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Odette Wilen

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by MurielMary (talk | contribs) at 09:58, 13 February 2020. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

  • Comment: I have added multiple citations to meaningful indepedent sources that do not just name the subject (Odette Wilen) in passing. Please refer to wiki bio on Marcus Bloom to compare appropriate type and number of references for this type of subject. Gdoig ( talk ) 16:43, 12 February 2020 (UTC)
  • Comment: WP is not a place for memorials DGG ( talk ) 00:22, 12 February 2020 (UTC)
  • Comment: Thank you for creating this article! The draft lacks inline citations, however. Can you add citations so that it's clear where the statements came from? For example everything in the sections "SOE" and "Later years" needs citations. MurielMary (talk) 09:32, 10 February 2020 (UTC)

Odette Victoria Wilen (née Sar, 25 April 1919 - 22 September 2015) was a member of the UK's Special Operations Executive (SOE) during World War II.[1] She served in occupied France under the code name "Sophie".[2]

Early Life

Wilen had a French mother and Czech father and became a naturalised British citizen in 1931. Her father served as an RAF officer. Odette married Dennis Wilen, a Finnish RAF pilot instructor, in June 1940,[3] however he was killed in a flying accident in 1942.[4] In 1944 Wilen joined the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (FANY).

Special Operations Executive

During her time with FANY, Wilen's linguistic ability was noted by SOE and she was recruited and trained as a wireless operator with F Section. Wilen trained with Pearl Witherington.[5] After a shortened training period, Wilen was parachuted into France on the night of 11/12 Apr 1944 to join the "Stationer" network in Auvergne, south-west France.[6]

It has been asserted that Wilen was sent to France too early in her training to be a safe field wireless operator.[5] Indeed, on her very first night in Montluccan Maurice Southgate put her to a test and felt she would be "dangerous".[7] The willingness of SOE to send wireless operators into the field with incomplete training attests to the desperate need to fill this important role.[5]

After initial issues regarding placement as a wireless operator with "Stationer", she took up work as a courier with the new "Labourer" network.[8] Her fiancee, Marcel Leccia, was an SOE agent also working with "Labourer".[5]

Unfortunately, Leccia and two comrades were captured by the Gestapo in Paris. Leccia was tortured and then killed in Buchenwald in September 1944.[9] Wilen was saved from arrest by Leccia's sister Mimi, who had heard about her brother's arrest and sought out Wilen to warn her. Mimi moved Wilen to safety moments before the Gestapo arrived and then Wilen was escorted from Paris by bike.[1][10] Eventually Wilen crossed the Pyrenees on foot to Spain before returning to England in August 1944.[11]

During her exfiltration, she met the head of the Spanish escape network, Santiago Strugo Garay. Despite only knowing her for three days, at the end of the war Santiago left Spain to marry Wilen in London in March 1946.[12]

Later years

Wilen and Santiago moved to Buenos Aires.[13]

On 9 August 2007, the British ambassador to Argentina, John Hughes and the Air Attache to Argentina, Wing Commander Simon Dowling, presented her Parachutist Badge to her.[14]

Santiago died in 1997 and Wilen died in 2015, at the age of 96. They are survived by their two children.[1][10]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Odette Strugo Garay: SOE radio operator and courier". The Independent. 2015-12-25. Retrieved 2020-02-09.
  2. ^ Heit, Judi (2013-11-02). "Wartime Spy Ladies: Odette Wilen (1819-2015)". Wartime Spy Ladies. Retrieved 2020-02-12.
  3. ^ "FreeBMD Entry Info". www.freebmd.org.uk. Retrieved 2020-02-09.
  4. ^ "1942 Lincolnshire aviation Incident Logs. - BCAR.org.uk". www.bcar.org.uk. Retrieved 2020-02-09.
  5. ^ a b c d Vigurs, Elizabeth Kate (September 2011). "The women agents of the Special Operations Executive F section - wartime realities and post ware representations" (PDF). Etheses.WhiteRose.ac.uk. Retrieved 11 Feb 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  6. ^ STRUGO, Odette Victoria. "The National Archives: HS 9/1424/7". The National Archieves.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  7. ^ McCue, Paul (2019). Behind Enemy Lines with the SAS: The story of Amédée Maingard, SOE Agent. Barnsley: Pen and Sword Books Limited. pp. 89–90, 96, 189, 198. ISBN 152675665X.
  8. ^ Foot, M. R. D. (1966). SOE in France. London: Her Majesty's Stationary Office. pp. 465–469.
  9. ^ "Marcel Leccia", Wikipédia (in French), 2020-02-10, retrieved 2020-02-10
  10. ^ a b Odette, Garray (26 Oct 2015). "Odette Garray Obituary 2015" (PDF). LibreResistance.com. Retrieved 11 February 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  11. ^ Foot, M. R. D. (2004). SOE in France: An Account of the Work of the British Special Operations Executive in France 1940-1944. Abington: Frank Cass Publishers. pp. Appendix B.
  12. ^ "FreeBMD Entry Info". www.freebmd.org.uk. Retrieved 2020-02-10.
  13. ^ "Women: Special Operations Executive - Hansard". hansard.parliament.uk. Retrieved 2020-02-10.
  14. ^ "Viewing Image: Odette Wilen (2007) - Special Forces - Roll Of Honour". www.specialforcesroh.com. Retrieved 2020-02-10.

Category:Female wartime spies Category:British Special Operations Executive personnel Category:Courage

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