Stand down, Ensign. Your duty is done! You served your King and Country well, now rest in peace!
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
Lest we forget!
Violette Szabo, GC, a British subject, executed on or around this day, 5 February in 1945, was the daughter of an English father and French mother, and the widow of French army officer, Etienne Szabo who was killed in action in North Africa in 1942.
She served during World War II as an SOE agent on two missions in occupied France. It is unclear how she came to be recruited by the Special Operations Executive – although her fluency in French will have been noticed by someone.
On her second mission she was captured by the Germans, interrogated and tortured, and deported to Germany where she was executed at the age of 23, at Ravensbruck concentration camp, on or around 5 February 1945.
Szabo was awarded the George Cross posthumously on 17 December 1946. The GC is the highest gallantry award for civilians, as well as for members of the armed forces in actions for which purely military honours would not normally be granted. The citation reads:
The KING has been graciously pleased to award the GEORGE CROSS to: — Violette, Madame SZABO (deceased), Women's Transport Service (First Aid Nursing Yeomanry).
Madame Szabo volunteered to undertake a particularly dangerous mission in France. She was parachuted into France in April, 1944, and undertook the task with enthusiasm. In her execution of the delicate researches entailed she showed great presence of mind and astuteness. She was twice arrested by the German security authorities but each time managed to get away. Eventually, however, with other members of her group, she was surrounded by the Gestapo in a house in the southwest of France. Resistance appeared hopeless but Madame Szabo, seizing a Sten-gun and as much ammunition as she could carry, barricaded herself in part of the house and, exchanging shot for shot with the enemy, killed or wounded several of them. By constant movement, she avoided being cornered and fought until she dropped exhausted. She was arrested and had to undergo solitary confinement. She was then continuously and atrociously tortured but never by word or deed gave away any of her acquaintances or told the enemy anything of any value. She was ultimately executed. Madame Szabo gave a magnificent example of courage and steadfastness.
Szabo's wartime activities were dramatised in the 1958 film 'Carve Her Name with Pride', starring Virginia McKenna.
In October 2009, a bronze bust of Szabo, on top of the 'SOE Agents Monument' by sculptor Karen Newman was unveiled at the Albert Embankment, near Lambeth Palace, looking over towards the Houses of Parliament.
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