Alfred Street (University of Auckland Store)
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The Last Secret Agent
Paperback Edition: 1
The extraordinary untold story of Pippa Latour, who parachuted into occupied France in 1944 as an undercover agent.
This is the astounding true story of one of the last female special operations agents in France to get out alive after its liberation in WWII. Born in 1921, Pippa Latour became a covert special operations agent who parachuted into a field in Nazi-occupied Normandy. Trained by the British, Pippa was lauded for her fluency with languages and her coding ability - attributes she put to remarkable use when she posed as a teenage soap seller, often selling her wares to the German soldiers and sending back information via code to the UK.
Incredibly brave - Pippa knew she could be instantly shot if her cover was blown - she concealed her codes in pieces of silk that she threaded through a shoelace and wore as a hair tie. She bicycled around the region, often sleeping rough and foraging for food. During her time in Normandy, Pippa sent 135 secret messages conveying crucial information on German troop positions in the lead-up to D-Day. Pippa continued her mission until France's liberation in August 1944. For decades, Pippa told no one - not even her family - of her incredible feats during WWII.
Now, for the first time, her story can be told in full.
Publisher : Allen & Unwin
Publication date : 2024-04-23
Subjects: Non-fiction, New Zealand, NZ History, NZ Biography & True Stories