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Her fearlessness seemed to come from a total lack of self-doubt. The certainty with which she held her beliefsshe hated the Nazis, having seen them whipping Jews in Vienna before the war, loved France and was intensely loyal to Britainfreed her of any sense of guilt. This in turn enabled her to act as though she were utterly innocent, even when claiming to be the cousin of an imprisoned Scottish captain, or chatting to a Gestapo officer with 200lb of illegal pork in her suitcase.
It was sheer guts, though, that got her over the Pyrenees in her espradilles when the Germans were at her heels. And back in Britain in 1943 it was her character rather than her skills or physical abilities that got her through her training in grenade throwing, silent killing and parachute jumping. As for violence, she hated ituntil she became hardened.
On the night of 2930 April 1944 she was parachuted into the Auvergne, becoming a liaison between London and the local maquis group headed by Captain Henri Tardivat. Upon discovering her tangled in a tree, Captain Tardivat greeted her, remarking "I hope that all the trees in France bear such beautiful fruit this year," to which she replied, Dont give me that French shit.[8] Her duties included allocating arms and equipment that were parachuted in and minding the group's finances. She became instrumental in recruiting more members, making the maquis groups into a formidable force, roughly 7,500 strong. She also led attacks on German installations and the local Gestapo HQ in Montluçon.
