Violette Szabo

​​Violette Reine Elizabeth Szabo, born on 26 June 1921, in Levallois-Perret, France, was a courageous British spy and resistance fighter during World War II. The daughter of a French mother and British father, she grew up bilingual, a skill that would later prove critical in her wartime service. Szabo spent her early years in France before moving to England with her family.  

​In 1940, she married Étienne Szabo, a French Foreign Legion officer. The couple had a daughter, Tania, born in 1942, shortly before Étienne was killed in action during the North African campaign. Grieving her husband’s loss, Violette sought a way to contribute to the war effort. Her fluency in French and her determination led her to join the Special Operations Executive (SOE), an organization tasked with supporting resistance movements in Nazi-occupied Europe.  

​Trained in espionage, sabotage, and survival skills, Szabo became one of the SOE’s most daring agents. She attended the SOE Finishing School in Beaulieu, Hampshire. Her first mission in occupied France took place in April 1944, where she worked to rebuild a resistance network that had been compromised. Returning to England successfully, she volunteered for a second mission in June 1944, following the D-Day landings.  

​During her second mission, Szabo’s team was ambushed by German forces near Limoges. After a fierce gunfight, she was captured and interrogated by the Gestapo. Despite brutal treatment, she refused to disclose information about her comrades or her mission. Szabo was eventually deported to Ravensbrück concentration camp in Germany, where she endured forced labour and inhumane conditions. On 5 February 1945, she was executed at the camp, just months before the end of the war.  

​Violette Szabo was posthumously awarded the George Cross, one of Britain’s highest civilian honours for heroism, as well as the Croix de Guerre by France. She is remembered with honour on the Commonwealth War Grave Commission Brookwood 1939-1945 Memorial, Surrey. Her name is one of 3,327 that are recorded and have no known grave.