Mary Lindell

Mary Lindell (1895-1986), also known as the Comtesse de Milleville, the Comtesse de Moncy and Marie-Claire was a British-born nurse who lived in France and worked independently against the Nazis during World War II. During the First World War, she served as a member of the Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) and subsequently with the Secours aux Blessés, a division of the French Red Cross. She created escape lines in occupied France, helping to get people out of the country. Despite being sentenced to death and arrested, she managed to survive the war. Two of her children were arrested by the Nazis; one was tortured severely, but survived. The other presumably perished in a Nazi concentration camp.

Biographical details

Lindell was born in 1895 to a wealthy family in Surrey, England. Her mother was a member of the Colls family, the daughter of a successful architect.^[1]

She was decorated for her bravery and service by the French, receiving a Croix de Guerre in 1918.^[1] She was also decorated by the Tsarist Russian governments. She married the Count de Milleville, a member of the French aristocracy, and made her home in France. Following the Nazi invasion of France, Lindell worked with various Allied agencies, at considerable risk to herself and family, to help smuggle downed airmen and others to freedom on the "Pat" line (named after "Pat O'Leary, alias of Albert Guérisse). Despite a narrow escape, which led to her finding brief refuge in her native Britain, she joined MI9 and returned to occupied France in 1942, where she learned that she, as the Comtesse de Milleville, had been sentenced to death.^[1]

She organized a new escape line, the "Marie-Claire" line, after her new name. She continued to work in France until severely wounded, captured and deported to Ravensbrück concentration camp at the end of 1943.^[2] She survived in the camp hospital and was liberated in 1945. Her children were involved in their mother's work. Her son Maurice was interrogated and severely beaten for his activities; her son Oky was similarly interrogated and deported to a concentration camp where it is presumed he died. Lindell was subsequently recognized for her work and was also an advocate for those British civilians who were interned in Nazi concentration camps. A 1991 film One Against the Wind starring Judy Davis was based upon Lindell's life^[3] and she was featured in a television series called Women of Courage about four women who defied the Nazis, produced by Peter Morley,^[1] himself a German Jewish refugee. The other women were Maria Rutkiewicz, a Polish woman; Sigrid Helliesen Lund, a Norwegian; and Hiltgunt Zassenhaus, a German.

Sources

• The Royal Air Forces Escaping Society (1994)
• "M.P. To Fight For Ex-Internees" The Times, 17 July 1963, pg 6.

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} Peter Morley, Peter Morley - A Life Rewound Part 4 (PDF) British Academy of Film and Television Arts (2010), pp. 245-250. Retrieved September 29, 2011
2. ^ John Nichol and Tony Rennell, Home Run - Escape from Nazi Europe Penguin books (2007)
3. ^ "One Against the Wind" at the IMDb

See also

• Nacht und Nebel
• Albert Guérisse - "Pat" O'Leary
• Elsie Maréchal
• Comet line - World War II evasion line

Persondata
Name	Lindell, Mary
Alternative names	Comtesse de Moncy, Comtesse de Milleville, Marie-Claire
Short description	British-born nurse, French Resistance member
Date of birth	1895
Place of birth	Surrey
Date of death	1986
Place of death