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Marguerite Petitjean I wish I had had access to this website earlier as I could have added the extra detail to her story published in 'Churchill's Angels' by Amberley in 2012. I'll add the snippets to this story should there ever be another edition.
Marguerite Petitjean, also known as ‘Binette’, was recorded by Harrison as parachuting into France on 29/30 January 1944 with Yvon Morandat, René Obadia and Eugenie Déchelette  . Not mentioned by Clark, they were four members of the French BCRA, and like Reddé, was part of de Gaulle’s RF Section. Wing Commander Speare of 138 Squadron dropped them from his Halifax on a drop zone, codenamed Ajuster, near St Uze in Drôme, about sixty kilometres southwest of Grenoble. Déchelette broke his ankle on landing so needed assistance in reaching the safe house. Apart from her being a member of the Corps Auxiliaire Féminin, very little detail about her has come to light in SOE literature.
It was her obituary in The Miami Herald that provided most detail. "She was an extremely kind and loving woman," said her daughter-in-law, Melissa Bassett. "But at the same time, she was very stern. You really saw the soldier in her." Marguerite was born in Strasbourg, France, in 1921 and trained as a nurse during her teenage years. In 1939 she volunteered as a Red Cross ambulance driver, but a single act of cruelty persuaded her to become a World War II soldier. She witnessed a Nazi officer shoot a little girl who lived in her town. The incident inspired her to join the French Resistance.
Joining the Free French Forces, she went to England, where she received SOE training. When she returned to France, she worked as a wireless operator for Alexandre Parodi’s network and was involved in seventeen missions before and after D-Day. Her assignments supported military actions to disable enemy bridges and power stations. In one escapade, she suffered multiple injuries, including a fractured skull and a broken spine, and her life was often in grave danger. During one sabotage mission, she was captured by two enemy soldiers. She waited until they fell asleep and then tied them up while holding her .32-caliber gun, which she nicknamed ‘Josephine’ and kept throughout her life.
Her missions were so successful that the Germans placed a 10-million-franc ($500,000) price on her head. To avoid capture, she escaped by crossing the Pyrénées into Spain. In recognition of her work she attained the rank of captain and was awarded the Legion d’Honneur, the highest military decoration in France. She was also a five-time recipient of the Croix de Guerre, a French award for bravery.
On 23 June 1946, she married Henry Bassett, an American she met during the war, at the Cathedral de Notre Dame in Paris and went to live in Florida. She died in August 1999. Bernard O'Connor le vendredi 14 septembre 2012 Contribution au livre ouvert de Marguerite Marie Emma Petitjean épouse Bassett | |
