Read Online The Vatican Pimpernel by Brian Fleming - Free Book Online

19
    As a direct result of this discussion, a Council of Three was established, consisting of O’Flaherty, May and Count Sarsfield Salazar of the Swiss Legation. Because of his position as a diplomat from a neutral country, Salazar was in an ideal position to contribute to the work of the group. Many of those who came to Rome seeking help approached the Swiss Legation. The British Embassy at this stage had been closed since the staff had moved into the Vatican but the building was under the care of Secundo Constantini, another Swiss with whom Salazar had close links. Aside from passing on information to O’Flaherty about those who were seeking assistance, Salazar’s main role was to ensure that money and other resources such as food and clothing reached those hidden in the countryside around Rome. Captain Leonardo Trippi was another strong supporter at the Swiss Legation where he worked as Military Attaché issuing Red Cross parcels and generally supporting those who came seeking assistance. There was not much about prisoners and prisoners of war that he did not know as he had spent a lot of time visiting Italian camps on behalf of his own Government which was the neutral power under the Geneva Convention. As well as the Red Cross parcels he supplied money to escapees for which they would sign and which the Swiss authorities charged up to the British Government.

4
A Clerical Coalman
    Early clients of the group were French soldiers who arrived at the British Embassy where they were met by Constantini. He in turn contacted O’Flaherty who went to seek accommodation for them. By chance, on the street he met an acquaintance of his, a Maltese priest, Fr Borg, who suggested that a countrywoman of his, Henrietta Chevalier, might be able to help. This episode was the first of many involving the Maltese woman. Indeed her contribution to the work of the Council of Three for the remainder of the War was quite extraordinary.
    Mrs Chevalier was a young widow with six daughters and two sons. Her eldest son was imprisoned as soon as Italy entered the War because, being Maltese, he was a British subject. Her second son, Paul, was a clerical officer with the Swiss Legation and so his diplomatic papers protected his freedom. He also lived at the Legation. The youngest daughter, aged nine, was sent to live with Maltese nuns in Rome because of the dangerous situation in the city. This left Mrs Chevalier, her mother and her five remaining daughters, ranging in age from twenty-one to thirteen, living in a small third-floor apartment on the Via dell Impero.
    Paul rang home at about lunchtime and spoke to his sister Rosie and asked her to ‘tell Mama that I am bringing home two books’. Neither his sister nor his mother understood what the message meant. However, later in the afternoon, he turned up with two French soldiers whom, he told his mother, he had brought to her at the request of Fr Borg and she should expect a visit from a Monsignor friend of the Maltese priest that evening. O’Flaherty, when he arrived, explained the dangers involved for the Chevaliers if they were to hide the Frenchmen. Similar warnings were given by the Monsignor to Mrs Chevalier on many occasions in succeeding months, all to no avail. The apartment in which her family lived consisted of two bedrooms, a dining room, a kitchen, a box room, a bathroom with toilet, another toilet on the back balcony and a large larder. To cater for the visitors the dining room became a bedroom at night. Mattresses were laid on the floor each night and this practice continued for much of the remainder of the War as the house had innumerable guests. On one occasion there were nine overnight guests in addition to Mrs Chevalier, her mother and her five daughters. Throughout all of this time, O’Flaherty was aware of the grave dangers for Mrs Chevalier and her family as it was certain they would be executed if their activities became known. On this first