her experiences in ''Moondrop to Gascony'' (Macmillan, 1946
Moho Books 2009). The book provides a portrait of Starr (Le Patron in the book), although not referring directly to the problems between the two of them, and also of Arnault (Jean-Claude in the book) with whom Walters may have been romantically involved.
[Walters, ''passim''] ''Moondrop to Gascony'' won the
John Llewellyn Rhys Prize
The John Llewellyn Rhys Prize was a literary prize awarded annually for the best work of literature (fiction, non-fiction, poetry, drama) by an author from the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth aged 35 or under, written in English and publis ...
in 1947.
After the war, she lived in the United States, Spain, and France and was a translator of Spanish, an editor, and owned a literary agency under her married name Anne-Marie Comert. In her later years, she suffered from
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...
. She died in France in 1998 at the age of 75.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walters, Anne-Marie
Female wartime spies
Female resistance members of World War II
Members of the Order of the British Empire
British Special Operations Executive personnel
1923 births
1998 deaths
John Llewellyn Rhys Prize winners
Women's Auxiliary Air Force officers
Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France)
Female recipients of the Croix de Guerre (France)
People from Geneva
International School of Geneva alumni
Swiss emigrants to the United Kingdom
British emigrants to France