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02-16-2005, 12:51 PM
Britain was not a war zone, French tell SOE woman
By Colin Randall in Paris
An author who served in Winston Churchill's "secret army", the SOE, preparing agents to be dropped into Nazi-occupied France, is making a final attempt to convince the French she should be treated as a war veteran.
In her largely unnoticed struggle with the French authorities over the past 14 years, Noreen Riols has been repeatedly rebuffed with arguments that include the claim that Britain was "not a war zone".
One letter from a French official stated that the Special Operations Executive was not an operational unit, despite losing 104 agents on French soil or in German captivity.
"The attitude of my own country makes me feel ashamed," said Mrs Riols's French husband, Jacques. "It embarrasses me as a Frenchman." Mrs Riols, who has dual nationality, is 78 and her husband will be 84 next month. Both are in good health but accept that in appealing to Michèle Alliot-Marie, the French defence minister, they are making their last attempt to force a change of heart.
In an impassioned letter to the minister, Mr Riols describes his "indignation" at his wife's treatment. "My wife, who fought for France, adopted it as her own country and has become deeply attached to it despite everything, surely merits more consideration."
Among SOE's 39 female operatives - 13 of whom never returned from missions - were a dancer, a Leeds-born Paris fashion designer and an Indian princess.
Noreen Riols, a naval rating's daughter who had been sent to the French Lycee in London to nurture her flair for languages, was not an agent. But, still in her teens, she played a vital role in the training and vetting of those hoping to be infiltrated into occupied France.
She felt particular injustice on learning that women who worked for Gen Charles de Gaulle's parallel London-based organisation were recognised by France even if their duties were purely clerical.
Gen de Gaulle opposed the work of SOE's F Section, seeing it as part of an Anglo-Saxon plot to steal the Resistance's glory.
After the war, Mrs Riols worked at the BBC World Service, where she met her future husband.
Later settling in France, she wrote a series of wartime romances; one, Eye of the Storm, sold more than 30,000 copies in Britain alone.
Link (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/02/16/wsoe16.xml)
By Colin Randall in Paris
An author who served in Winston Churchill's "secret army", the SOE, preparing agents to be dropped into Nazi-occupied France, is making a final attempt to convince the French she should be treated as a war veteran.
In her largely unnoticed struggle with the French authorities over the past 14 years, Noreen Riols has been repeatedly rebuffed with arguments that include the claim that Britain was "not a war zone".
One letter from a French official stated that the Special Operations Executive was not an operational unit, despite losing 104 agents on French soil or in German captivity.
"The attitude of my own country makes me feel ashamed," said Mrs Riols's French husband, Jacques. "It embarrasses me as a Frenchman." Mrs Riols, who has dual nationality, is 78 and her husband will be 84 next month. Both are in good health but accept that in appealing to Michèle Alliot-Marie, the French defence minister, they are making their last attempt to force a change of heart.
In an impassioned letter to the minister, Mr Riols describes his "indignation" at his wife's treatment. "My wife, who fought for France, adopted it as her own country and has become deeply attached to it despite everything, surely merits more consideration."
Among SOE's 39 female operatives - 13 of whom never returned from missions - were a dancer, a Leeds-born Paris fashion designer and an Indian princess.
Noreen Riols, a naval rating's daughter who had been sent to the French Lycee in London to nurture her flair for languages, was not an agent. But, still in her teens, she played a vital role in the training and vetting of those hoping to be infiltrated into occupied France.
She felt particular injustice on learning that women who worked for Gen Charles de Gaulle's parallel London-based organisation were recognised by France even if their duties were purely clerical.
Gen de Gaulle opposed the work of SOE's F Section, seeing it as part of an Anglo-Saxon plot to steal the Resistance's glory.
After the war, Mrs Riols worked at the BBC World Service, where she met her future husband.
Later settling in France, she wrote a series of wartime romances; one, Eye of the Storm, sold more than 30,000 copies in Britain alone.
Link (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/02/16/wsoe16.xml)