#Blogtour The Last Secret Agent by Pippa Latour with Jude Dobson

It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour The Last Secret Agent: The Extraordinary Story of a WW2 Spy in Her Own Words by Pippa Latour with Jude Dobson

About the Author

Pippa Latour - following the war, Pippa settled in New Zealand where she raised four children. For decades, Pippa told no one - not even her family - of her incredible feats during WWII. For seventy years, Pippa's contributions to the war effort were largely unheralded, but she was finally given her due in 2014 when she was awarded France's highest order of merit, the Chevalier of the Legion of Honour. Pippa was the last surviving F (France) Section Special Operations (SOE) agent from World War II.  

In the final months of her life, Pippa finally decided to tell her remarkable story, written with the assistance of award-winning historical documentary producer and writer Jude Dobson. Pippa died in 2023, at the age of 102. 

About the book

The Last Secret Agent, by Pippa Latour is the extraordinary untold story of Latour, who parachuted into occupied France in 1944 as an undercover agent and sent secret messages back to Britain.  

In June 1940, a covert new force - the Special Operations Executive (SOE) - was set up to wage a secret war. Its agents were tasked with sabotage and subversion behind enemy lines, and over the course of the next five years, 470 special agents would be sent into France. Only 26 female SOE agents, including Pippa, would return. 

Pippa had an extraordinary life – born in 1921 she lived in Congo, Kenya and France before eventually landing in London. In 1943, aged 23, she was parachuted into France, where she travelled around the occupied countryside, concealing her codes in a hair tie and her Morse key underneath her bicycle seat, and sending crucial information back to Britain in the lead-up to D-Day. More than once, she came frighteningly close to being discovered. For decades, Pippa told no one - not even her family - of her incredible feats. Now for the first time, her story can be told in full.  

It is an incredibly rare first-person story. Although there are several biographies of female WW2 spies, there are no other first-person memoirs of this kind. And as the last female WW2 SOE agent to die, Pippa's story will be the first and last to be told in this way. It is a rare and privileged glimpse into her life, and in many ways, it is Pippa’s last public service, her last contribution to freedom. It is a remarkable testament to a remarkable and brave woman. 

Review

I've said this before, it's important that witnesses tell their stories and future generations hear or read them. As survivors pass away it is paramount that we share history and experiences in order to understand the sacrifice, the loss and the harsh reality of war.

Pippa's story is an excellent example of trauma, and to some extent training, the habit of secrecy, and perhaps knowing that only someone who went through a similar experience can comprehend the truth and the secrets. Pippa's family being completely unaware of her bravery during the war and her contribution to the path of freedom, isn't an uncommon story and I wonder how many more people sit or have sat on life experiences without ever breathing a word of them to anyone.

The bittersweet ending is made sweeter by the beautiful homage Dobson pays to Pippa and her fellow comrades, which is made even more compelling by adding the details and names of the fellow agents. Cementing their names and fates on paper, that they may never be forgotten.

It's a beautifully crafted memoir woven together through conversations with a centenarian, her memories often brought forward to the present day by photos, objects, names and places. It's an excellent read, often a nostalgic and sometimes sad one, but at the forefront the courage, selflessness and sacrifice of these women and Pippa shines through.

Buy The Last Secret Agent at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Monoray: pub date 7 November 2024 |  hardback  |  £22. Buy at Amazon com.