HALLOWES (Odette, née Bailly, 1912-1995, French-born Resistance Agent)

Typed Letter Signed ‘Odette Churchill’ to John Spark, thanking him for his “very kind gift of the red lacquer cabinet which Mr Scott-Paton collected this morning. I am indeed grateful for your ready response to my appeal. Thank you for giving me an idea as to what it should fetch approximately...”, 1 side 4to., Essex House, 17 Hilsleigh Road, London, 8th August

Odette Sansom was also known as Odette Churchill and Odette Hallowes, code named Lise, was an agent for the United Kingdom's clandestine Special Operations Executive (SOE) in France during the Second World War. She was the first woman to be awarded the George Cross by the United Kingdom and was awarded the Légion d'honneur by France.
In 1951, her home was burgled and her George Cross stolen. After an appeal by her mother, it was returned with a note saying: "You, Madame, appear to be a dear old lady. God bless you and your children. I thank you for having faith in me. I am not all that bad — it's just circumstances. Your little dog really loves me. I gave him a nice pat and left him a piece of meat — out of fridge. Sincerely yours, A Bad Egg." In 1955, she co-founded the annual Women of the Year Lunch with Tony Lothian and Lady Georgina Coleridge. She was divorced from Churchill in 1955 and married Geoffrey Hallowes, a former SOE officer, in 1956.

Item Date:  1952

Stock No:  41802      £175

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