Name Marie Chilver | Role Special agent | |
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Died November 5, 2007, Lydney, United Kingdom | ||
Marie Christine Chilver (1920–2007) (Latvian: Marija Kristīne Čilvere) also known by the codename Agent Fifi, was a British secret agent in World War II. Originally recruited after escaping the Nazis and helping a British airman return to England, she worked for the Special Operations Executive assessing and testing the security awareness of trainee secret agents.
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Early life
Chilver was born in London, England to an English father, a correspondent for The Times of London, and a Latvian mother. Raised in Latvia, she was educated at a German school in Riga before moving to Paris, France to study at the Sorbonne. Following the German invasion of France she was interned in the Frontstalag 142 internment camp at Besançon. She escaped and reached England in 1941, helping a wounded RAF officer during her journey. Meanwhile her mother and sister had fled to Sweden from Soviet-occupied Latvia, where their property had been confiscated by the Russians. The pilot, flight lieutenant Simpson, suspected Chilver was a foreign spy, as she seemed too well fed when they met. His suspicions were found to be unsubstantiated, but Chilver had already to the notice of British authorities.
Special Operations Executive
In 1942, Chilver joined the SOE, and was given the task of assessing and testing the security awareness of trainee agents while they were on 96-hour training missions in the UK. Her code name was "Fifi" and she had a cover identity of Christine Collard. It was rumoured that the SOE employed agents who would attempt to seduce men to persuade them to reveal their secrets; Chilvers reports show that flattery and attention were all that some trainee agents needed for them to reveal everything they knew. As a result of her reports agents were sacked from SOE.
Chilvers accomplishments were well received. After further training, she was keen to work behind enemy lines, but by that time the war had progressed such that her services in that capacity were no longer needed.
Her wartime documents were declassified and released by the National Archives in 2014.
Retirement
After leaving the SOE, Chilver lived in Chelsea and later moved to the Wye Valley, living in Lydney, Gloucestershire. She spent much of her retirement with her friend, the widowed Jean "Alex" Felgate, a retired SOE intelligence officer. Chilver founded Dzīvnieku Draugs ("Animal Friends") in Latvia, an animal charity and sanctuary. She died on 5 November 2007.