Hélène Terré

Hélène Marguerite Marie Terré (1903 - 1993) was a French Resistance fighter engaged in the Free French Forces during World War II. She served in London with the French Volunteer Corps and assumed corps command from Captain Simonne Mathieu. In April 1944, she took command in France of the Army's Female Auxiliaries.

Early life and education

Hélène Marguerite Marie Geneviève Terré was born on 26 April 1903 in Paris, the fourth and last daughter of Jeanne Marguerite Delasalle and Laurent Terré, an army commander. She was the great-granddaughter of Hilaire Laurent Terré.

Before the outbreak of World War II in France, Terré had developed a love for literature and fine books. To ensure her economic independence, Hélène created a publishing company, called "Ariel," where she worked for seven years. She produced an edition of Paul Valéry's complete works for the Nouvelle Revue Française, a collaboration which enabled her to work closely with the Nobel Prize nominated author. During this period, she was able to practice her artistic talents of painting and playing the violin.

Military service

Terré joined the Red Cross in France, and in 1941, whilst on a mission to Britain to collect medicines and vitamins for French children, she was arrested and imprisoned for three months on the instructions of Jacques Meffre. Meffre was head of General de Gaulle's internal security service, responsible for detecting potential infiltrators amongst volunteers to join the Free French Forces. Despite this episode, she later joined the French Volunteer Corps.

The Corps des Volontaires françaises (Corps of French Volunteers) (CVF) was created in London on 7 November 1940, inspired by the British Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) open to French citizens 18-43. The organisation was initially led by Capt. Simonne Mathieu, a French 1930s international tennis champion. As soon as news of the formation of a volunteer corps was made public, many Frenchwomen living in Britain volunteered to join, and the first contingent was soon sent for training.

In 1941, Terré joined the CVF. By doing so, she pledged to follow the armies of Combat France in every respect, on all fronts, and for the duration of the war plus three months. As a uniformed recruit, she passed the required physical training (including drills and military discipline). Some volunteers were selected for special training according to their skills and inclinations, such as office and secretarial workers, nurses, translators, interpreters, telephone operators, cooks, motor drivers, mechanics and more. There were instructional courses for those wishing to improve their English language skills. The women were usually assigned positions where they replaced men who could then be sent to serve in combat units.

The volunteers' work in Britain included a range of duties, as Terré wrote. "''The young French speakers who were fluent in the English language were used as “messengers''", others were sent to colleges in the major cities of the country to give lectures on Free France and on the living conditions in occupied territories. The nurses were immediately assigned as the need for their skills was great.

Terré later recalled that recruits included some English women. "''English friends, we even had them in our unit: young girls who had been brought up in France, daughters of French mothers who received permission from the War Office to join us. I remember one of them to whom Junior Commander Cook asked why she was so keen to serve with the French women and the proud answer she received: 'Madame, I lived in France at the time of its splendor, ... don't you understand that I want to serve her in her distress''.'"

Captain Terré took over command of the Corps from Captain Simonne Mathieu. General Charles de Gaulle, commander of the Free French Forces, presented the French Volunteers pennant to Terré in London, on 12 November 1942. In April 1944 she became commander of the Female Auxiliaries of the Army in France.

Post-war years

Commander Terré completed her Army duties in 1947 after finishing assignments in Indochina and Austria.

She married Louis Bourdet who had also served in the Free French Forces and they had two children.

She coordinated exchanges between American and French educational institutions and spoke at conferences in American universities. She retired to her family's ancestral region in Plancher-Bas (Haute-Saône

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