Kathryn Atwood

Pearl Witherington Cornioley

In 1943 a British Special Operations Executive (SOE) report called agent-in-training Pearl Witherington "cool and resourceful and extremely determined" and "the best shot, male or female, we have yet had." Soon after, 29-year-old Witherington parachuted into Nazi-occupied France and posed as a traveling cosmetics saleswoman to make her way around the country as an SOE courier. When the leader of her network was caught by the Gestapo, she became "Pauline" and rose to command a 3,500-strong band of French Resistance fighters. She went on to become one of the most celebrated female agents in SOE history. In Code Name Pauline Witherington's remarkable story is told in her own words. In a series of reminiscences she describes her difficult childhood and harrowing escape from France in 1940, her recruitment and training as a special agent, the logistics and dangers of working as an undercover courier, failed and successful attempts at sabotaging the Nazis, and much more. Editor Kathryn J. Atwood provides helpful context and background on the SOE and the French Resistance. Also included are an annotated list of key figures; an appendix of original, unedited interview extracts; and previously unpublished photographs and documents. Pearl Witherington Cornioley (1914-2008) worked for the Special Operations Executive (SOE) as a special agent and with the French Resistance as an undercover courier and later a network leader of 3,500 men. She was instrumental in carrying out numerous acts of espionage and sabotage. Kathryn J. Atwood is the author of Women Heroes of World War II and has contributed to War, Literature, and the Arts and Midwest Book Review.

Memoirs of a World War II Special Agent

Code Name Pauline

Pearl Witherington Cornioley, one of the most celebrated female World War II resistance fighters, shares her remarkable story in this firsthand account of her experience as a special agent for the British Special Operations Executive (SOE). Told through a series of reminiscences—from a difficult childhood spent in the shadow of World War I and her family's harrowing escape from France as the Germans approached in 1940 to her recruitment and training as a special agent and the logistics of parachuting into a remote rural area of occupied France and hiding in a wheat field from enemy fire—each chapter also includes helpful opening remarks to provide context and background on the SOE and the French Resistance. With an annotated list of key figures, an appendix of original unedited interview extracts—including Pearl's fiancé Henri's story—and fascinating photographs and documents from Pearl's personal collection, this memoir will captivate World War II buffs of any age.

Pearl Witherington Cornioley, one of the most celebrated female World War II resistance fighters, shares her remarkable story in this firsthand account of her experience as a special agent for the British Special Operations Executive (SOE). Told through a series of reminiscences—from a difficult childhood spent in the shadow of World War I and her family’s harrowing escape from France as the Germans approached in 1940 to her recruitment and training as a special agent and the logistics of parachuting into a remote rural area of occupied France and hiding in a wheat field from enemy fire—each chapter also includes helpful opening remarks to provide context and background on the SOE and the French Resistance. With an annotated list of key figures, an appendix of original unedited interview extracts—including Pearl’s fiancé Henri’s story—and fascinating photographs and documents from Pearl’s personal collection, this memoir will captivate World War II buffs of any age.

Pearl Witherington Cornioley

About

Books

Join the club