After months of prevarication my friends Helen (@helenmoss) and Jenna and I finally strode out with dogs on one of my favourite walks. As long term followers will know, Helen and I have been to Tempsford Airfield and the SOE memorial barn before but it was a treat sharing it with Jenna. It is so unexpected and so moving and never fails to leave an impression. It has been thoroughly cleaned up (I fear the pigeons have met an untimely end as they were not sitting around cooing) and new wreaths, including a beautiful fresh flower one from Norway, have been left. This is not the best photo I took today but I wanted to highlight Violette Szabo. She fell in love and married at 19 and, following the death in action of her husband (who never met his baby daughter) she volunteered for the SOE. In 1944, after intensive training, she was flown into France on two missions. Although very successful in her work she was captured during the second mission. After days of interrogation and torture she was sent to Ravensbruck concentration camp and was executed by firing squad in 1945 - she was 23 years old. I can't imagine what sort of bravery it would take to receive orders in a cold barn, climb aboard a plane in a dark field and fly from safety (pretty much) into extreme danger. And she did it twice. Instead of three good things I'm going to leave you with a poem written by Leo Marks, codes officer of the SOE. He wrote it in memory of his wife who died in a plane crash and gave it to Violette so that she could use it to encrypt and decode messages on her mission in France.
The life that I have
Is all that I have
And the life that I have
Is yours.
The love that I have
Of the life that I have
Is yours and yours and yours.
A sleep I shall have
A rest I shall have
Yet death will be but a pause.
For the peace of my years
In the long green grass
Will be yours and yours and yours
Big lump in throat ...... Thank you for sharing this Judith, what a brave young lady, I wonder who the daughter is? What a thought provoking poem and posting. Glad you had a nice meet up.
She deserves to be remembered - My Mum had the book "Carve her name with Pride" about her life and I can remember watching, and being moved by the film - one brave lady.
A very moving account of this brave young women , the poem is very meaningful. Glad to hear you got Helen out from behind her desk.I must get her to show me this place some time.
Must be a fave for that lovely heart felt poem...the history of which I never knew before but also your beautiful tribute Judith. Such a very young woman, hardly out of childhood really looking back from my age yet so brave & mature to give her life for her country like that.
Her daughter must be a very proud woman having such brave parents.
@happypat yes her daughter wrote a book about her. Thanks for the fav - hard to think that she was Rachel's age when she got married & then what the next 4 years had in store.
How brave she was and what a wonderful poem. I'm ashamed to say that I don't know where this barn is and I grew up in Roxton the next village. I must try to find it as it's only a few miles from where I live now.
A very moving story - thanks for sharing this shot and all the information. Women's part in war is so often overlooked, especially at Remembrance time.
@jewelsandbinoculars Hahaa - thought that my finish you off!! Well if his dad was involved in cleaning up the pigeon poo then he's a hero - hope he wore a mask - it's full of Campylobacter. I think the barn is extremely moving even in its ad hoc state.
Her daughter must be a very proud woman having such brave parents.
Tempsford's where JB grew up & his folks are still there. His dad's quite heavily involved in the local efforts to get a decent memorial up.