Limoges

On the evening of June 6 1944 a USAAF Liberator left Tempsford Airfield on route to France. On board were four agents, Violette Szabo, Charles Staunton, Robert Maloubier and Jean Claude Guiet. All four were to be parachuted into France at Limoges.

On landing all four were met by the Marquis and taken to a safe house, a grocers shop in Sussac twenty miles from the drop zone. Here plans were made and the four agents would stay together until June 10. Staunton, who was Violette's controller, decided that the Marquis needed to be organised and sends Violette 100 miles south to organise the reistance fighters. At this meeting was a Colonel with the Marquis, Jacques Dufour. He would escort Violette and hand her over to the Marquis leaders. Before leaving Staunton told Violette that at all cost Jacques must return to Sussac.

The two got into a large black Citroen and at half past nine departed Sussac for the french countryside. Jacques had decided to take Violette to Pampadour, a village about thirty miles away. Jacques would travel through Salon-la-Tour, a village he knew well where he had spent his childhood.

Since the D-Day landings the Germans had been suffering with increased paranoia aided by the increased Resistance activity. On the morning of June 10th a British agent had been captured by Das Reich who were searching for their missing commander Helmut Kampfe. Kampfe had been taken by the resistance following a fire fight at the nearby town of Gueret.

At the village of Salon-la-Tour the soldiers saw a car coming towards them. It stopped and the two occupants got out and ran, following a fire fight Jacques escaped but Violette was captured having held off the Germans for Jacques to escape. Following her arrest Violette was taken to Limoges prison. Violette would be taken from here to the Gestapo Headquarters in Limoges every morning by foot, a plan was made to free Violette by killing the two German guards who escorted her. The plan was not to succeed as Violette was taken to Paris before it was put into operation.                         

                                            ..The life that I have is all that I have,

                                              The life that I have is all yours,

                                              The love that I have of life that I have,

                                              Is yours and yours and yours,

                                              A sleep that I shall have,

                                              A rest I shall have 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..

For Freedom 138 Squadron

To the memory of F/Sgt JG Chadwick and the crew of Halifax LL306