Peter Morland Churchill, Croix de Guerre (14 January 1909 – 1 May 1972) was a British Special Operations Executive (SOE) officer in France during the Second World War. His wartime operations, which resulted in his capture and imprisonment in German concentration camps and his subsequent marriage to fellow SOE officer Odette Sansom, received considerable attention after the war, including a 1950 film.
On 29th December 2024 he was inducted into the Spengler Cup Ice Hockey Hall of Fame in Davos, Switzerland, in recognition of his exceptional ice hockey playing in the 1930s and will be represented in the ice hockey museum there.
Early life
He was born in Amsterdam on 14 January 1909, the son of William Algernon Churchill (1865–1947), a British Consul who served in Mozambique, Amsterdam, Pará in Brazil, Stockholm, Milan, Palermo, and Algiers, and Violet Myers (1875-1943). His father was also an art connoisseur, and author of what is still the standard reference work on early European paper and papermaking, Watermarks in Paper,. He was a brother of Walter Churchill DSO DFC, a Royal Air Force pilot during the war, and Oliver Churchill DSO MC, also an SOE officer.
Education and career
He was educated at Malvern School from 1923–27, then spent 18 months at Chillon Castle, then went on to Geneva University. From 1929–32, he read Modern Languages at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. In addition to his native English, he was bilingual in French and fluent in Spanish and Italian.
He also excelled in sports – he had the reputation of being one of the finest ice-hockey blues the university had produced. Churchill was Captain of the Cambridge University Ice Hockey Club in 1932 and won 15 international caps. He was proficient at exhibition diving, a first-class skier, and played golf off a six handicap.
First mission
In Operation WILLOW, his mission was to inspect three SOE networks in the south of France, evaluate their strengths and weaknesses, assess their needs, and give them instructions. He was also given two million francs (equivalent to approximately £480,000 / €500,000 in 2019) to distribute between the three networks, with 400,000 francs for Francis Basin «Laurent» of the URCHIN network in Antibes, 300,000 francs for Georges Duboudin «Charles» of the SPRUCE network in Lyon, and 300,000 francs for Ted Coppin «Olivier» of the DONKEYMAN network in Marseille. The other million francs was destined for Colonel Deprez in Marseille to facilitate the release of 10 French patriots from Fort St Nicholas prison in Marseille.
On 1 January 1942, submarine P36 took him 2 miles offshore Miramar (Théoule-sur-Mer) from where he paddled to the shore by canoe at night. The next morning he walked 25 km to Antibes where he met his first contact, Dr Élie Lévy «Louis», who introduced him to Baron d'Astier de la Vigerie «Bernard», head of Lyon resistance group known as ‘The Last Column’.
In April 1942, Churchill travelled from Gibraltar in HM Submarine P 42 "Unbroken" with three radio operators, Isidore Newman «Julien» for the URCHIN network and Edward Zeff «Matthieu» for the SPRUCE network, Marcel Clech «Bastien» for the AUTOGIRO network, and Victor Gerson «René», an SOE agent on a special mission to organise the VIC Escape Line
Proposed next mission
On his return Col Buckmaster gave Churchill his next mission which was to blow up a powerful radio transmitter at Sainte-Assise near Fontainebleau which the Nazis were using to direct their U-boat campaign, and was so powerful that the U-boats could pick up its messages without having to surface. He was to be accompanied by 'The Twins' (SOE agents Alfred and Henry Newton) but, just as they were about to undertake the mission, a failed attempt by a French agent resulted in significantly increased security and Churchill’s mission was called off.
Third mission
His third mission was to organise and coordinate the SOE F Section "Spindle" Network in Cannes which directed the delivery of supplies to support the CARTE Organisation run by André Girard.
On 27 August 1942, he was parachuted near Montpellier and went to Cannes where he learned that Francis Basin had just been arrested. Churchill planned to rescue him when he was being transferred by train to Lyon but this attempt was called off, apparently at Basin’s request.
Among his couriers was Odette Sansom «Lise», with whom he was to develop a close relationship and subsequently marry after the war. Adolphe Rabinovitch «Arnaud» was his wireless operator.
A second attempt from Arles in late December 1942 was unsuccessful due to the heavy presence of German soldiers.
Fourth infiltration
On 14/15 April 1943, he returned by parachute onto the mountains above Saint-Jorioz where he was met by Sansom, and they stayed in the Hotel de la Poste in Saint-Jorioz.
Arrest and imprisonment
Later that morning Bleicher arrested Churchill and Sansom in their hotel. He claimed he was related to Winston Churchill and that they were a married couple to make themselves seem more valuable prisoners and less likely to be executed as spies. Odette endured terrible torture but revealed nothing to her captors.
Churchill was initially taken under Italian custody to the barracks in Annecy, where he was badly beaten after an unsuccessful escape attempt during which he assaulted an Italian guard. He was then transferred to German custody and moved to Fresnes Prison near Paris where he was questioned by Bleicher, who believed Marsac’s false claim that Churchill was a nephew of the British Prime Minister and discussed a prisoner swap with Rudolf Hess. where the SS left the prisoners behind as American forces were approaching.
Post-war
Peter Churchill and Odette Sansom married in 1947. In the 1950 film Odette, which recounted their wartime exploits, Anna Neagle played the title role and Churchill was played by Trevor Howard.
Peter and Odette divorced in 1956, and the following year he married Australian Irene Hoyle, a former model, in Nice. He continued to live in France after the war, settling in Le Rouret near Cannes, where he worked in real estate, and lived there until his death on 1 May 1972.