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Authors: Brian Fleming
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occasion, he just asked that the Frenchmen be kept for a day or two as an emergency measure until he could find a more suitable location.
Mrs Chevalier and her family were involved in this work for almost all of the rest of the War. She tended to stay at home to look after her âboysâ, as she called them, while her daughters went out to shop for the necessities. As soon as false papers were provided for the escapees, they were able to go out with the daughters onto the streets of Rome without arousing suspicion. However, security became of huge importance and the girls no longer brought their own friends to the house. Inevitably, in a confined block of apartments, neighbours must have known or at least suspected what was going on, but they kept their counsel. Over and above that, the caretaker of the apartment block, Egidio, and his wife, Elvira, were of great support in alerting Mrs Chevalier to any imminent danger.
Understandably, there were few locals, if any, who were willing to undertake the same level of risk as the remarkable Maltese widow. Aside from any other consideration, the dangers were obvious with an automatic death penalty awaiting anyone who assisted escapees, so OâFlahertyâs next move on behalf of the Council of Three was to rent a flat on the Via Firenze. It surely delighted his sense of mischief that the apartment block backed onto a hotel used as the Gestapo Headquarters. Of all the accommodations used during this period, this was OâFlahertyâs favourite. âFaith,â he chortled, âtheyâll not look under their noses.â 1 He subsequently rented another one about a mile away on the Via Domenico Chelini.
One of the early guests in the Via Firenze apartment was a British officer in the Royal Artillery by the name of Wilson whose role had been as a saboteur behind enemy lines. Wilson found himself unable to connect with a submarine that he was to meet after one such mission and so headed for Rome and the Vatican. Unfortunately for him, the Swiss Guard were now implementing the âno admittance for escapeesâ policy. It seems that Wilson did not take their instructions in this regard too well and eventually they dumped him outside the Vatican boundary. He stayed there all night. Early the next morning, having been alerted by the Swiss Guard, OâFlaherty made contact with him in the Square and took him to the Via Firenze apartment where he met those already in hiding there, including some other British soldiers, a couple of Yugoslav girls and one Yugoslavian Communist, Bruno Buchner. The first thing Wilson did was sit down and write a letter to the Pope complaining about his treatment at the hands of the Swiss Guard. OâFlaherty was delighted to hand this over and equally amused some days later to deliver a reply from the Secretariat inviting Wilson to visit the Vatican at a more convenient time.
Keeping these two apartments running â paying the rent and providing food for the guests there â together with contributing to food for others who were in hiding elsewhere, began to cost significant amounts of money from the Monsignorâs own resources and from other funds made available through DâArcy Osborne, including the British Ministerâs own personal funds and, at this stage, Government money also. Another source of finance was Prince Filippo Doria Pamphilj, the head of one of the ancient Roman noble families, who had been a friend of OâFlaherty since before the War. The Prince was half-English and had attended university at Cambridge. During his time there he became ill and was hospitalised. One of the nurses he met was Glaswegian and he subsequently married her. Both of them had been publicly anti-Fascist from the beginning. As often happened with OâFlaherty offers of help came in just when they were needed. The Prince contacted OâFlaherty and, having discussed with the Monsignor the work of the Council of
Mrs Chevalier and her family were involved in this work for almost all of the rest of the War. She tended to stay at home to look after her âboysâ, as she called them, while her daughters went out to shop for the necessities. As soon as false papers were provided for the escapees, they were able to go out with the daughters onto the streets of Rome without arousing suspicion. However, security became of huge importance and the girls no longer brought their own friends to the house. Inevitably, in a confined block of apartments, neighbours must have known or at least suspected what was going on, but they kept their counsel. Over and above that, the caretaker of the apartment block, Egidio, and his wife, Elvira, were of great support in alerting Mrs Chevalier to any imminent danger.
Understandably, there were few locals, if any, who were willing to undertake the same level of risk as the remarkable Maltese widow. Aside from any other consideration, the dangers were obvious with an automatic death penalty awaiting anyone who assisted escapees, so OâFlahertyâs next move on behalf of the Council of Three was to rent a flat on the Via Firenze. It surely delighted his sense of mischief that the apartment block backed onto a hotel used as the Gestapo Headquarters. Of all the accommodations used during this period, this was OâFlahertyâs favourite. âFaith,â he chortled, âtheyâll not look under their noses.â 1 He subsequently rented another one about a mile away on the Via Domenico Chelini.
One of the early guests in the Via Firenze apartment was a British officer in the Royal Artillery by the name of Wilson whose role had been as a saboteur behind enemy lines. Wilson found himself unable to connect with a submarine that he was to meet after one such mission and so headed for Rome and the Vatican. Unfortunately for him, the Swiss Guard were now implementing the âno admittance for escapeesâ policy. It seems that Wilson did not take their instructions in this regard too well and eventually they dumped him outside the Vatican boundary. He stayed there all night. Early the next morning, having been alerted by the Swiss Guard, OâFlaherty made contact with him in the Square and took him to the Via Firenze apartment where he met those already in hiding there, including some other British soldiers, a couple of Yugoslav girls and one Yugoslavian Communist, Bruno Buchner. The first thing Wilson did was sit down and write a letter to the Pope complaining about his treatment at the hands of the Swiss Guard. OâFlaherty was delighted to hand this over and equally amused some days later to deliver a reply from the Secretariat inviting Wilson to visit the Vatican at a more convenient time.
Keeping these two apartments running â paying the rent and providing food for the guests there â together with contributing to food for others who were in hiding elsewhere, began to cost significant amounts of money from the Monsignorâs own resources and from other funds made available through DâArcy Osborne, including the British Ministerâs own personal funds and, at this stage, Government money also. Another source of finance was Prince Filippo Doria Pamphilj, the head of one of the ancient Roman noble families, who had been a friend of OâFlaherty since before the War. The Prince was half-English and had attended university at Cambridge. During his time there he became ill and was hospitalised. One of the nurses he met was Glaswegian and he subsequently married her. Both of them had been publicly anti-Fascist from the beginning. As often happened with OâFlaherty offers of help came in just when they were needed. The Prince contacted OâFlaherty and, having discussed with the Monsignor the work of the Council of
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