11. There Were Doubts About Her Suitability for Undercover Work
SOE trainers’ reports described Odette as enthusiastic, driven, and able. On the downside, she was also described as “excitable and temperamental“, as well as “impulsive and hasty in her judgments“. She was also reluctant to accept constructive criticism, and the report concluded that: “her main weakness is a complete unwillingness to admit that she could ever be wrong“. In normal circumstances, that might have tanked her chances and washed her out of training, as unsuitable for undercover work. However, the exigencies of war and the shortage of qualified personnel tipped the scales in her favor.
As her boss, Major Maurice Buckmaster, saw it, many recruits with poor training reports had gone on to prove themselves as valuable agents in the field. In a final interview before deciding her fate, he told her: “The work I had planned for your to do is so desperately important and so… so interlocking that we can only dare to send people who are cool in their judgment and who have crystal clarity of mind. I believe you to be single-minded, loyal, and tenacious. But, let’s face it, there is the question of this mercurial temperament of your’s which comes out every now and again like a nettle rash“. Nonetheless, he went with his instincts, and allowed Odette to continue training and preparation for her mission.