Moondrop to Gascony

By: Anne-Marie Walters

Narrated by: Nicola Barber

Length: 9 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's summary

On a cold, moonlit night in January 1944, Anne-Marie Walters, just 20 years old, parachuted into southwest France to work with the Resistance in preparation for the long-awaited Allied invasion. The daughter of a British father and a French mother, she was to act as a courier for George Starr, head of the "Wheelwright" circuit of the Special Operations Executive. Over the next seven months, Walters crisscrossed the region, carrying messages, delivering explosives, arranging the escape of downed airmen, and receiving parachute drops of arms and personnel in the dead of night - living in constant fear of capture and torture by the Gestapo. Then, on the very eve of liberation, she was sent off on foot over the Pyrenees to Spain, carrying urgent dispatches for London.

Anne-Marie Walters wrote Moondrop to Gascony immediately after the war, while the events were still vivid in her mind. It is a tale of high adventure, comradeship and kindness, of betrayals and appalling atrocities, and of the often unremarked courage of many ordinary French men and women who risked their lives to help drive German armies from French soil. And through it all shines her quiet courage, her keen sense of humor, and, above all, her pure zest for life.

For this new edition, David Hewson, a former regular-army officer interested in military history, adds biographical details for the main characters, identifies the real people behind the code names, and provides background information. He also tells about Anne-Marie Walters' early life and what happened to her in the postwar years.

©2016 Blackstone Audio, Inc. (P)2016 Anne-Marie Walters

An exciting story of a young and brave SOE agent

I very much recommend this book. Before listening to Moondrop, I had had followed the exploits of Churchill's 'set Europe ablaze" SOE agents and the later military Jedburgh groups with great admiration. Moondrop brought out the terrible risks these agents faced every day while operating in occupied territory. The Nazi's while very astute, were equally ruthless and brutal, making the lives of so many agents short. It amazes me that Anne Marie Walter (code name Colette; in the book, Paulette), just 20 years of age (the second youngest female SOE agent dropped into France), could face such danger without a major breakdown. Acting as a courier for the head of the Wheelwright resistance organization in S France, she delivered messages across the region (by train, bicycle and foot), moved supplies, accompanied escapees to the border, attended 'parachutagees' of arms drops to macquis groups and even took part in a gun battle with overwhelming German forces attacking her macquisard group. All this clearly and modestly told in the well-written 'Moondrop'. After being effective for over 6 months, and much to her chagrin, she was sent out of France by her 'boss' under false pretenses. During her last weeks in France, she apparently had a falling out with the insular Lt Col Starr, head of Wheelwright. Upon returning to London she was debriefed and while praising Starr's bravery, criticized him for leadership issues including allowing the torture of prisoners. When Starr was repatriated after the liberation of France, an inquiry was held that resulted in a 300 page report. As the book's Afterword notes, Anne Marie's testimony amongst other items mysteriously disappeared from the official record. Although admitting to the occurence of severe torture, Starr was cleared of any direct responsibility. While recognized as a 'sister of the resistance' by her comrades in the macquis, it seems likely that Anne Marie was resented by Starr. While SOE used both men and women as agents, history tells us that this was still a misogynistic time, where women (and young women, in particular) were not held in the same regard as men. After listening to the Afterword and following up with on-line searches, it is my opinion that Colette's reputation was sullied unfairly and her views on Wheelwright's management disregarded.