Peter Churchill
Encyclopedia
Peter Morland Churchill DSO Croix de Guerre (1909–1972) was an SOE
Officer in France during World War II
.
He was a brother of Group Captain Walter Churchill
DSO DFC and Major Oliver Churchill
DSO MC who was also an SOE Officer during World War II.
Peter was born in Amsterdam
on 14 January 1909. He was educated at Malvern School and read Modern Languages at Caius College, Cambridge
. In addition to his native English, he was bilingual in French, and fluent in Spanish, Italian and German. He also excelled in sports - he was Captain of the Cambridge University Ice Hockey Club in 1932 and won 15 international caps, proficient at exhibition diving, was a first-class skier, and played golf off a six handicap, where the SS left the prisoners behind as American forces were approaching.
On 27 April he was taken 15 miles to the south to Wildsee, where on 4 May he was liberated by the Fifth U.S. Army. He was taken to Naples for debriefing by officers from the Crimes Investigations Departments and testified against his former captors, and on 12 May 1945 was flown back to England in the private plane of Air-Marshall Garrow.
Odette was sent to Ravensbrück where she endured terrible torture but revealed nothing to her captors .
near Cannes where he worked in real estate, and lived there until his death in 1972.
Special Operations Executive
The Special Operations Executive was a World War II organisation of the United Kingdom. It was officially formed by Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton on 22 July 1940, to conduct guerrilla warfare against the Axis powers and to instruct and aid local...
Officer in France during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
He was a brother of Group Captain Walter Churchill
Walter Churchill
Group Captain Walter Myers Churchill DSO DFC was a Royal Air Force pilot during World War II.He was a brother of Captain Peter Churchill DSO Croix de Guerre, and Major Oliver Churchill DSO MC, both of whom were SOE officers during World War II....
DSO DFC and Major Oliver Churchill
Oliver Churchill
Major William Oliver Churchill DSO MC was an SOE officer during World War II.He was a brother of Group Captain Walter Churchill DSO DFC and Captain Peter Churchill DSO Croix de Guerre.-Biography:...
DSO MC who was also an SOE Officer during World War II.
Biography
His father was William Algernon Churchill (1865–1947) a British Consul who served in Amsterdam, Stockholm, and Milan. His father was also an art connoisseur, and author of what is still the standard reference work on early European paper and papermaking, Watermarks in Paper, and his mother Violet (née Myers).Peter was born in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
on 14 January 1909. He was educated at Malvern School and read Modern Languages at Caius College, Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
. In addition to his native English, he was bilingual in French, and fluent in Spanish, Italian and German. He also excelled in sports - he was Captain of the Cambridge University Ice Hockey Club in 1932 and won 15 international caps, proficient at exhibition diving, was a first-class skier, and played golf off a six handicap, where the SS left the prisoners behind as American forces were approaching.
On 27 April he was taken 15 miles to the south to Wildsee, where on 4 May he was liberated by the Fifth U.S. Army. He was taken to Naples for debriefing by officers from the Crimes Investigations Departments and testified against his former captors, and on 12 May 1945 was flown back to England in the private plane of Air-Marshall Garrow.
Odette was sent to Ravensbrück where she endured terrible torture but revealed nothing to her captors .
Post war
Peter Churchill and Odette Sansom were married in 1947 but divorced in 1956. Peter continued to live in France after the war, settling in Le RouretLe Rouret
Le Rouret is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in southeastern France.-Geography:Le Rouret is located from Grasse, from Cannes and the Mediterranean coast, from Nice and from Monaco...
near Cannes where he worked in real estate, and lived there until his death in 1972.
Decorations
- Distinguished Service Order
- Croix de Guerre (French)
External links
- Profile of Peter Churchill
- Special Forces Roll of Honour
- Peter Churchill on French Wikipedia site (French)
- Five images of Peter Churchill and Odette at Getty Images
- Portrait of Peter Churchill by Mark Gerson at National Portrait Gallery, London