An NCSS Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People
There was a full moon on the evening of September 22, 1943, when Pearl
Witherington, age 29, parachuted into France to aid the French
Resistance as a special agent for the British Special Operations
Executive (SOE). Out of the 400 agents sent to France during the German
occupation, 39 were women. Pearl, whom the SOE called "cool and
resourceful and extremely determined" and "the best shot, male or
female, we have yet had," became one of the most celebrated female World
War II resistance fighters.
In Code Name Pauline Pearl describes in a series of plainspoken
reminiscences her difficult childhood and harrowing escape from France
in 1940; her recruitment and training as a special agent; the logistics
and dangers of posing as a cosmetics saleswoman to make her way around
the country as an undercover courier; and both failed and successful
attempts at sabotaging the Nazis. She tells how, when the leader of her
network was caught by the Gestapo, she became "Pauline" and rose to
command a 3,500-strong band of French Resistance fighters.
With an annotated list of key figures, an appendix of original unedited
interview extracts--including Pearl's husband Henri's story--and
never-before-published photographs from Pearl's personal collection,
Code Name Pauline will captivate World War II buffs of any age and,
just as Pearl wished, inspire young people.