www.voicesofwar.co.uk
caused more than 800 disruptions to railway lines in June 1944,
with particular focus on cutting the main rail line between Paris and
Bordeaux, which was used by the Germans to transport troops to
Normandy.
On the morning of 11th June 1944, German soldiers attacked Pearl
and a band of men at the Les Souches château, her headquarters
near the village of Dun-le-Poëlier. Only a few maquis and non-
combatants were present when the Germans arrived. Under re,
Pearl had to think quickly. She hid the money supplies for t he
network and escaped into the elds where she hid until nightfall.
Henri was hiding nearby too and from his vantage point counted
56 truckloads of Germans participating in the operation. Pearl’s
later account stated that the Germans were more interested in
destroying the weapons they found stashed at the château rather
searching for the maquis and the SOE agents. Although it later
transpired that the attack was part of a larger operation targeting
the Marquis which saw 32 men killed, Pearl and her men remained
safe.
This German attack devastated the network, and with no weapons
or means of communication Pearl cycled to nearby Saint-Viâtre to
meet another SOE agent, Philippe de Vomécourt. With him she
was able to radio London to request resupply and on 24th June,
three planes air-dropped the much-needed supplies. WRESTLER
was back in action.
The Allied invasion had emboldened the resistance movements
and as a letter from her Wing Commander is September 1944
attested, she managed to double the number of Marquis under
her control to approximately 3000 men. She and Cornioley divided
the maquis into four subsections, each with its own leader, and