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Jean-Louis-Cremieux-Brilhac

A veteran interview with

J-L Cremieux

Jean-Louis Crémieux-Brilhac joined the Free French Forces in London and became liaison officer between the Free French, SOE and the BBC.

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Reviewed by:
Laura

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Home | Veterans | J-L Cremieux

A veteran interview with

J-L Cremieux

Jean-Louis-Cremieux-Brilhac

Jean-Louis Crémieux-Brilhac joined the Free French Forces in London and became liaison officer between the Free French, SOE and the BBC.

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Cite this interview:

MLA Style:
Cremieux, J-L. A Veteran Interview with J-L Cremieux. Interview by Unknown. Legasee, n.d. https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/j-l-cremieux/. Accessed 21 May. 2026.
APA Style:
Cremieux, J. (n.d.). A Veteran Interview with J-L Cremieux [Interview by Unknown]. Legasee. Retrieved May 21, 2026, from https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/j-l-cremieux/
Chicago Style:
Cremieux, J-L. n.d.. A Veteran Interview with J-L Cremieux. Interview by Unknown. Legasee. Accessed May 21, 2026. https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/j-l-cremieux/
Harvard Style:
Cremieux, J. (n.d.). A Veteran Interview with J-L Cremieux. [Interviewed by Unknown]. Legasee. Available at https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/j-l-cremieux/ (Accessed: 21 May 2026)
Vancouver Style:
Cremieux, J. A Veteran Interview with J-L Cremieux [Internet]. Interview by Unknown. Legasee; n.d. [cited 2026 May 21]. Available from: https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/j-l-cremieux/
An interview with

Elizabeth Ward

From Fire Watching in Bristol to the Special Operations Executive: Elizabeth's Incredible Journey Through World War II and beyond

Elizabeth’s first job was at British Airways in Bristol. One of her main responsibilities there involved fire watching, where she had to deal with small fires. After a while, Elizabeth decided to leave her role at British Airways, but as it was a reserved role during the war, it took over a year for her to leave. Following this, Elizabeth moved to London hoping to join the WRNS (Women's Royal Naval Service), but due to there being no vacancies, she ended up joining the FANYs (First Aid Nursing Yeomanry), January 1944. She went on to work in the SOE (Special Operations Executive) organisation in Baker street. Part of her training took her to Cranwell, where she was trained to use teleprinting machines. She remembers going on a trip to Italy with a senior FANY member. The trip there took longer than usual, due to the convoy taking a longer route in order to avoid submarines. Her role in Italy was as a typist, she remembers typing up information for supply drops scheduled to be sent to Yugoslavia and Poland. Elizabeth’s time there came to an end when she injured her back. The journey home was on a hospital ship, a Flying Fortress. The pilot called her to the cockpit, and once in the air, she was tasked with flying the aircraft, whilst the pilot went off to play poker. At some point during the flight, the pilot came back and showed Elizabeth Monte Cassino. She was shocked at the state of the place, it’s something she’ll never forget. After this, she spent some time at the FANY headquarters. Whilst there, Elizabeth learnt of a job opening as a personal assistant for the Australian Military Mission in Berlin. She got the job and went to Berlin, she was shocked at the state of the city. She worked out of a place in Charlottenburg, right next door to a house that was used by the Gestapo. Elizabeth remembers how starved the German civilians were at the time and how upsetting it was.
Service:
Interviewed by:
Martyn Cox
An interview with

Terrie Hemsley

Terrie Hemsley's son Paul served with the Grenadier Guards.