Marie Louise Dissard
Marie Louise Dissard (born November 6, 1881 in Cahors ; † 1957 ) was a member of the Resistance and helped many Allied soldiers to flee.
Life
When France signed the armistice after its defeat by the German Wehrmacht in June 1940 , Marie Louise Dissard joined the Resistance at the age of 60. Initially, she worked with Ian Garrow , a British captain who had missed the Dunkirk evacuation and stayed in France where he and others created an escape route across the Pyrenees . Although he had his base in Toulouse , he had important stations in Paris , Marseille and Perpignan . Many Allied pilots and parachutists who were shot down or crashed over France and Belgium , or who fled from German captivity , returned to England via a secret network.
In October 1941, Garrow was captured. Albert Guerisse took over his position at the head of the secret network . When he was arrested, Dissard took over his duties under her battle name Françoise .
The Gestapo did not expect Dissard, an elderly woman, to be a member of the Resistance. Therefore she traveled relatively freely through France and arranged hiding places for Allied soldiers. This was connected with her escort to Toulouse, where she maintained accommodation for them. From there they went to Perpignan , where they were handed over to mountain guides in the Pyrenees. Other routes led via Marseille , where the British MI6 maintained a network of SOE agents under the code name MI9 , who piloted them initially via North Africa, later on to Perpignan and from there across the Pyrenees, through Spain to Lisbon , from where they boarded returned from ships to England.
In January 1944, one of these leaders was arrested in Perpignan. Contrary to the rules, he carried a notebook with Dissard's name on it. That is why she was forced from that hour to hide in various attics, in cellars and garages in Toulouse.
Dissard managed the return of over 250 Allied Air Force soldiers to England during World War II . In 1944 she helped 110 of them while the Gestapo was looking for her.
After the war Dissard was awarded the US President's Medal of Freedom . Dissard campaigned for women's education and in 1956 achieved the inauguration of a training center for women in Toulouse. This resulted in a vocational school that bears her name. A sculpture reminds of them.
Awards and honors
After the war, she was from the United Kingdom, the George Medal awarded and from the United States , the Medal of Freedom , the highest award for civilians in the United States.
- France
- Officer of the Legion of Honor
- Croix de guerre 1939–1945 with a palm tree
- Médaille de la Resistance with rosette (May 17, 1946)
- Belgium
- Officer of the Order of Leopold II , with palm
- Belgium Croix de Guerre with palm tree, 1940–1945
- United Kingdom
- George Medal
- Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE)
- United States
- Medal of Freedom with a golden palm
See also
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Dissard, Marie Louise |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Dissard, Françoise |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Member of the Resistance, helped Allied soldiers flee to England |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 6, 1881 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Cahors |
| DATE OF DEATH | 1957 |