This page provides background for Eve Beringar, narrator of Eve’s War, before she joined the Special Operations Executive.
1912, Eve born in Wales, the youngest of six children
1918, her father killed during the First World War
1920, a tomboy, often in trouble at school, a fractious relationship with her mother
1923, taking solace in books, especially Anne of Green Gables, identifying with the orphan, Anne
1928, aged sixteen Eve ran away from home
1928, a job nursing, frequenting pubs, flirting with older men
1930, modelling herself on Tallulah Bankhead a woman famous for her husky voice, outrageous personality, and devastating wit
1930, a gift of £200 from an eccentric aunt
1931, fulling her ambition of travelling to America, hitting the popular nightclubs
1931, with her money running out, Eve enrolled in a journalism course
1932, with her sharp wit and confident exterior, Eve secured a job as a journalist
1934, Eve posted to Paris as a European correspondent
1935, Eve witnessed first-hand the rise of fascism in Germany fuelling her anti-fascist beliefs
1938, a trusted correspondent, and a popular partygoer at the fashionable parties in Paris and the French Riviera
1938, Eve met playboy and successful industrialist Michel Beringar at a party in Michel’s home city, Marseille
1939, with war looming, Eve married Michel and settled in Marseille as a housewife
1940, the Nazis invaded France
1941, through Michel’s business contacts, Eve became involved with the French Resistance acting as a courier, delivering messages
1942, Eve helped to establish an escape line for vulnerable French people and British airmen shot down over France, the escape line taking them over the Pyrénées into Spain
1942, the Gestapo took a keen interest in Eve
1942, the French Resistance asked Eve to help a British agent, Zigzag, to escape from a Gestapo prison and France
1942, Operation Zigzag
Hannah Howe 