Peter Churchill
Peter Morland Churchill, DSO Croix de Guerre (1909 – 1972) was a British Special Operations Executive (SOE) officer in France during the Second World War.
His wartime operations, which resulted in his capture and imprisonment in German concentration camps and his subsequent marriage to fellow SOE officer Odette Sansom, received considerable attention after the war, including a 1950 film.
[4] In Operation WILLOW, his mission was to inspect three SOE networks in the south of France, evaluate their strengths and weaknesses, assess their needs, and give them instructions.
The next morning he walked 25 km to Antibes where he met his first contact, Dr Élie Lévy «Louis», who introduced him to Baron d'Astier de la Vigerie «Bernard», head of Lyon resistance group known as ‘The Last Column’.
[6] Using false identity papers of an Argentinian journalist, he then travelled by train with «Bernard» to Lyon to meet Virginia Hall «Germaine», an American agent, who put him in contact with Duboudin.
Travelling as a couple to reduce suspicion, Hall accompanied him on a train to Perpignan, and with a guide he crossed the Pyrenees overnight on foot and walked about 80 km to Bañolas near Figueras.
[7] In April 1942, Churchill travelled from Gibraltar in HM Submarine P 42 "Unbroken" with three radio operators, Isidore Newman «Julien» for the URCHIN network and Edward Zeff «Matthieu» for the SPRUCE network, Marcel Clech «Bastien» for the AUTOGIRO network, and Victor Gerson «René», an SOE agent on a special mission to organise the VIC Escape Line[5] On the night of 21 April, Churchill led Newman and Zeff by canoe to the shore at Antibes with their radios and took them to the house of Dr Élie Lévy, who asked him to take «Bernard» back with him to the UK.
[7] On 8 November 1942 Hitler ordered the occupation of Vichy France and as a result of increased security activities in Cannes, Giraud moved his CARTE operations to Arles.
[7] In January 1943, Girard was dismissed as head of the CARTE Organisation, and Henri Frager «Paul» and André Marsac «End» were made Joint Commanders.
[7] The third attempt was on a small abandoned airfield near Tournus between Mâcon and Chalon-sur-Saône in January 1943 to collect Churchill and take Frager to London to clear up the confusion over the CARTE question and have a definite ruling on the matter from HQ.
The landing had to be aborted when it was realised that the Germans were lying in wait, and Churchill, Frager, Sansom and the others escaped on foot, narrowly missing capture.
He decided it was too dangerous to remain in Cannes and relocated the SPINDLE network to Saint-Jorioz on Lake Annecy in Haute-Savoie, and changed his cover name.
On 22/23 March 1943, a Lysander piloted by Hugh Verity landed at Estrées-Saint-Denis near Compiègne exfiltrated Churchill and Frager, while bringing Francis Cammaerts «Roger» to take over the SPINDLE network in his absence.
[4] On 1 April 1945, he was moved by train to Flossenbürg, 50 miles south-east of Bayreuth, where he was held for 3–4 days before being taken by truck on a 30-hour trip to Dachau where, rather than being taken to the notorious concentration camp, he was lodged in a former brothel along with 30 other officers.
[4] On 24 April, Churchill was taken from Dachau over the Brenner Pass to Villabassa (Niederdorf in the Tyrol), together with many other prominent concentration camp inmates from different countries,[15] where the SS left the prisoners behind as American forces were approaching.
He was taken to Naples for debriefing by officers from the Crimes Investigations Departments and testified against his former captors, and on 12 May was flown back to England in the private plane of Air-Marshall Garrow.
This involved much travel and dangerous liaisons activity, but CHURCHILL carried out the mission with complete success and return to England in early February 1942.
Churchill worked tirelessly and unselfishly over a long period in very trying conditions, showing outstanding courage, leadership and organising ability, which earned him the respect and admiration of all who came in contact with him.
After the Market Bosworth Historical Society became aware of the wartime gallantry of not just Walter, but also of his brothers Peter and Oliver, it decided to fund a Memorial Cairn.
