The Valençay SOE Memorial is a monument in France to the members of the Special Operations Executive F SectionFoot, M.R.D SOE in France who died working to liberate the country during World War II.
The memorial was unveiled in the town of Valençay, in the department of Indre, on May 6, 1991, marking the fiftieth anniversary of the despatch of F Section's first agent to France.
Former SOE agents Pearl Witherington Cornioley and her husband Henri, who lived nearby, promoted the establishment of the memorial. Witherington had worked in the area as a SOE agent during World war II.SOE agent profile of Pearl Witherington, nigelperrin.com; accessed 4 September 2017. The monument was designed by Elizabeth Lucas Harrison, herself a former Resistance member, who originally gave it the name "Spirit of Partnership".
Dedicated by the Minister of Veterans Affairs for France and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, the memorial's Roll of Honour lists the names of the 91 men and 13 women members of the SOE who gave their lives for France's freedom.
Valençay Memorial Roll of Honour (from website: SOE and Valençay MonumentGrehan, J. and Mace, M. (2012))
Jack Charles Stanmore Agazarian
Joseph Antoine France Antelme
Yolande Elsa Maria Beekman Robert Marcel Charles Benoist
Gustave Daniel Alfred Biéler
Denise Madeleine Bloch Marcus Reginald Bloom Andrée Raymonde Borrel
Muriel Tamara Byck Robert Bennett Byerly
Marcel Clech
Ted Cyril Coppin Madeleine Zoe Damerment
Émile Georges Jean Duboudin
Henri Jacques Paul Frager
William Charles Frederick Grover-Williams
Noor Inayat Khan Sidney Charles Jones
A. R. Landsdell
Cicely Margot Lefort Vera Eugenie Leigh
E. Lesout
John Kenneth Macalister
R. M. A. Mathieu Andre Adrian Jules Maugenet James Andrew Mayer G. B. McBain
Comte Jacques-Arthus Marc de Montalembert
Isidore Newman Gilbert Maurice Norman
Maurice Pertschuk Frank Herbert Dedrick Pickersgill Éliane Sophie Plewman Adolphe Rabinovitch
Lilian Vera Rolfe Diana Hope Rowden Yvonne Claire Rudellat Roméo Sabourin
Henri Sevenet David Whytehead Sibrée Jean Alexandre Robert Simon Octave Anne Guillaume Simon Jack Andrew Eugene Marcel Sinclair Charles Milne Skepper V. A. Soskice Arthur Steele Francis Alfred Suttill Violette Reine Elizabeth Bushell Szabo
Michael Alfred Raymond Trotobas
Edward 'Teddy" Wilkinson George Alfred Wilkinson
References Citations
Bibliography Foot, M.R.D. (2004) SOE in France, Whitehall history publishing, ISSN 1474-8398 Grehan, J. and Mace, M. (2012) Unearthing Churchill’s Secret Army: The Official List of SOE Casualties and Their Stories, Pen and Sword,