Andrée Borrel
French espionage agent (1919-1944) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Andrée Raymonde Borrel (18 November 1919 – 6 July 1944), code named Denise, was a French woman who served in the French Resistance and as an agent for Britain's clandestine Special Operations Executive in World War II.[1][2][3] The purpose of SOE was to conduct espionage, sabotage, and reconnaissance in occupied Europe against the Axis powers, especially Nazi Germany. SOE agents allied themselves with resistance groups and supplied them with weapons and equipment parachuted in from England.
Andrée Borrel | |
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Nickname(s) | Monique (SOE codename for the Whitebeam operation and subsequent work in France), Denise Urbain (alias while working as an SOE agent in France) |
Born | (1919-11-18)18 November 1919 Bécon-les-Bruyères, France |
Died | 6 July 1944(1944-07-06) (aged 24) Natzweiler-Struthof, France |
Allegiance | France, Britain |
Service/ | French Resistance Special Operations Executive |
Years of service | 1942–1944 (SOE) |
Rank | Lieutenant (nominally for FANY while actually an SOE agent) |
Unit | Prosper (SOE) |
Battles/wars | Second World War |
Awards | Croix de Guerre Médaille de la Résistance KCBC |
In September 1942, Borrel was one of the first two female agents of SOE to arrive in France by parachute. Based in Paris, she became a member of the SOE's Prosper network in occupied France where she worked as a courier. Prosper was SOE's largest and most important network in France and Borrel was an important figure in its leadership. She was arrested by the Gestapo in June 1943.[4] She was subsequently executed in July 1944 at the Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp.[4]