16. She Became a Secret Agent Because of a Mistake
When the war began in 1939, Odette’s husband left to join the British Army, and she was left to care for their three daughters. A year later, the aerial Battle of Britain made life in London decidedly dangerous, when Hitler unleashed the Luftwaffe against the British capital in what came to be known as the London Blitz. Odette and her daughters were among the many evacuated, and they ended up Red Ball, a tiny hamlet in Somerset. It was a peaceful and beautiful rural setting, and Odette’s young daughters enjoyed playing in and wandering through the nearby rolling hills and apple orchards.
Unfortunately, the very serenity of her surroundings left Odette feeling guilty about her safety, while others were suffering and enduring the hardships of war. It was against that backdrop that Odette heard a plea from the British Admiralty in the spring of 1942, seeking photos of the French coast to help in the war effort. She had grown up in northern France, and had plenty of photos taken of the coast. So she sent them off, accompanied by a cover letter in which she described her French background, and that she had intimate knowledge of the northern French coast. However, she mistakenly sent the letter to the War Office instead of the Admiralty, and it was forwarded to the Special Operations Executive (SOE).