Page 10 • The HERALD • 15th February 2024 v F @heraldpublishing v M. C. HALL LTD 4 Carpentry 4 Fencing 4 Decoration 4 Extensions 4 Kitchens 4 Loft Conversions 4 Bathrooms 4 New Build First Rate Building & Carpentry Work Start to Finish Service • References Available • Fully Insured • 1 year guarantee Free Quotations and Friendly Advice Given Contact: mchall126@btinternet.com or call 023 8089 8456 or 07976 937941 Website: www.mchallltd.co.uk • Re-Skimming • Rendering • Coving • Dry Lining • Tacking • Artex Covered • Floor Screeding www.tbrownplastering.co.uk Call: 07919 183989 Friendly • Reliable • Professional • Free Estimates PolarPlastics PVC-U SPECIALIST IN: l WINDOWS l DOORS l CONSERVATORIES l FASCIAS l CLADDING l GUTTERING l GLASS UNITS l WINDOW REPAIRS l FENCING & GATES www.polarplastics.co.uk Email: sales@polarplastics.co.uk l Open 6 Days a Week l No Hard Sale Family Business l 10 Year Insurance Backed Guarantee Registered Company 10 HOLBURY PRECINCT, HOLBURY DROVE, HOLBURY TEL: (023) 8089 9611 • New flooring & repairs • Interior & exterior fitted windows & doors • Fitted kitchens • Stairs & decking • Architrave & skirting • Pergolas & car ports • Gates made & fitted • Bespoke Summer houses • Garden structures & landscaping structures • Roofing & Fencing • Fencing • Structural wooden repairs James Powell Carpentry Jamespowellcarpentry.co.uk and find on Check a Trade Contact 07500 113098 Call for a no obligation quote Send your local news to The Editor, The Herald, 2 High Street, Hythe SO45 6AH New for 2024: Lady Montagu Tells the Personal Stories Lady Montagu has taken a unique approach to researching and telling the story of two Beaulieutrained agents in the Special Operations Executive (SOE), to show the private lives of the people behind their hazardous exploits and the ultimate sacrifices they made. Francis Suttill (codenamed Prosper) was the leader of the biggest SOE circuit in France, yet his story has rarely been told. Yvonne Rudellat (codenamed Jacqueline) was one of his couriers and the first female SOE agent to be sent behind enemy lines in German-occupied France. She was also part of the same regiment as Lady Montagu, who is a member of the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (FANY). Both agents were very different people, though trained at Beaulieu’s SOE ‘finishing school’ during the same month, worked in the same circuit and were captured only a few days apart. They were ordinary people living in the safety of England at the outbreak of WWII and yet put themselves forward for some of the most dangerous missions in France, their country of birth. Lady Montagu said: “The personalities of those who volunteered for such hazardous work has always fascinated me. I believe that being part of two countries gave a shared allegiance, but also created a tension which made them feel they didn’t wholly belong to either. This set them apart from their compatriots.” She added: “Whether or not you concur with this view, I am sure you will agree when you have read their stories that the war turned two ordinary individuals into quite exceptional people.” Following the 80th anniversary of the fall of the Prosper network, Lady Montagu has opened an exhibition to share their stories for the first time. It can be seen as part of a visit to Beaulieu in the Secret Army Exhibition. Painting a family picture: Surviving family members of both agents have met with Lady Montagu to build a picture of their lives before they joined SOE and what led to that decision. Francis left two baby sons who he never saw again after joining SOE and taking up his role in France, where he organised hundreds of agents and supporters for the network. Yvonne left a daughter behind when she trained to become an agent at the relatively late age of 45, then kept explosives under her bed in France and used them to sabotage train links, factories and a power station. Their families have loaned personal photographs and the agents’ medals, as well as one of Prosper’s original canisters which would have contained guns and ammunition when it was dropped by parachute for the Resistance. Yvonne’s suitcase, complete with her lace-bordered handkerchief, has also been loaned to Lady Montagu to help illustrate her story. Personal letters home put their stories into context. One from the War Office to Mrs Suttill says “I am very pleased to be able to inform you that your husband has arrived safely at his destination and is in good health”, while another encloses a letter from her husband. In it, he says: “I was, as you know, to be going today but it has now been postponed till the 27th (September 1942) so as to give me time to get everything ready. Ever since Friday midday till late last night, I have been talked and talked at – I am sorry if I was not too clear last night but I had completely ceased to think at all clearly.” Francis was dropped ‘blind’ with no reception committee 12km from his intended point and dislocated his knee, breaking the cartilage where the muscles were already atrophied from his childhood polio. The package dropped with him was not his suitcase of clothes but a wireless set he knew nothing about. As there were doubts about his accent, he met up with his courier Andree Borrel several days later and together, they set off on a tour of northern France to begin creating and organising groups to resist the German occupation. Before being recruited by SOE, Yvonne had worked as a saleswoman in a London department store and settled in Pimlico, then married an Italian waiter. She developed a wide range of interests, including Continued on page 11 Lady Montagu’s display in the Secret Army Exhibition at Beaulieu
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