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Phyllis Latour - A forgotten hero!
In the pre-dawn haze of May 1944, 23-year-old Phyllis Latour leapt from a US Air Force bomber, her heart pounding as she plummeted toward Nazi-occupied Normandy. With the wind roaring in her ears, she landed in enemy territory, swiftly burying her parachute and shedding her jump gear to transform into a poor French teenager.
Her mission was as audacious as it was perilous: gather critical intelligence on German positions to pave the way for D-Day. For four months, she would live a lie, weaving through a landscape crawling with danger, driven by a burning desire to avenge her godfather's death at Nazi hands.
Every step she took was a dance with death, her survival hinging on wit, courage, and an uncanny ability to vanish into plain sight.Trained by the British Special Operations Executive, Phyllis was no ordinary spy. In the rugged Scottish highlands, she mastered Morse code, radio repair, and the art of silent movement, mentored by a former cat burglar who taught her to scale walls like a shadow. Posing as a soap-selling country girl, she pedaled her bicycle through Normandy's villages, her innocent chatter disarming German soldiers while she memorized their positions. By night, she slept in forests, foraging for food, her only companions the stars and the ever-present threat of capture.
Her secret codes, scribbled on silk and hidden in a hair tie, were her lifeline—135 messages sent to the Allies, each one a dagger aimed at the Nazi war machine. Once, when Germans detained her, she unpinned her hair tie, letting her locks cascade to prove her innocence, her cool-headedness saving her from certain death.
After the war, Phyllis slipped quietly into a new life in New Zealand, raising four children who remained oblivious to her heroism until 2000, when her son stumbled upon her story online. In 2014, France crowned her a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour, celebrating her role in turning the tide of war.
At 101, Phyllis lived on, a quiet legend in a world that nearly forgot her. Her story is a testament to the unseen warriors who shaped history—not with fanfare, but with grit, guile, and an unyielding will to fight for what's right.
This hero passed on October 7, 2023.
Click for video: Phyllis Latour (1921 - 2023)
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