Odette Marie Léonie Céline Brailly (28 April 1912 Amiens, France – 13 March 1995, Surrey, UK), she was also known as Odette Sansom, Odette Churchill and Odette Hallowes - by her 3 marriages, and had three daughters.

She was invited in 1942 to join 'F' Section of SOE (Special Operations Executive) who sent agents to France on behalf of the British Government to work secretly against the German occupying forces.

Sansom became 'Agent S.23'. She was taught self-defence, Morse code, and how to resist interrogation. On 31 October 1942, under her codename, 'Lise', she arrived in Cannes. She was met by Peter Churchill, codename 'Raoul', and joined his resistance group.

On 16 April 1943, 'Lise' and 'Raoul' were betrayed by a member of their network and arrested.

She was brutally tortured by the Gestapo for information on her fellow agents but to every question Sansom simply replied: 'I have nothing to say'. Her brave endurance saved the lives of many agents.

Sansom was sent to Ravensbrück concentration camp, Germany, in July 1944. She was treated harshly, and was once kept in the dark on her own for three months and 11 days.

In 1946, Odette was awarded the George Cross (GC) for refusing to betray her fellow secret agents under torture. She became a national heroine and in 1950, a film was made about her. Despite all this, she didn't want fame. She told her story and accepted her GC on behalf of all her comrades who did not survive.

More Info: en.m.wikipedia.org