Odette Hallowes Survived Gestapo Torture

The first woman awarded the United Kingdom's George Cross was SOE agent Odette Sansom Hallowes, honored in 1946 for her courage during World War II. The Gestapo captured her in occupied France in 1943, interrogated her 14 times, tortured her, and sentenced her to death on two counts, but she refused to reveal the locations of fellow agents and survived Ravensbruck concentration camp. She remains the only woman to have received the George Cross while alive. In 1951, a burglar stole the medal from her home but later returned it with a remorseful note signed "A Bad Egg."

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