Monique de Bissy

Monique de Bissy (married Schimmelpenninck) was a French/Belgian resistant born March 13, 1923 in Schaerbeek (Belgium) and died November 17, 2009 in Montpellier (France) ^[1][2].

Biography

Citation for Medal of Freedom (1947).

Monique de Bissy after her liberation by U.S. troops in August 1944.

Monique de Bissy started the war as a nurse for the Belgian Red Cross and then she enrolled in the Resistance after the Belgian defeat in 1940 (aged 17). She worked for several resistance groups, such as the « Brigade Blanche », the « Ailes Brisées » and the « Comète ». She organized and participated in the evasion to Spain of 20 Allies pilots after their aircraft had been shot by the German army around the Belgian city of Liège. She was arrested in 1944 after denunciation and was taken to the jail of Maastricht in Netherlands where she was tortured.

U.S. presidential gratitude expressed by General Dwight D. Eisenhower (1949).

After four months of detention she was liberated by U.S. troops in August 1944. She never gave any information to the Nazis during her captivity and she managed to keep her resistance partners safe by her brave silence.

Monique de Bissy enlisted as nurse in the French army in September 1944. After the war she continued to work as a nurse, first in Belgian Congo, then in Montpellier (south of France) after the independence of the Belgian colony.

In 1946 Monique de Bissy married Gerrit Schimmelpenninck with whom she had three children: Gérard (1947), Sonia (1956) and Joëlle (1958). She has had six grandchildren: Stéphanie (1980), Louis (1981), Sophie (1983), Astrid (1987), Xavier (1990) and Olivier (1991).

She died on November 17, 2009, six months after receiving the Légion d'Honneur from French Senator Jacqueline Gourault in the name of President Nicolas Sarkozy for her contribution to Peace and Freedom during World War II.

Medals

Numerous countries have expressed their gratitude through number of medals:

• Belgium: "Médaille de la Résistance" (Resistance Medal) and "Médaille commémorative de la guerre 1940-1945" (Commemorative Medal of World War II) with Belgian Lion,
• United Kingdom: King's Medal for Courage in the Cause of Freedom,
• USA: Medal of Freedom,
• France: Légion d'Honneur ^[3][4].

See also

• Bissy (family)
• Schimmelpenninck (family)
• French resistance during WWII
• Belgian Resistance during WWII
• Red Cross
• Medal of Freedom
• List of Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients

External links

• Website of Belgian Resistant group "Comète" with the full list of Allies pilots saved and Belgian resistants

References

1. ^ Death announcement on the Belgian newspaper "La Libre Belgique"
2. ^ Death announcement on the French newspaper "Midi Libre"
3. ^ Announce dof the promotion to the grade of Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur of Mme Monique de Bissy
4. ^ Announce of the ceremony of Légion d'Honneur decoration by French senator par Jacqueline Gourault