FANY Agents

Daughters of Yael by Martin Sugarman

Muriel Byck

Lise de Baissac

Violette Szabo

Nancy Wake

Part of the National Grid for Learning

SOE Emblem

The FANY Agents — Lise de Baissac

image-Lise de Baissac war time picture. Légion d'honneur, Croix de Guerre avec Palme, MBE

Codename(s): Odile / Irene / Marguerite / Adele

Sadly Lise died on Sunday, 28th March 2004. A small tribute here

Lise de Baissac is now a 96-year--old widow living in Marseille under her married name, but was British by birth. When France fell to the Germans she was working in Paris. With her brother Claude she escaped to Britain, where he joined the SOE and soon returned to France as a senior resistance leader. Lise was also encouraged to join but at first refused on the grounds that she wanted to be a soldier not a 'Mata Hari'. In September 1942 at the age of 37 she was one of the first two FANYs to be dropped into France by parachute, something she had always wanted to do.

Lise's cover story was that she was a poor widow from Paris, but had gone to the Poitiers area to avoid the food shortages of the capital. Claiming to be an amateur archaeologist, she was ignored by the Germans as she toured the area on her bicycle scouring fields for rock specimens – in fact she was locating suitable parachute drop zones for agents and arms. When Lise became aware that the Germans were finally on to her, she and Claude were flown back to Britain. But later she went to Normandy, to become her brother's second-in-command. She helped train resistance fighters to assemble the weapons that were being dropped in readiness for their support of the D-day landings.

At one point Lise lived in the same house as the local German commander, but managed to continue her work undetected. Today Lise de Baissac is modest, almost dismissive, about what she considers was just a perfectly natural desire to resist the Germans as best she could. Yet her citation from General de Gaulle and the fact that she was awarded the Croix de Guerre, Légion d'Honneur, and the MBE, demonstrate that she was indeed a brave woman.

The following pictures were taken at Lise's home in Marseille in the spring of 2001. Click on an image for a larger version.


Lise with her medals.	Close up of the medals.

Lise with Ailsa Camm of the FANY(PRVC)	Claude de Baissac pictured in 1942.
The pictures of Lise de Baissac / Lise de Baissac & Ailsa Camm are Copyright © 2001 Martyn Cox. The picture of Claude de Baissac is Copyright © 2001 Lise de Baissac.


Picture of Lise from the Channel 4 Television documentary "Behind Enemy Lines – The Real Charlotte Grays"
Courtesy of DarlowSmithson / Channel 4 Television & Copyright © 2002 DarlowSmithson / Channel 4 Television