“When Dr Kate Vigurs came to speak at the British Embassy Paris about her book “Mission France” I really wasn’t sure exactly how it would develop. I had arranged the talk because I thought my colleagues would find it interesting, especially as one of the women in the book, Pearl Witherington, had worked in the Embassy before joining the SOE. And I certainly wanted to raise awareness of the role of women in the SOE, and, by extension, in defence. What I had not expected was the extremely positive effect Dr Vigurs’ effect would have on my team and other colleagues.
Dr Vigurs spoke for about 45 minutes: from the moment she started, she had us mesmerised with the stories of some of the women; there just wasn’t enough time to cover all of them. Her knowledge of, and passion for, her subject was evident from the start: she could describe the broad political aspects of the war and then focus on the details of living in Nazi-occupied France. Her enthusiasm was catching and that spilled over into the questions where colleagues wanting to know more received erudite answers. The rather un-British non-queue to buy her book was also testament of the desire to delve into the subject.
And the effect? Conversations that started immediately after the event continued in the office the next day and beyond: what would you have done in their circumstances? How did they cope with the stress? Would I be able to do the training for this? How did SOE select their agents? In the days after the event, I was stopped by colleagues in the corridor who had attended and wanted to know if we planned any more such talks.
Dr Vigurs’ talks should come with a health warning: the talk generated conversations which span the topic itself and had us talking about modern attitudes to war, risk, duty and commitment. The talk has also stimulated us to putting on further talks in the Embassy and broadening our audience.
So, a massive thank you from me to Dr Vigurs to helping increase awareness of women in defence and inspiring so much discussion. On a wall in the Embassy there is a picture of Pearl Witherington: I now look at it with pride.”
Group Captain / Colonel Antony McCord, Air Attaché, British Defence Staff, Paris – 2022.