HEROINES OF THE SPECIAL OPERATIONS EXECUTIVE - VALENTINE BLANCHE CHARLET MBE

Valentine was English born

And served as an agent for the SOE

Forty-four years old when she joined

She was Codenamed “Christiane”

And was landed in Vichy France by felucca

On the 1st of September 1942

In order to operate as a courier

For the Ventriloquist network

She was captured in October 1942

A year later Blanche along with

Three dozen other prisoners escaped

But Charlet and fellow courier

Suzanne Warenghem teamed up

After they reached open country

They were helped by a local farmer,

Took refuge in a Benedictine monastery.

Then they planned to cross into Spain

But heavy snow prevented them crossing

The Pyrénées mountains to freedom

So they travelled to the Jura Mountains

Near the border of Switzerland

And worked as a courier and guide for SOE

In April 1944, Charlet and Warenghem

Then crossed France again to Brittany

Where they were picked up on a beach

And rowed in a small boat offshore

To an SOE motor torpedo boat,

And arrived safely in Plymouth

After out running their German pursuers

After the war she was awarded an MBE

She died on October 11^th 1985 aged 87