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French wartime resistance heroine Solange Alexandre dies aged 104
BBC • • world
Key Points:
- Solange Alexandre, one of France's last World War Two Resistance heroes, died at age 104; she was notable for founding and commanding her own anti-German Resistance unit alongside her future husband.
- Starting as a Resistance courier in 1941, she established the Pas-de-Boeuf network in 1944, leading around 30 fighters in sabotage operations and aiding Allied airmen after the D-Day landings.
- Alexandre was praised by President Emmanuel Macron, who highlighted her sense of duty and contribution to France's freedom.
- Born in 1922 in Sarthe, France, she was inspired by General de Gaulle's 1940 appeal and joined the Resistance, using a bicycle to covertly gather intelligence and evade the Gestapo.
- After the war, she became a teacher, experienced personal losses including her first husband's death, and twice declined the Légion d'Honneur, believing others were more deserving.
