Spotlight - "The Limey kid" the story of Estelle Burdeyron.
Photo - Noel in French uniform
Estelle was born in 1931 at the Royal Free hospital, London. Her mother Jeanne was French and her father Noel half French and Swiss but he was born in the UK.
The family home was in Cricklewood.
Noel was a head waiter at the Dorchester, he had certain advantages, one of which was to bring home wine and champagne. He always worked on public holidays but they made up for it on his days off. They were not rich but well off and Jeanne could afford help around the home and did not need to go out to work.
Estelle attended St Helen's school in Cricklewood. She loved writing so much that she would write on anything she could including the soles of her shoes. They had a lovely garden where they kept amongst other things tortoises a rabbit, cats and a wired haired fox terrier. Estelle remembers with horror and some humor a time when her grandfather came to stay. He was a great cook in France and did not see certain animals as pets. One day he killed the rabbit and served it up for dinner. Estelle loved that rabbit and was mortified at this French dish.
Photo - Estelle being the little French Lady!
Estelle left England in 1939 aged 8, the war was pending and her father joined the French army. Knowing that London could be bombed Noel arranged for the family to be moved to Deauville in Normandy, a country retreat at her grandparents. Jeanne had to find work to support her daughter and found a position as a manageress of a luxury handbag and jewelers in the town and they were able to live in a room at the back of the shop. The room had everything in it including the kitchen sink, the loo however was separate. Estelle remembers how difficult it was to get used to sleeping, cooking and washing all in this one room. Months went by without any news of her father and in May 1940 they took to the roads to flee from the Germans. Jeanne acquired a pick up truck and off they went. To Estelle this was a great adventure but her mother knew the danger their lives would be in.
Jeanne's goal was to travel back to England, the long way round. En route they picked up various people and helped them to get to safety, unfortunately some of them were not clean and they picked up lice as well, Estelle remembers combing her mothers hair over a bucket of water and visa versa. They often slept in barns and stables with rats as company and they washed in troughs, Estelle remembers how uncomfortable the hay was to sleep on. They were eventually encircled by Germans and told to go back to their homes, Estelle's adventure was over.
Photo - Estelle and her mother
They returned to the shop and stayed there through the war. Jeanne opened the shop and the Germans bought all the best items with money probably made the day before! Estelle spoke fluent English but was not allowed to speak it for fear of arrest and so only spoke French. At the end of 1940 they received a note from the Red Cross stating that Noel had been wounded in Dunkirk and would re-coup in England. Well at least she knew he was alive.
In 1941 Noel joined the British Army as an SOE (Special Operations Executive) and was parachuted into France to set up a circuit in Western Normandy. He however got separated from his fellow officers and military base so he went to his family. Estelle remembers her father coming home to the surprise and joy of her mother and herself. There was a German notice in the village stating that if any airman were seen, they would be shot on sight together with any family sheltering them. They felt that it was not safe to stay in the town so they moved 3 kilometers away to a friends house.
Photo - Noel in his British uniform
Noel with Jeanne's financial help began recruiting S. O. E.'s, she funded many of the operations. Noel could speak German and befriended one with the sole purpose of getting closer to military secrets or any information that could be sent back to England.
At this time Estelle attended the Catholic school in Trouville and because she could speak English she taught it to fellow pupils, she was quite the little star.
In 1942 they received a communication stating the Noel had been arrested and was being held in Fresnes just outside Paris. Jeanne managed to get travel permits and she took Estelle to see him. He was being held as a spy together with two others. Estelle remembers how much weight her father had lost, he must have been only 5stone. He had been tortured. Her father was to be executed for his crimes and Estelle feared that this was the last time she would see him. However they got the news that Noel was to be saved and instead her was to be sent to Colditz, at least he was alive (apparently a deal was struck with the British to save three German spies). So her father became a POW in Colditz where he would spend the rest of the war with the likes of Group Captain Douglas Bader, until being liberated by the Americans in 1945.
Noel's name listed with other pow's here in the official Colditz website.
Photo - Jeanne wearing her King George V1 medal with Estelle.
Jeanne was working for the Resistance in the Calvados department of France, She obtained recruits for her group and acted as a letter box and courier. When Noel was arrested she had to join another group but carried on the dangerous work of the Resistance. Estelle carried secret messages in her hair which she fashioned in a way so to conceal written notes on toilet paper. Every time there was a knock on the door they did not know whether it was the postman or the Gestapo and they were followed by plain clothes Gestapo every where they went. They would often shelter Jewish and Polish people and get them to safety.
When the Canadian forces came into town Estelle worked as an interpreter at the town hall, she was just 13. She reflects with sadness loosing many of her friends in the shelling.
After the Canadians the Americans arrived and the Limey kid could do no wrong! She had everything - oranges, chocolates, eggs and huge tins of corned beef.
In 1945 they were free, her father came back to get them and they were all treated like royalty. Jeanne was awarded the King George VI Medal for “Courage in the Cause of Freedom” and received three military citations.
Photo - Estelle as she is today
The family came back to England and settled in Shepherds Bush. Estelle won a placement at the French Lycee in South Kensington to continue her studies. After leaving she worked in a car show room in Victoria which sold Austin Atlantic's and Citroen's. She remembers well when working overtime she eat fish and chips in the new cars on a Saturday night. At 20 she got a great job running the office at a furriers in Clifton street where she did a bit of modeling (cat walk not glamor!). Then 18 months later she joined the firm of A.Genet & Co. (London) Ltd as a bilingual secretary. She stayed with the firm for 27years, during which time she took two working trips to the company's head office in Sierra Leone. She was treated like a queen! She ended her time there as a Company Director. Estelle then took a job as a Genealogist in Knightsbridge for 16years until retirement at the age of 65 after which she looked after her mother who by this time was very ill.
Estelle has lived near St Andrew's since 1972 and often attends the coffee morning and Choral Evensong. By the time you read this she will have been on the Eastbourne trip church outing and may never be the same again!