Guys, have just finished bashing this one out.
Enjoy....
Violette tensed as the Citroen pulled up at the roadblock just outside the village of Salon-La-Tour. She’d been through this before and the Germans didn’t normally search the car, but a bad feeling crept over her as she saw her companions hands begin to shake as he gripped harder on the steering wheel. She couldn’t understand why Jean Bariaud had been assigned to drive her and fellow SOE agent Jacques Dufur to the meeting with the leader of the Resistance group in the nearby Limoges area. She had never been impressed by Jean – She knew he was a communist – and there was always too much bravado talk of what he would like to do to the German occupiers, but she had had no choice but to agree to take him along as he was the only member of the group who knew where the Limoges Marquis were hiding. Behind her she could hear Jacques quietly cursing under his breath as he pushed the hidden sten guns further beneath the front seats.
The German strode forward demanding their ID papers. Smiling at the young soldier, she reached into her pocket; suddenly, with a panic stricken shout, Jean leaped out of the car and started running back towards the village. As the rest of the guard unit were unslinging their weapons in response to the shouts of halt, Jacques quietly passed a sten to Violette. Jumping out of the far side of the big Citroen, both of them opened up on the guards, cutting down at least 4 of them in the first burst of fire. In the brief lull of shock, Jacques shouted to Violette to head for the wheat field next to the road and then to the woods which were a few hundred yards further on.
The Germans had recovered from the first lethal bursts from the two sten guns, and by now under heavy fire Violette dashed into the wheat. Then taking cover she began laying down covering fire so that Jacques could follow.
As Jacques raced up to join her, he threw her a satchel of spare magazines which she quickly slung over her shoulder. So now it was fire and withdraw, fire and withdraw. Germans reinforcements swiftly appeared in the form of 3 Hanomag half-tracks. Their arrival and addition to the firepower ranged against them making the two SOE agents withdrawal to the woods painfully slow. But they both fought well, covering for each other as they made short dashes through the wheat.
On reaching the outskirts of the woods, Violette was exhausted. Her clothing ripped and soiled and she was covered in scratches. She told Jacques she didn’t have the strength to run any further but she would cover his escape. Jacques, seeing she was in no mood to argue, ran on. Emerging from the woods, he found a perfect hiding place – a haystack next to some farm buildings.
After lying in hiding for half an hour Jacques saw a Hanomag stop at the farm. Peering through the hay, he saw Violette being dragged out of the vehicle. She was limping indicating, at best, a sprained ankle. She was pushed onto a farm bench with several rifles and sub-machine guns covering her. A big feldwebel began screaming straight into her face. Jacques heard him shouting there were at least 12 dead and 20 wounded German casualties due to her and her friend – but she would pay. Oh yes, she would pay. Her response was that if she hadn’t run out of ammunition, the casualty list would have been much higher. At this, the feldwebel becoming livid with rage stepped forward to strike the injured woman. Just then, Jacques saw a Kubelwagen draw up and a senior German officer stepped out. Ordering the feldwebel to attention, he considered the captured SOE agent for a moment. Then stepping forward, he offered her a cigarette. Violette hesitated, this after all might have been the German who had killed her husband Etienne in North Africa, but shrugging her shoulders she accepted. A burst of static came over the Hanomag radio set, and then after a brief exchange of German, the officer replaced the microphone. He strode over to Violette and whispered something to her. With a sigh of resignation, she limped over to the half-track. Just before climbing into the vehicle the officer stopped her, stood to attention, and Jacques clearly heard him say in impeccable French, “Madam, you are the bravest woman I have ever met.”
Smiling she thanked the officer, ground out the cigarette with her good foot, turned to enter the half-track vehicle – and Violette Szabo, half French half English – disappeared into history.
Inspired by British Movie “Carve Her Name With Pride”.
Hello Guys! YES, it was suppose to be the Victory Battle for Rommel at TOBRUK! But, Monty was Victorious at EL ALAMEIN! YES, I'm a Big Fan of the Sing GroupAMERICA; they Performed here in Florida a Few Months ago Live in Concert!
