Lisé de Baissac
Encyclopedia
Lise Marie Jeanette de Baissac (11 May 1905 – 28 March 2004) was born in Mauritius
of French descent and British nationality. She was a heroine of the Special Operations Executive
during the Second World War
, a special agent who risked her life running her own operations, but was denied a gallantry award after the war.
In 1940, Paris was occupied by the Germans. Her eldest brother, Jean de Baissac, joined the British Army. Lise and her other brother, Claude
, travelled to the South of France in an attempt to reach England. She obtained help with travel arrangements to England from the American Consulate and crossed into Spain and went to Lisbon, where she waited for five months for permission to travel to Gibraltar
and on to the UK. The ship docked in Scotland and she made her way to London where she made contact with Lady Kemsley, who helped her get a job at the Daily Sketch
. Her brother, Claude, was recruited by the SOE. As soon as the SOE began recruiting women, Lise applied to join. She was interviewed by Selwyn Jepson
, and was speedily accepted for training, however not as a courier or a wireless operator but to set up her own small circuit.
Her training took place at Beaulieu, Hampshire
, where she trained with the second group of women reruited by the SOE including Mary Herbert
, Odette Sansom
and Jacqueline Nearne
. She was commissioned in the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry
in July 1942. The commandant at Beaulieu wrote that De Baissac was
"quite imperturbable and would remain cool and collected in any situation ... [s]he was very much ahead of her fellow students".
were among the first female SOE agents to be parachuted into France
. (Yvonne Rudellat had arrived by boat two months earlier.) On the eve of her departure she was taken for dinner by Colonel Maurice Buckmaster
and seen off from RAF Tempsford
in a Whitley bomber. Borrell was the first to drop, with de Baissac following in quick succession, landing in the village of Boisrenard near the town of Mer
. Their mission was to establish a safe house in Poitiers
where new agents could be settled into the secret life.
Lise's role was to be a courier and liaison officer on the SCIENTIST network, communicating with the Prosper - PHYSICIAN network under Francis Suttill
and the BRICKLAYER network under France Antelme
, with the mission "to form a new circuit and to provide a centre where agents could go with complete security for material help and information on local details" and to organise the pick-up of arms drops from the UK to assist the French resistance. She was effectively reproducing in Poitiers
what Virginia Hall
had created in Lyon
s. Lise used a number of code names (including "Odile", "Irene", "Marguerite" and "Adele"). Her cover story was that she was a poor widow from Paris, Madame Irene Brisse, seeking refuge from the tension of life in the capital and to avoid the food shortages of the capital. She moved into an apartment on a busy street near the Gestapo HQ, and became acquainted with the Gestapo chief, Herr Grabowski.
She also used the role of an amateur archaeologist looking for rock specimens in order to bicycle round the Loire countryside to reconnoitre possible parachute drop-zones and landing areas for RAF 138
and 161
squadrons. Having no radio to send and receive messages, she had to travel to Paris or Bordeaux; the latter location being where her brother Claude de Baissac
was developing the SCIENTIST network, organising sabotage missions and gathering information on ship and submarine movements. In June 1943, the Prosper - PHYSICIAN network collapsed and ARTIST was also penetrated by the Gestapo, and so on the night of 16/17 August Lise, Claude and Major Nicholas Bodington
, were flown back to England by Lysander
. Lise was then sent to RAF Ringway
where she was conducting officer to two new agents, Yvonne Baseden
and Violette Szabo
. While she was assisting them with their training, Lise de Baissac broke her leg.
on the night of 9/10 April 1944) to work for the PIMENTO network, headed by Anthony Brooks
, under the new codename Marguerite. However, in training related Maquis
groups in weapons handling, she came into conflict with the group, believing that they were militant socialists with their own political motives.
She rejoined her brother Claude, who had been dropped in February 1944 and made his way to Normandy to reconnoitre possible large areas which airborne troops could hold for 48 hours while they got themselves established. After the D-Day, she gathered information on German dispositions and passed it to the Allies, even renting a room in a house occupied by the local commander of the German Forces. When the US troops arrived to liberate the area, she was wearing her FANY uniform, which she had kept hidden in France.
; they had no children. She died, aged 98, in 2004.
In 2008, her life was recaptured in the French film Female Agents (Les Femmes de l'ombre).
Citations :
Mauritius
Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...
of French descent and British nationality. She was a heroine of the Special Operations Executive
Special Operations Executive
The Special Operations Executive was a World War II organisation of the United Kingdom. It was officially formed by Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton on 22 July 1940, to conduct guerrilla warfare against the Axis powers and to instruct and aid local...
during the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, a special agent who risked her life running her own operations, but was denied a gallantry award after the war.
Escape to Britain
The third of three children, Lise was born to a French family in Mauritius, but was a British subject as all Mauritians then were. Her parents taught her and her siblings French from an early age and they moved to Paris in 1919.In 1940, Paris was occupied by the Germans. Her eldest brother, Jean de Baissac, joined the British Army. Lise and her other brother, Claude
Claude de Baissac
Claude Denis Boucherville de Baissac, known as Claude de Baissac or by his codename David was a Mauritius-born agent in the Special Operations Executive...
, travelled to the South of France in an attempt to reach England. She obtained help with travel arrangements to England from the American Consulate and crossed into Spain and went to Lisbon, where she waited for five months for permission to travel to Gibraltar
Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
and on to the UK. The ship docked in Scotland and she made her way to London where she made contact with Lady Kemsley, who helped her get a job at the Daily Sketch
Daily Sketch
The Daily Sketch was a British national tabloid newspaper, founded in Manchester in 1909 by Sir Edward Hulton.It was bought in 1920 by Lord Rothermere's Daily Mirror Newspapers but in 1925 Rothermere offloaded it to William and Gomer Berry The Daily Sketch was a British national tabloid newspaper,...
. Her brother, Claude, was recruited by the SOE. As soon as the SOE began recruiting women, Lise applied to join. She was interviewed by Selwyn Jepson
Selwyn Jepson
Selwyn Jepson was a British author, of the Far House, Farther Common, Liss, Hants.His father was the mystery/detective author Edgar Alfred Jepson , his mother was Frieda Holmes, daughter of the musician Henry Holmes. His sister Margaret , also a novelist, was the mother of Fay Weldon.Jepson was...
, and was speedily accepted for training, however not as a courier or a wireless operator but to set up her own small circuit.
Her training took place at Beaulieu, Hampshire
Beaulieu, Hampshire
Beaulieu is a small village located on the south eastern edge of the New Forest national park in Hampshire, England and home to both Palace House and the British National Motor Museum.- History :...
, where she trained with the second group of women reruited by the SOE including Mary Herbert
Mary Katherine Herbert
Mary Katherine Herbert was a member of the Special Operations Executive during World War II and worked as a courier for the French Section.- Early war service :...
, Odette Sansom
Odette Sansom
Odette Sansom Hallowes GC, MBE, Chevalier de la légion d'honneur was an Allied heroine of the Second World War.-Early years:...
and Jacqueline Nearne
Jacqueline Nearne
Jacqueline Nearne MBE was a secret agent for the British Special Operations Executive in Nazi-occupied France during World War II.-Biography:...
. She was commissioned in the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry
First Aid Nursing Yeomanry
The First Aid Nursing Yeomanry is a British independent all-female unit and registered charity affiliated to, but not part of, the Territorial Army, formed in 1907 and active in both nursing and intelligence work during the World Wars.-Formation:It was formed as the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry in...
in July 1942. The commandant at Beaulieu wrote that De Baissac was
"quite imperturbable and would remain cool and collected in any situation ... [s]he was very much ahead of her fellow students".
First mission
On 24 September 1942, she and Andrée BorrelAndrée Borrel
Andrée Raymonde Borrel was a French heroine of World War II.-Early life:Andrée Borrel was born into a working-class family in Louveciennes, Yvelines in the suburbs of Paris, growing up an active girl who liked hiking and most other outdoor activities...
were among the first female SOE agents to be parachuted into France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. (Yvonne Rudellat had arrived by boat two months earlier.) On the eve of her departure she was taken for dinner by Colonel Maurice Buckmaster
Maurice Buckmaster
Colonel Maurice James Buckmaster OBE was the leader of the French section of Special Operations Executive and was awarded the Croix de Guerre. He was a corporate manager with the French branch of the Ford Motor Company, in the postwar years serving in Dagenham...
and seen off from RAF Tempsford
RAF Tempsford
RAF Tempsford in Bedfordshire, England was perhaps the most secret Royal Air Force airfield in World War II. It was home to the Special Duties Squadrons, No. 138, which dropped Special Operations Executive agents and their supplies into occupied Europe, and No...
in a Whitley bomber. Borrell was the first to drop, with de Baissac following in quick succession, landing in the village of Boisrenard near the town of Mer
Mer, Loir-et-Cher
Mer is a commune in the Loir-et-Cher department of central France.-External links:*...
. Their mission was to establish a safe house in Poitiers
Poitiers
Poitiers is a city on the Clain river in west central France. It is a commune and the capital of the Vienne department and of the Poitou-Charentes region. The centre is picturesque and its streets are interesting for predominant remains of historical architecture, especially from the Romanesque...
where new agents could be settled into the secret life.
Lise's role was to be a courier and liaison officer on the SCIENTIST network, communicating with the Prosper - PHYSICIAN network under Francis Suttill
Francis Suttill
Major Francis Alfred Suttill DSO was a British special agent who worked for the Special Operations Executive inside France. He organized and coordinated the Physician network, better known by his own code name Prosper...
and the BRICKLAYER network under France Antelme
France Antelme
Major Joseph Antoine France Antelme OBE was one of 14 Franco-Mauritians who served in the Special Operations Executive , a World War II British secret service that sent spies, saboteurs and guerrilla fighters into enemy-occupied territory.After spying in Vichy-held Madagascar ahead of the allied...
, with the mission "to form a new circuit and to provide a centre where agents could go with complete security for material help and information on local details" and to organise the pick-up of arms drops from the UK to assist the French resistance. She was effectively reproducing in Poitiers
Poitiers
Poitiers is a city on the Clain river in west central France. It is a commune and the capital of the Vienne department and of the Poitou-Charentes region. The centre is picturesque and its streets are interesting for predominant remains of historical architecture, especially from the Romanesque...
what Virginia Hall
Virginia Hall
Virginia Hall, MBE, DSC was an American spy during World War II. She was also known by many aliases: "Marie Monin", "Germaine", "Diane", "Marie of Lyon" and "Camille". The Germans gave her the nickname Artemis...
had created in Lyon
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
s. Lise used a number of code names (including "Odile", "Irene", "Marguerite" and "Adele"). Her cover story was that she was a poor widow from Paris, Madame Irene Brisse, seeking refuge from the tension of life in the capital and to avoid the food shortages of the capital. She moved into an apartment on a busy street near the Gestapo HQ, and became acquainted with the Gestapo chief, Herr Grabowski.
She also used the role of an amateur archaeologist looking for rock specimens in order to bicycle round the Loire countryside to reconnoitre possible parachute drop-zones and landing areas for RAF 138
No. 138 Squadron RAF
No. 138 Squadron RAF was a squadron of the Royal Air Force that served in a variety of roles during its career, last disbanded in 1962. It was the first 'V-bomber' squadron of the RAF, flying the Vickers Valiant between 1955 and 1962....
and 161
No. 161 Squadron RAF
No. 161 Squadron was a highly secretive unit of the Royal Air Force tasked with missions of the Special Operations Executive during the Second World War. Their primary role was to drop and collect secret agents and equipment into and from Nazi-occupied Europe...
squadrons. Having no radio to send and receive messages, she had to travel to Paris or Bordeaux; the latter location being where her brother Claude de Baissac
Claude de Baissac
Claude Denis Boucherville de Baissac, known as Claude de Baissac or by his codename David was a Mauritius-born agent in the Special Operations Executive...
was developing the SCIENTIST network, organising sabotage missions and gathering information on ship and submarine movements. In June 1943, the Prosper - PHYSICIAN network collapsed and ARTIST was also penetrated by the Gestapo, and so on the night of 16/17 August Lise, Claude and Major Nicholas Bodington
Nicholas Bodington
Nicholas Redner Bodington OBE was, during the Second World War, a head of F section of the Special Operations Executive. He took part in 4 missions to France.-Pre-war:...
, were flown back to England by Lysander
Westland Lysander
The Westland Lysander was a British army co-operation and liaison aircraft produced by Westland Aircraft used immediately before and during the Second World War...
. Lise was then sent to RAF Ringway
RAF Ringway
RAF Ringway, was a Royal Air Force station near Manchester, UK, in the parish of Ringway, then in Cheshire. It was operational from 1939 until 1957.-Prewar years:...
where she was conducting officer to two new agents, Yvonne Baseden
Yvonne Baseden
Yvonne Jeanne de Vibraye Baseden was one of only 50 or so female SOE Agents.-Background and early life:She was born in Rue Violet, Paris. Baseden's father was a World War I pilot in the Royal Flying Corps. He crash landed in France at the home of the Comte de Vibraye, where he was invited by the...
and Violette Szabo
Violette Szabo
Violette Reine Elizabeth Bushell Szabo, GC, was a Second World War French-British secret agent.-Early life and marriage:...
. While she was assisting them with their training, Lise de Baissac broke her leg.
Second mission
Once her leg healed, she returned to France (dropped by Lysander near Villers-les-OrmesVillers-les-Ormes
Villers-les-Ormes is a commune in the Indre department in central France.-References:*...
on the night of 9/10 April 1944) to work for the PIMENTO network, headed by Anthony Brooks
Anthony Brooks
Major Anthony Morris "Tony" Brooks was a British undercover agent in World War II. He received the Distinguished Service Order, Military Cross, Croix de Guerre, and Legion d'Honneur for his work as a leader of a group sabotaging German reinforcements prior to and during the Normandy invasion...
, under the new codename Marguerite. However, in training related Maquis
Maquis (World War II)
The Maquis were the predominantly rural guerrilla bands of the French Resistance. Initially they were composed of men who had escaped into the mountains to avoid conscription into Vichy France's Service du travail obligatoire to provide forced labour for Germany...
groups in weapons handling, she came into conflict with the group, believing that they were militant socialists with their own political motives.
She rejoined her brother Claude, who had been dropped in February 1944 and made his way to Normandy to reconnoitre possible large areas which airborne troops could hold for 48 hours while they got themselves established. After the D-Day, she gathered information on German dispositions and passed it to the Allies, even renting a room in a house occupied by the local commander of the German Forces. When the US troops arrived to liberate the area, she was wearing her FANY uniform, which she had kept hidden in France.
Post-war
After the war she married Gustave Villameur, an interior decorator living in MarseilleMarseille
Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
; they had no children. She died, aged 98, in 2004.
In 2008, her life was recaptured in the French film Female Agents (Les Femmes de l'ombre).
Recognition
Honours- France: Knight of the Légion d'honneurLégion d'honneurThe Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...
(LH), Croix de guerre 1939-1945Croix de guerreThe Croix de guerre 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 awarded during World War I, again in World War II, and in other conflicts...
(CG) with palm ; - UK: Member of the Order of the British EmpireOrder of the British EmpireThe Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(MBE), September 1945.
Citations :
- One British officer declared: "The role she played in aiding the maquisMaquis (World War II)The Maquis were the predominantly rural guerrilla bands of the French Resistance. Initially they were composed of men who had escaped into the mountains to avoid conscription into Vichy France's Service du travail obligatoire to provide forced labour for Germany...
and the resistanceFrench ResistanceThe French Resistance is the name used to denote the collection of French resistance movements that fought against the Nazi German occupation of France and against the collaborationist Vichy régime during World War II...
in France will never be over-praised and she did much to enable to maquis and resistance's preparations before the American breakthrough in Mayenne."
- Her SOE dossier states "[S]he was the inspiring-force for the groups in the Orne, and through her initiatives she inflicted heavy losses on the Germans thanks to anti-tyre devices scattered on the roads near Saint-Aubin-du-DésertSaint-Aubin-du-DésertSaint-Aubin-du-Désert is a commune in the Mayenne department in north-western France.-References:*...
, Saint-Mars-du-DésertSaint-Mars-du-Désert, MayenneSaint-Mars-du-Désert is a commune in the Mayenne department in north-western France.-References:*...
, and even as far as LavalLaval, MayenneLaval is a commune in the Mayenne department in north-western France.It lies on the threshold of Brittany and on the border between Normandy and Anjou. Its citizens are called Lavallois.-Geography:...
, Le MansLe MansLe Mans is a city in France, located on the Sarthe River. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Mans. Le Mans is a part of the Pays de la Loire region.Its inhabitants are called Manceaux...
and RennesRennesRennes is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France. Rennes is the capital of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department.-History:...
. She also took part in armed attacks on enemy columns."
Sources
- Foot, Michael Richard Daniell. SOE in France: An account of the Work of the British Special Operations Executive in France, 1940-1944, London, Her Majesty's Stationery Office (1966, 1968)
- Whitehall History Publishing (in association with Frank Cass), SOE in France: An account of the Work of the British Special Operations Executive in France, 1940-1944 (2004).