User Reviews

I did a review in the Season 1 Episode 8 chapter that did go over generally what I thought of the series. But the last episode of the run, I felt deserved some attention of it's own so here goes. The first time I saw it, I thought that it was a bunch of bunk. No SOE agent is going to walk into a Nazi HQ and speak to the top man and tell him that she's a British spy and give up several of her code names, in this case "Christine." I thought this to be totally insane and unbelievable. However, after seeing the series the first time, I got highly interested in the SOE F Section. I started researching and getting books. Since then I've acquired over 20 books on the SOE. I was proven dead bang wrong. Not only did a female agent do that, but the code name she used was in fact, "Christine." The same name that Liz Grainger used. SOE agent Krystyna Skarbek was born in Warsaw, Poland in 1908. She had been serving as a spy since 1940. In 1941, she changed her code name to Christine Granville. She met face to face with a member of the police, Captain Albert Schenk, and told him she was a British agent. The Americans were only 37 miles away after their landings on the south coast of France. She stated that one of his prisoners, Francis Cammaerts (Roger) was her husband and that she was the niece of General Bernard Montgomery. The Gestapo had captured Cammaerts and two other SOE agents just days before. She promised that retribution would be swift and merciless if they were killed. She also reminded them of the recent battle and massacre at the Vercors Plateau. In that engagement, 840 French resistance fighters and civilians were murdered. This is also depicted in this last episode as the battle for Le Crest. She also sweetened the deal with a bribe of 2 million Francs. The deal was sealed with the help of the local Gestapo Chief, Max Waem. The three SOE agents were released and taken to safety by Christine Granville. However, the bribed officials did not get to enjoy the money. So by way of reading, I was able to confirm that the battle for the fictionalized Le Crest was based on a real occurrence. Likewise, the bold move of walking into the Gestapo and pretty much saying, "Hello, I'm your local British spy and I have a proposition for you" did in fact happen. The three season run is definitely worth watching.