Violette Szabo ("Carve her name with Pride")

RE: Violette Szabo- I was unable to attend the unveiling of the statue of Violette 4 October 2009.
Her birthday is 26 June. I shall certainly lay some flowers by then statue on that day, and have a drink in her honour in the nearby Rose pub. Can we organise a group to get together on 26 June 2010 17:45 after work to celebrate her contribution to the war effort by the statue, and a drink in her honour afterwards? Let me know, and I'll co ordinate the responses. gillian.travers@hotmail.co.uk

Sounds like an excellent idea Gillian. I was very familiar with her story as a child as she lived in Stockwell and worked in the Bon Marche in Brixton, so she was a local hero.

Carve her name with Pride was a good film, haven't seen it for a while.

What a hero! I'm sorry I'll be away on June 26th.



( copied from http://www.karen-newman.com/PortfolioPages/Violette1.htm )

What a lovely statue, I remember how brave she was and how young she was when she died, 24?

and of course poor old Odette who was tortured and because she survived, the establishment did not believe her.

I salute them all, and there was so many..:-(

Odette's birthday is 28 April 1912. In the absence of a statue of Odette Hallowes in London (or none that I aware of) I shall lay out some flowers beside Violette on the embankment in the coming week. It makes me think Odette should be similarly be honoured by the time of the centinary of her birth in two years time. I would be very happy for all 11 FANY women to be so honoured. I am in my 50s, and was inculcated as a youngster with a sense of the bravery of these girls -and they were girls- on the back of the many black and white re runs.
We owe them, and all of their ilk, so much....It's a terrible thought that their contribution might fade in the public's memory. Gillian

Yes, Gillian.Their memory will fade and has faded, but small acts like yours prompt a new generation to examine what they did. The time will come again when their example inspires a key figure.

Perhaps if any local teachers read this forum they might consider telling their kids these womens' important stories on an appropriate day .. maybe one of the birthdays that Gillian cites? It'd be great if the kids could pay their own tribute at the statue too.