Another sad story. "The incredible bravery of a beautiful British secret agent widely considered one of the most courageous women of World War II has been revealed as her gallantry medals are set to sell for up to £300,000. Violette Szabo, who was executed by the Germans after brutal torture at the hands of SS officers, was posthumously awarded the prestigious George Cross for her heroism on highly-dangerous missions in Nazi-occupied France. The astonishing bravery of the beautiful 23-year-old has been immortalised in three biographies and the 1958 film 'Carve Her Name With Pride' in which she was portrayed by Virginia McKenna. Szabo, born Violette Bushell, in Stockwell, South London, joined the Land Army at the outbreak of war and worked as a strawberry picker and then at an anti-aircraft battery. But after her husband was killed by the Germans at El Alamein in 1942 she vowed to avenge his death, volunteering for the Special Operations Executive (SOE). On her last mission to disrupt the German response to the D-Day landings, she sacrificed her life for that of a male comrade, providing covering fire until her ammunition ran out so that he could escape. After her capture, she was brutally tortured by the SS before being shot at the notorious Ravensbruck concentration camp in Germany in early 1945. Only four women have been awarded the George Cross since its inception in 1940. The other three were also secret agents for the Special Operations Executive and one of them, Odette Sansom, described Violette as 'the bravest of us all.' Her medals and an accompanying archive of documents and photos are described as one of the most important collections ever offered for sale in Britain. The pre-sale estimate for her George Cross group of £250,000 to £300,000 easily outstrips the current record of £93,000." http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3147043/Medals-awarded-beautiful-British-spy-tortured-executed-Nazis-daring-missions-inspired-film-Carve-Pride-set-sell-300-000.html#ixzz3ekSvnIIP
*bump" for an update. They went for £312,000 and will be displayed in the IWM. "A George Cross posthumously awarded to a British spy tortured and executed by the Nazis was sold today for a world-record £312,000. The bravery medal along with four others belonging to Violette Szabo, who worked for the Special Operations Executive in occupied France, was auctioned for £260,000 within a minute of going on sale in London's Mayfair. They were bought on behalf of Lord Ashcroft and will go on display at the Imperial War Museum two miles away in Lambeth. Auctioneers Dix Noonan Web said the sale price for the collection - which reached £312,000 including commission - meant a record price had been paid for a George Cross, surpassing the previous highest total of £93,000. Mrs Szabo, an Anglo-French undercover agent who was executed at a concentration camp aged just 23 in 1945, was one of four women to be awarded the George Cross, the UK's second highest military honour. Her daughter Tania Szabo, 73, who decided to sell the medals after a fire gutted her home in Wales, said: ‘I'm very happy with the result. ‘They're going into a safe place where people will be able to view them - many thousands of people - so a good result.’ Michael Naxton, curator of the Ashcroft collection, said: ‘It's probably one of the most iconic bravery medals of the 20th century." http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3170803/George-Cross-posthumously-awarded-beautiful-British-spy-tortured-executed-Nazis-sells-auction-world-record-312-000.html#ixzz3gdOEWdWH
