Life in Secrets: Vera Atkins & the Missing Agents of WWII (78 page)

“There were so many taboos,” Iris said. “As children we were not told about the past and we did not ask. It was a great mistake. It just confused the next generation.”

I asked her how she thought Vera had coped with a life so full of secrets. “She had probably retreated in some way a long time ago,” she said. “Think of the age when everything went wrong for her. She was an attractive, clever young woman. Until then she had been protected. She too probably did not know she was a Jew for a long time. She probably grew up with taboos as well. So much would have been hidden from her. And then suddenly she was confronted with the terrible fears and realities of being a Jew at that time. There had perhaps been so many deceptions she had had to practise over the years.”

Before leaving the shed for the last time, I looked through the papers on Vera's death and funeral. In 1980 she had paid fifty guineas to reserve a niche next to her mother in the crematorium at Golders Green Cemetery. In her will Vera left a total of £800,000; evidently her investments had done very well. The money was divided up among her closest family, and generous donations went to godchildren, of whom she had several.

Back indoors I asked Phoebe and Zenna whether Vera's ashes had gone to Golders Green. No, they said. Vera had changed her mind before she died and told them she wanted to “go in” next to Guy, who was buried in the little churchyard of St. Senara in Zennor.

“How did Vera die?”

“Killed by the NHS,” said Zenna, referring to the National Health Service.

Shortly after her ninetieth birthday Vera had gone into hospital in Rye suffering from a nasty skin complaint that had produced itchy blisters. Just as she was recovering, she was moved to a nursing home, where she fell and broke a hip. She was then taken to a hospital in Hastings while her hip mended, and she caught the MRSA “superbug.” “She didn't give up. She just wanted to get out of there. She was battling to get home. But then she weakened and had to battle with hallucinations as well,” said Zenna.

“The thing that bothered her most about the hospital was that all the young nurses called her Vera,” recalled Phoebe. “She kept saying: ‘Will you please call me Miss Atkins.'

Phoebe seemed still to be grieving over Vera's death. “Before she died, I said there will be a time when I am here and you are not here, and I cannot bear that. I cried during the first winter after she died. It seemed to go on and on forever.”

I walked down to the village to look at Vera's grave. St. Senara is a twelfth-century granite church, famous for its legend of a mermaid who once sang here and led a young village boy down to the sea, never to be seen again. Hikers pass by on their way to the Tinners pub or onto the coastal path, which traverses one of the wildest and most spectacular stretches of Cornwall's coast. Vera had come to rest a long way from Galatz.

In the graveyard I couldn't see her headstone immediately, but then there it was, nestling against a drystone wall. Phoebe had arranged for Vera to share a stone with Guy. I read the inscription “Vera May Atkins CBE” and then the words Coix guerre. The stonemason had missed out both the r of Croix and the de, and I almost expected to see a couple of marks in black ink correcting the errors. When I returned to the house, I told Phoebe about the stonemason's mistakes. She would have to get it put right, she said, or Vera would turn in her grave.

SOURCES

OVERVIEW

ARCHIVES AND DOCUMENTARY MATERIAL

The most important material for the story of Vera Atkins's life and the reconstruction of her war crimes investigation came from her personal archive. Part of this archive was held by Phoebe Atkins at her home in Zennor, Cornwall, and part of it at the Imperial War Museum (IWM) in London.

For the story of SOE, I relied largely on primary sources, mainly in files opened recently at the National Archives (NA) and in papers deposited with the IWM.

I also referred to other private archives in the U.K., as well as material held in archives in Germany, France, the United States, and Canada.

Numerous individuals have allowed me to read their contemporaneous diaries, correspondence, and other relevant papers.

INTER VIEWS

I interviewed dozens of former SOE agents and Baker Street staff in the U.K. and France, as well as their families. I also interviewed Vera's former war crimes colleagues and relatives of murdered SOE agents. For details of Vera's earlier life, I spoke to relatives in Britain, Canada, the United States, France, Germany, and Romania, as well as friends and acquaintances.

Several historians and individuals with specialist knowledge gave valuable assistance. Where possible, I also visited places where important events in Vera's life took place and talked to those I found there who had relevant memories or documents.

MORE DETAILED SOURCES

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ARCHIVES

From Vera's personal archive, I drew details of her appointment with SOE and background on individual F Section agents. The files “Correspondence on Casualties,” “Correspondence on Tracing,” “Paris Files,” and “Avenue Foch” provided information on the early stages of her search for missing SOE agents, including the debate on the posting of casualties, contacts with next of kin, and early interrogations with returning agents. I also drew extensively on interviews Vera gave for the IWM's sound archives. Vera's naturalisation file was shown to me by the Home Office (R20340/2/Nat. Div), for which I am grateful to John M. Lloyd.

For details on F Section, I referred in particular to SOE files in the NA series HS4, HS6, HS7, HS8, and HS9. I relied heavily on Vera's own SOE personal file, HS/9/59/2.

MI5 interrogations concerning Henri Déricourt, Nicholas Bodington, Hugo Bleicher, and related files were largely in the KV2 series. Related papers on SOE operations were also in Air2, Air20, and Air40.

For the tracing of agents immediately after D-Day, I relied in particular on HS6/438, 439, and 1440. For war crimes–related material, I referred also to NA papers in the series WO32, WO309, WO311, and WO323 and related files. Among interrogations of returnees, I relied in particular on statements from Maurice Southgate, John Starr, Harry Peulevé, Jean Argence, Eileen Nearne, Yvonne Baseden, Odette Sansom, Brian Stonehouse, and Armel Eugène Guerne.

OTHER SOURCES AND ARCHIVES

For the story of Nora (Noor) Inayat Khan, I drew on Nora's personal file (HS9/836S) and on the biography by Jean Overton Fuller, Madeleine. The author also generously provided original documents. Vilayat Inayat Khan spoke about Nora's background and provided documents. I relied on my own interview with Vera.

For the wider F Section story, I also drew on the IWM sound archives and was grateful to the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (FANY) for access to their archives. Francis Suttill provided documents. Tim Buckmaster kindly showed me his father's contemporary diaries. Peter Lee and E. H. Van Maurick showed me their memoirs. John Pitt at the Special Forces Club assisted with research. SOE in France by M.R.D. Foot was a regular point of reference.

INTERVIEWS

For the portrayal of Vera at Baker Street and at the airfields, I relied on my own interview with Vera and on interviews with numerous SOE agents and staff officers, in particular Nancy Roberts (formerly Fraser-Campbell), Yvonne Baseden, Penelope Torr, Hugh Verity, Francis Cammaerts, Elizabeth FitzGerald (née Norman), Lise de Baissac, Margaret Jackson, Kay Gimpel, Peggy Heard, Robert Sheppard, Peter Lee, Roddy Clube, Peter Lake, Jacques Poirier, Bob Maloubier, Tony Brooks, George Millar, Ralph Beauclerk, Jean-Bernard Badaire, Sir Brooks Richards, and Sir Douglas Dodds-Parker. Joan Astley, coauthor of Gubbins of SOE, gave advice. Lynette Beardwood advised on FANY

On the collapse of the Prosper circuit, I interviewed agents involved, including Gaston Collins, Bob Maloubier, André Watt, Lise de Baissac, and Roger Landes.

Robert Sheppard gave firsthand memories of Avenue Foch and of Hans Kieffer.

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ARCHIVES

Vera's letters, address books, photographs, and pocket diaries were an essential source. Her naturalisation certificate and a postwar passport were in her archive. Her curriculum vitae for the Central Bureau for Educational Visits and Exchanges provided several pointers.

Ronald Atkins, Vera's nephew, provided further family papers, including information about his father, Ralph Atkins. Zenna Atkins, Vera's niece, provided additional documents relating to Vera and her father, Guy Atkins.

In the NA I referred again to Vera's SOE personal file and records of name changes by deed poll relating to Hilda, Ralph, and Guy Atkins. Hilda Atkins's birth and marriage certificates were in the Family Records Centre.

Foreign Office files in the NA confirmed details about Vera's associates in prewar intelligence. I am also grateful to BBC archivists for assistance on Vera's prewar intelligence links. Duncan Stuart, the SOE adviser; Gillian Bennett, the Foreign Office historian; and Nigel West, the military historian, also assisted in this field. Stonyhurst College provided background on Leslie Humphreys, and Valerie Chidson provided information about Montague Chidson and photographs.

For the wider Rosenberg story, I drew extensively on Siegfried Rosenberg's memoir, and on Fritz and Karen Rosenberg's papers. I am grateful to Karina Rosenberg, her husband Michael McCardle, and her brother Peter Rosenberg for granting access to Fritz Rosenberg's papers and for help and advice. I am grateful also to Filip Heilpern, for further background on the Rosenbergs, and Michael Styrcea and Johann Romalo for details on Crasna.

The Stadtarchiv in Kassel, Germany, provided documents on the Rosenberg family history.

On the wider Atkins family story, I was assisted by Vera's cousins Joan Atkins, Janet Atkins, Rabbi Hillel Avidan, and Barbara Horak. De Beers Consolidated Mines Ltd. provided details on the family's diamond interests.

For background, I drew on material from the Wiener Library and the German Historical Institute, both in London, as well as Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Memorial Authority in Jerusalem, and the Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies.

In Romania I was assisted by Prince Mihai Sturdza, Mihai Alin Pavel, and Ion Rizescu. For assistance in Galatz, I am grateful to the Galatz City Archives and the Galatz Jewish Community Centre. I also drew on advice from Leah Benjamin at the Jewish Community Centre in Bucharest. Boris Voldavsky, investigative journalist, uncovered material in Vienna.

For historical background, I am grateful to Professor Dennis Deletant, Dr. Maurice Pearton, Dr. Jonathan Eyal, Ivor Porter, Sir Dennis Wright, Professor Andrei Pippidi, and John Wimbles. Lady Gowrie (Adelheid Schulenburg) provided background on Friedrich Werner von der Schulenburg. Lord Weidenfeld gave historical advice.

INTERVIEWS

Vera's own memories of Romania were relayed to me by her friends Barbara Worcester and Alice Hyde. I am indebted to Annie Samuelli for many hours of discussion and to Ann Eagle (née Rogers) and Teresina Mendl for their memories of Vera in Romania. Other members of the Mendl family offered family trees and memories.

I am particularly indebted to Zinovia Iliut in Crasna and to Princess Ileana Sturdza in Bucharest. Despina Wittgenstein kindly provided information about her husband, Peter Wittgenstein.

For Vera's life in Bucharest, I also relied on contemporary writing, including the memoirs of the (London) Times correspondent Archie Gibson, and I drew on Hilda Atkins's pocket diaries. I am particularly grateful to Mavis Coulson for lending her husband's letters.

An invaluable source of information on Vera's life after arriving in England in 1937 was Mary Williams. I also drew on information in Vera's naturalisation file and on information provided by Pat Holbeton and Mimi Rocke. Vera's oral testimony given to the IWM and files on her membership in Air Raid Precautions (ARP) were helpful.

The story of Vera's relationship with Dick Ketton-Cremer came first from Barbara Worcester, Mary Williams, and Christine Franklin. I am grateful to the National Trust and in particular to Jim Watt, Mari Chalk, and Joan Chapman at Felbrigg Hall for showing me Dick's papers and photographs, and to Lady Wil-helmine Harrod for her advice.

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VERA ATKINS'S PAPERS

For the reconstruction of Vera's investigations in Germany, I relied primarily on her own papers, some of which are duplicated in files in the NA.

Among Vera's war crimes papers, I relied particularly on “Correspondence on Casualties” for details of agents still missing in January 1946, and on “Movements and Orders” for the terms of her appointment as an investigator and for plotting her travels around Germany.

Her files on “Karlsruhe Prison” contained interrogations of prison staff and former inmates, including Fräulein Becker, Hedwig Müller, and Lisa Graf and related correspondence. “Karlsruhe Gestapo” and “Natzweiler” contained interrogations, reports, and correspondence used for the reconstruction of events at Natzweiler and Dachau, including Brian Stonehouse's drawings. The interrogation of Franz Berg, as well as Vera's handwritten notes of this interrogation, were in “Natzweiler.”

For other phases of her investigations in Germany I relied on further files, including “Ravensbrück,” “Sachsenhausen,” “Ravitsch,” “Mauthausen,” “Flossenburg,” “Dachau,” and “Gross Rosen.”

Correspondence with next of kin, and with Norman Mott, including Vera's monthly reports to London, and letters about honours and awards, were mainly in “Personal Correspondence.”