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Violette Reine Elizabeth <I>Bushell</I> Szabo
Monument

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Violette Reine Elizabeth Bushell Szabo Famous memorial Veteran

Birth
Paris, City of Paris, Île-de-France, France
Death
c.5 Feb 1945 (aged 23)
Fürstenberg-Havel, Landkreis Oberhavel, Brandenburg, Germany
Monument
Brookwood, Woking Borough, Surrey, England Add to Map
Plot
Brookwood 1939-1945 Memorial-Panel 26, Column 3
Memorial ID
View Source
World War II Heroine. The daughter of a French mother and an English father she was born in Paris. She married Etienne Szabo, a Captain in the French Legion. Shortly after their wedding he was sent abroad and soon after the birth of their daughter he was killed at the Battle of El Alamein in North Africa. After her husband's death and because of her knowledge of France and her fluency in French, she was asked by the British to partake in a mission to France to disrupt Nazi operations. Her first mission was in April of 1944 where she acted as a courier helping to reorganize a resistance effort disrupted by Nazi forces. In just six weeks she helped destroy bridges and provide the allies with important information about enemy ammunition supplies. She was sent to France a second time on June 7, 1944 (the day after D-Day) where three days later she was ambushed wounded and captured by an enemy patrol. After weeks of torturous interrogations she was imprisoned at Ravensbruk Concentration Camp. She later worked two stints in labor camps before being returned to Ravensbruck where near the date of February 5, 1945 she was executed. Her body was reportedly disposed of in the camp's crematorium. Posthumously she was awarded the George Cross by England (the first woman to receive the honor) and the Croix de Guerre by France. In 1958 a movie of her heroism, "Carve Her Name with Pride" was released. She is listed on the "Roll of Honor" at the Valencay Special Operations Executive Memorial in France and has a museum named for her in Herefordshire England. Although her body was destroyed she is memorialized at the Brookwood Memorial.
World War II Heroine. The daughter of a French mother and an English father she was born in Paris. She married Etienne Szabo, a Captain in the French Legion. Shortly after their wedding he was sent abroad and soon after the birth of their daughter he was killed at the Battle of El Alamein in North Africa. After her husband's death and because of her knowledge of France and her fluency in French, she was asked by the British to partake in a mission to France to disrupt Nazi operations. Her first mission was in April of 1944 where she acted as a courier helping to reorganize a resistance effort disrupted by Nazi forces. In just six weeks she helped destroy bridges and provide the allies with important information about enemy ammunition supplies. She was sent to France a second time on June 7, 1944 (the day after D-Day) where three days later she was ambushed wounded and captured by an enemy patrol. After weeks of torturous interrogations she was imprisoned at Ravensbruk Concentration Camp. She later worked two stints in labor camps before being returned to Ravensbruck where near the date of February 5, 1945 she was executed. Her body was reportedly disposed of in the camp's crematorium. Posthumously she was awarded the George Cross by England (the first woman to receive the honor) and the Croix de Guerre by France. In 1958 a movie of her heroism, "Carve Her Name with Pride" was released. She is listed on the "Roll of Honor" at the Valencay Special Operations Executive Memorial in France and has a museum named for her in Herefordshire England. Although her body was destroyed she is memorialized at the Brookwood Memorial.

Bio by: Bigwoo



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  • Maintained by: Find a Grave
  • Originally Created by: Bigwoo
  • Added: Jan 26, 2006
  • Find a Grave Memorial ID:
  • Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/13127738/violette_reine_elizabeth-szabo: accessed ), memorial page for Violette Reine Elizabeth Bushell Szabo (26 Jun 1921–c.5 Feb 1945), Find a Grave Memorial ID 13127738, citing Brookwood 1939-1945 Memorial, Brookwood, Woking Borough, Surrey, England; Cremated, Other; Maintained by Find a Grave.