Vicky_Anderson

Liverpool and West Lancs shenanigans. Housing comms, theatre writing, bits and bobs

[Vicky_Anderson @Vicky_Anderson]

@NiceThingsShow Huzzah! Welcome back, chaps.

[Kevin Core @KevinCore]

I WROTE THIS so very pleased to get an RT if you're able. On your radios Sept 26.

CASH!

INTERGENERATIONAL BEEF!

LAUGHS!

CONSIDERATION OF ULTIMATE FAILURE OF GENERATIONAL LABELS 🔥🔥🔥🔥

https://t.co/SnU5mivhm2

[Nice Things @NiceThingsShow]

Not long until new Nice Things, and extra NT, if you’re good.
In the meantime, cup of piss, anyone?

[Susie Dent @susie_dent]

Word of the day is to ‘constult’ (17th century): to act stupidly together.

[Tonia Antoniazzi @ToniaAntoniazzi]

52 years of age, renowned for my very stubborn streak, from the child at a piano crossing my arms and saying 'no'; to being put in my place as the outspoken troublesome teacher; to the having to suffer the constant mansplaining in the political world.

May your daughters, sisters, mothers and female friends never be silenced.

My message to women and girls is to believe in yourselves and stand up for what you believe in. Empower other women and go smash those ceilings for us all!

[Lily Craven @TheAttagirls]

Woman of the Day SOE agent Pearl Witherington born OTD 1914 in Paris, head of the SOE Wrestler Network, the only woman to lead an SOE network as well as an active Maquis group of over two thousand men. Her codenames: Marie and Pauline. So effective was she that the Germans put a price of one million francs on her head.

The eldest of four daughters born to British ex-pats, Pearl did not attend school until she was 13. She had to work as a secretary to ensure that the family had food on the table because her father drank all of the family money away. When he became bankrupt, she negotiated with his creditors. “I had no childhood.”

When the Germans invaded France in December 1940, she evacuated her mother and sisters, shepherding them south via Spain to Gibraltar and then by ship to Liverpool, arriving in July 1941.

Pearl joined the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force but pen-pushing at the Air Ministry wasn’t her cup of tea so she turned up at SOE HQ in Baker Street demanding a job. Her fluent French got her in the door and seven weeks' training in armed and unarmed combat and sabotage followed. “Having been in the Girl Guides proved very helpful [Who knew?]. We learned to use explosives and did a lot of firearms training. I was quite a good shot." In fact, her tutors regarded her as the “best shot” the SOE had ever seen.

In the event of capture - this applied to all SOE agents operating in France - her instructions were to remain silent under interrogation for at least 48 hours in order to give her comrades the chance to escape.

On 22 September 1943, Pearl dropped by parachute from an RAF Halifax to a spot in the southern Loire to join a Resistance group known as "Stationer”. Her false papers declared her to be the representative of a cosmetics firm and her specific role was to act as a courier carrying coded messages. She once cycled 50 miles to deliver a message but the bridge she needed to cross was heavily guarded so she hefted the bike across her shoulders and waded across the freezing river.

When Stationer’s leader was captured on 1 May 1944, Pearl took over. The new Stationer was renamed Wrestler and she assumed control of 1,500 résistants (this later grew to 3,000) with the task of blowing up railway lines and disrupting supply routes. Although she called the shots, she didn’t try to issue orders to the men. She got a French colonel to do it instead. You know why. Nonetheless, the Germans knew who was really in charge. That’s when they put a price on her head.

In the lead-up to D-Day and for weeks thereafter, Pearl and her network were responsible for 800 interruptions to rail movement between Bordeaux and Paris - crucial, as they prevented the Germans from moving men and materials to Normandy. “It was our job to stop the Germans getting from the south to the north of France where the landings were happening. Our second task was to stop them trying to get back to Germany. Over 18,000 Germans gave themselves up on our territory."

On the morning of 11 June 1944, German soldiers attacked Pearl at the chateau she used as her HQ. Under fire, she hid the tin where she kept a large amount of money and fled to a wheatfield where she hid until nightfall: “moving only when the wind blew the corn, hiding behind my very large handbag". Her fiancé, also hiding in a wheatfield, counted 56 truckloads of Germans participating in the operation. 32 maquis were killed.

The attack left Pearl in "a hopeless state - we had nothing left, no weapons and no radio." She cycled miles to meet another SOE agent and managed to radio London for more supplies. Days later, three planes air-dropped supplies and Pearl was back in business. The number of maquis in her region quickly ballooned to as many as 3,000 as the Normandy invasion emboldened young men to join the Resistance.

Shortly afterwards, she and her intended made it back to England, where they married in October 1944.

After the war, Pearl was recommended for the Military Cross but - you know what I’m going to say, don’t you? - women were not eligible. They offered her a Civil Division MBE instead. She sent it back with a frosty note saying, "There was nothing remotely 'civil' about what I did. I didn't sit behind a desk all day".

Pearl was awarded a military MBE instead, plus the Légion d’Honneur, followed by a CBE in 2004 at the British Embassy in Paris (the late Queen Elizabeth II presented it to her, saying, “We should have done this a long time ago.")

In April 2006 at the age of 92 and after a six-decade wait, Pearl was finally awarded her parachute wings, which she considered a greater honour than either the MBE or the CBE. She had completed three training parachute jumps, with the fourth operational. "But the chaps did four training jumps, and the fifth was operational – and you only got your wings after a total of five jumps. So I was not entitled, and for 63 years I have been moaning to anybody who would listen because I thought it was an injustice."

Pearl died in her beloved Loire in 2008 at the age of 93.

“I don't consider myself a heroine. Not at all. I am just an ordinary person who did her job during the war."

[jg_Drones @jg_Drones]

Northern Lights from Crosby beach was amazing

[Vicky_Anderson @Vicky_Anderson]

Concerning hobbits (and an elf) closing #LiverpoolComicCon today

[Vicky_Anderson @Vicky_Anderson]

@RoyalCourtLiv https://t.co/SiyxKV5yrx

[Vicky_Anderson @Vicky_Anderson]

@__lewyy Amazing, well done!

[Private Eye Magazine @PrivateEyeNews]

Rwanda: First Airplane Takes Off.

From the new Private Eye, out now.

[Edward W Feery @EdwardWFeery]

Twelve years ago, this kid did an am-dram performance of ‘Elegies For Angels, Punks and Raging Queens’ in a warehouse loft in Liverpool, singing about performing in a West End show.

And look at him now!

[Lily Craven @TheAttagirls]

Woman of the Day Corrie ten Boom born OTD 1892 in Haarlem, the first woman licensed as a watchmaker in The Netherlands and a member of the Dutch Resistance. She was sent to Ravensbrück for helping Jewish people to escape the Nazis by hiding them behind a false wall in her bedroom.

Corrie’s father was a watchmaker - the family lived above the shop - and although initially in charge of housekeeping, she found she much preferred working in the business. She reorganised the financial side by developing a system of billings and ledgers and and in 1922, became the first woman licensed as a watchmaker in the Netherlands.

The Ten Boom family were Calvinists so they believed that all people are created equal and that the Jews are precious to God. It was this tenet of their faith that inspired Corrie, her father Caspar and her sister Betsie when the Germans invaded The Netherlands in May 1940. The Germans immediately implemented a policy of Gleichschalting - “enforced conformity" - and systematically eliminated non-Nazi organisations. This included the youth club Corrie had run for ten years for teenaged girls, offering religious instruction and skills such as sewing and handicrafts.

In May 1942, a woman carrying a suitcase came to the shop and told the Ten Booms that she was Jewish, her husband had been arrested, her son was in hiding and she had been visited by the Occupation authorities. The Germans were then paying a bounty to Dutch police and administration officials to locate and identify Jews to aid in their capture and she was too frightened to go home.

Police HQ was a short step away but Caspar told her "In this household, God's people are always welcome”. It was the beginning of their work with the Dutch Resistance.

At the top of the Ten Boom house was Corrie’s bedroom. The Dutch Resistance sent an architect and workers to create a false wall so that up to six people could hide for prolonged periods if needed until they were moved on to safety. "The Hiding Place" had ventilation and a buzzer was installed in the house to alert the refugees during security sweeps by the authorities.

Food was a real problem. It was rationed but in any case, wartime shortages made food scarce. Corrie visited the man in charge of the local ration office - he was known to her - and when he asked how many cards she needed, she said, "I opened my mouth to say, 'Five’ but the number that unexpectedly and astonishingly came out instead was: 'One hundred.‘“ He gave them to her.

On 28 February 1944, the Ten Booms were betrayed by a Dutchman. Over thirty people including the entire family were rounded up and sent to Sheveningen Prison after the extra ration cards and other material was found in their house. The six people concealed in The Hiding Place were escaped detection and police officers who were members of the Resistance moved them to safety. Corrie found out when a letter was sent to her in prison: "All the watches in your cabinet are safe.”

Corrie was held in solitary confinement for three months before being sent on to Ravensbrück with her sister Betsie, via a political concentration camp. Their father had died soon after their arrest and Betsie died in December 1944. On 31 December 1944, Corrie was released due to a clerical error; she had been destined for the gas chambers along with all of the other women of her age.

Returning to The Netherlands during the terrible famine known as the Hongerwinter, she began sheltering people with intellectual disabilities who were being systematically murdered by the German occupiers.

All in all, it is estimated that around 800 Jews were saved by the efforts of Corrie and her family. She was honoured as Righteous Among the Nations.

After WW2, Corrie ran a rehabilitation centre looking after concentration-camp survivors and even destitute Dutch people who had collaborated. Forgiveness ran in her blood. She died on her 91st birthday in 1983 after suffering a third stroke.

“Forgiveness is the key that unlocks the door of resentment and the handcuffs of hatred. It is a power that breaks the chains of bitterness and the shackles of selfishness.”

[Vicky_Anderson @Vicky_Anderson]

Absolutely thrilled to see this for @JakMalonee. Huge congratulations!

[Olivier Awards @OlivierAwards]

The Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical goes to @JakMalonee for @mincemeatlive at the @Fortune_Theatre.

#OlivierAwards

[Jamie East @jamieeast]

Lest we forget
https://t.co/3ophB8DtdI

[Peter Apps @PeteApps]

Reminder that the govt has a manifesto commitment to end rough sleeping entirely by the end of this Parliament. Taking tents away so that rough sleepers die of exposure is a novel way of trying to achieve that.

[Vicky_Anderson @Vicky_Anderson]

@KevinCore I always listen to the In Our Time podcast right to the end just to hear Simon offer the guests tea and coffee. Love that bit. So the effort doesn’t go unrecognised 😂

[onjali rauf @OnjaliRauf]

Where men fail, women rise. ⚡️

Women have been missing from every talk and table for far too long.

[Nice Things @NiceThingsShow]

Obviously we would like to wish everyone an enjoyable #InternationalPodcastDay and insist you listen to Nice Things.

#TheLibraryOfNiceThings

[Vicky_Anderson @Vicky_Anderson]

@Defnetmedia Sorry to hear this. I wasn’t aware Colin had passed. RIP.