Violette Szabo — The SOE Agent Who Fought to the Last Bullet

Born in London to a British father and French mother, Violette Szabo married Etienne Szabo, a French Foreign Legion officer. After he was killed at El Alamein during their daughter's first year, Violette learned to channel her grief into action and volunteered for the SOE. On her first mission, she parachuted into occupied France, collected intelligence, and was extracted again. On her second mission — June 1944 — she was caught in an ambush outside the village of Salagnac after completing her objective. She provided covering fire for two fellow agents, single-handedly killing a German NCO and several soldiers, and only stopped when her ammunition was spent. She walked to the edge of the clearing and was captured. She was subjected to brutal torture by Klaus Barbie ('The Butcher of Lyon') and was eventually executed at Ravensbruck concentration camp at age 23. Before her execution, she told a fellow prisoner: 'I won't give anyone any names... I'll hold firm to the end.' She was posthumously awarded the George Cross.