Bill’s Content

I figure that is the least we owe this woman, who passed away yesterday:

Helene Deschamps was born into a French military family at Tientsin, China, in 1921, and grew up in colonial outposts. Studying at a convent when Germany invaded France in 1940, she joined the Resistance. Her duties ranged from being a courier to gathering information on German troop strength, airfields and coastal installations in preparation for the Allied invasion of southern France in 1944. She rescued downed U.S.fliers before the Nazis could find them and guided groups of Jews to safety across the Spanish border in the Pyrenees mountains.

[snip]

Always in danger of being exposed, the diminutive auburn-haired Deschamps, just over 5 feet tall, suffered a permanent back injury when beaten by a French interrogator. Another time, faced with the choice of being blown up or having her cover blown, she walked into a building where she knew a bomb had been planted. She barely escaped, bleeding and partially deafened, when it exploded.

My deepest sympathies are extended to Mrs. Adams’ surviving family and friends.

[tags]Helene Deschamps Adams,French Resistance,Deschamps [/tags]

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 24th, 2006 at 1:08 pm and is filed under Heroes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.