THE WOMEN OF WWII ~ Linda Shenton Matchett - Giveaway

What’s New Wednesday with Linda Shenton Matchett

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Spies & Sweethearts, my latest historic romance released today. The story is inspired by the brave women who worked undercover with America’s Office of Strategic Services (OSS) and Britain’s Special Operations Executive (SOE). Located all over the globe, these women were often stationed in enemy-occupied territory. Their identities are only now being revealed as more and more documents are being declassified, but many of the gals went to their graves never having shared their role in the fight against evil.

Women who raised their hand to work as spies, saboteurs, cryptographers, cartographers, analysts and experts in propaganda, recruiting, and communications came from all walks of life. Wealthy, poor, single, married, and divorced, they were secretaries, actresses, socialites, royalty, nurses, home makers, musicians, mothers, teachers, and telephone operators to name a few.

I’d like to introduce you to just a few of these stalwart women who served in France:

Virginia Hall: A native of my hometown, Baltimore, Maryland, Virginia transferred from SOE to OSS in April 1944 after her cover was blown in occupied France where she established agent networks. Well-known by the Gestapo for her exploits, they wanted her dead, and the sooner the better. Nicknamed the Limping Lady, she wore a wooden prosthetic leg as a result of a hunting accident when she was a young woman. Reports indicate that she often hid important items in the leg. She changed her image, transforming herself into an older woman and was sent back into occupied France where she organized three units of more than 300 agents that took part in sabotage against the Germans. She also maintained radio contact with London, sending vital information to headquarters.

Many Frenchwomen worked for OSS in occupied France. Hélène Deschamps was the daughter of an officer in the French colonial army and took on the responsibility of reporting Nazi activities along the Mediterranean. She spied on German defense works and fortifications, the strength and movement of enemy troops, and the transport of equipment and ammunition. Jeanette Guyot was a member of the Pathfinder mission during which she was charged with locating parachute fields, organize reception committees, and arrange for safe houses and local informants.

Betty Lussier was born in Canada, the daughter of a decorated WWI RAF pilot. Her family moved to Maryland while she was a child. A pilot in her own right, she headed to England at the age of twenty to join Britain’s Air Transport Auxiliary. Angry that only male pilots were allowed to fly into combat zones, she resigned. A month later she was recruited by the OSS, and after completing her training was assigned to Algeria where she collected intelligence and sent it to headquarters. She then moved to Cannes, France where she tracked down Nazi spies, many of whom she managed to turn into double agents.

Each of these women risked her life to save a world at war. I don’t believe I have what it takes to serve as an undercover agent. Do you?

About Spies & Sweethearts:

A secret mission. A fake bride. A run for their lives.

According to the OSS training manual, the life expectancy of a radio operator in Nazi-occupied France is six weeks. Partnered with one of the agency’s top spies, Gerard Lucas, newly-minted agent Emily Strealer plans to beat those odds. Then their cover is blown and all bets are off. The border to neutral Switzerland is three hundred miles away—a long way to run with SS soldiers on their heels.

Will Emily and Gerard survive the journey?

And what about their hearts? Nothing in the manual prepared them for falling in love.

About Linda: Linda Shenton Matchett is an author, speaker, and history geek. She writes about ordinary people who did extraordinary things in days gone by. A volunteer docent and archivist for the Wright Museum of WWII, Linda is also a lecturer with the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute through Granite State College. She is also a trustee for her local public library. Linda was born a stone’s throw from Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Maryland and has lived in historic places all her life. Now located in central New Hampshire, her favorite activities include exploring historic sites and immersing herself in the imaginary worlds created by other authors.

Connect with Linda:

Website/Blog: http://www.LindaShentonMatchett.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/LindaShentonMatchettAuthor

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/lindasmatchett

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/lindasmatchett

Goodreads: http://goodreads.com/author_linda_matchett

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Linda-Shenton-Matchett/e/B01DNB54S0

BookBub: http://www.bookbub.com/authors/linda-shenton-matchett

About the Giveaway:

Linda is offering an eBook copy of Spies & Sweethearts to one reader of this post who leaves a comment below with name AND contact information. This is  so we can let you know if you are our winner. 

Giveaway runs for one week from today, ending at Midnight, CDT, April 22, 2020.

For an extra chance to get in the drawing, become a follower of Whispers in Purple (see sidebar at left) and mention it in your comment.

Thank you Linda for being my guest today. I'm a sucker for WWII stories.

THE GALS WHO WROTE THE WAR ~Linda Shenton Matchett

The Gals Who Wrote the War

Guest post from Linda Shenton Matchett

As a former Human Resources professional, I am fascinated by the history of women in the workplace, especially during World War II when millions of ladies stepped into positions formerly held by men. Some of the newer types of commerce such as aircraft manufacturers welcomed women. In fact, Minneapolis-based Strato Equipment, a designer of high-altitude pressure suits for pilots, boasted a female workforce of 100%. The only guy in the factory was a department store dummy! Other industries such as the quintessential male profession of war reporting were tougher to break into.

Initially, the military used the accreditation process to control war correspondents, refusing outright to accredit women. A lengthy process that required background checks on the applicant, as well as his or her family, weeded out many candidates. According to photojournalist Margaret Bourke-White, “By the time you are accredited you have no secrets from the War Department and neither do your ancestors.”

By the end of the war, of the nearly 2,000 accredited war correspondents in WWII, 127 were women. Accreditation acted as a contract: The Army or Navy transported reporters, fed and sheltered them, and sent their dispatches home. In return, correspondents followed military law and censorship. Correspondents who defied rules lost credentials.

They received a pocket-sized “Basic Field Manual” of rules (which frightening enough included a waiver of liability for injury or death). Correspondents carried a green accreditation card and wore uniforms without symbols of rank, to indicate they would neither give nor take salutes. Instead, they wore green “WC” armbands, which evolved into “U.S. War Correspondent” patches, and were treated as captains, a rank that allowed them to eat with officers and facilitated POW exchanges if taken prisoner.

Nearly every commander in the Allied forces refused to allow women near combat. They feared women breaking under pressure, balking at a lack of women’s latrines, or influencing soldiers to take risks to protect them. Needless to say, this frustrated most of the female reporters.

Journalist Martha Gellhorn is considered to be one of the greatest war correspondents of the 20^th century. She said, “I have too frequently received the impression that women war correspondents were an irritating nuisance. I wish to point out that none of us would have our jobs unless we know how to do them and this curious condescending treatment is as ridiculous as it is undignified.”

Some accredited women did see combat. Sometimes the front shifted, catching women in the thick of action, as was the case with Ruth Cowan in North Africa. Others asked officers to write letters of introduction to combat zones, as did Bourke-White in Italy. A few got there “by hook or by crook.”

Martha’s career lasted sixty years, and she covered nearly every major event that occurred during that time, occasionally taking matters into her own hands to ensure she was there. In order to reach the beach and report on the D-Day invasion, she sneaked aboard a hospital ship and hid in the bathroom during the entire voyage then impersonated a stretcher bearer to disembark. She got the story, but lost her credentials. Her response? “I followed the war wherever I could reach it.”

The grit and gumption of these 127 women enabled them to provide eyewitness accounts to the harrowing events of WWII. I hope my Ruth Brown mystery series honors these ladies in a small way.

Book Blurb for Under Fire: Set in April 1942, Under Fire tells the story of Ruth Brown whose missing sister Jane is declared dead. Convinced her sister is still alive, Ruth follows clues from their small New Hampshire town to war-torn London trying to find her. Discovering that Jane has been murdered results in a faith crisis for Ruth, and she decides she must find Jane’s killer.

Purchase Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/ B0743MS95H

Books 2 (Under Ground) and 3 (Under Cover) are now available for pre-order! Visit my website for more information.

Bio: Linda Shenton Matchett is an author, speaker, and history geek. She writes about ordinary people who did extraordinary things in days gone by. A volunteer docent and archivist for the Wright Museum of WWII, Linda is also a lecturer with the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute through Granite State College. She is also a trustee for her local public library. Linda was born a stone’s throw from Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Maryland and has lived in historic places all her life. Now located in central New Hampshire, her favorite activities include exploring historic sites and immersing herself in the imaginary worlds created by other authors.

Social Media Links:

Website/blog: http://www.LindaShentonMatchett.com

Newsletter signup (receive a free short story): https://mailchi.mp/74bb7b34c9c2/lindashentonmatchettnewsletter

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/authorlindamatchett

Amazon author page: https://www.amazon.com/Linda-Shenton-Matchett/e/B01DNB54S0

BookBub: http://www.bookbub.com/authors/linda-shenton-matchett

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author_linda_matchett

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Twitter: @lindasmatchett

Linda Shenton Matchett ~ "Love's Allegiance" ~ Faithful Friday ~ Devotional

New Hampshire - Linda Matchett

A Faithful Friday Devotional

by

Linda Shenton Matchett

Here in the Northeast, summers are delightful. New Hampshire is heavily forested, so there is greenery everywhere you look. Flowers too. We get lots of sunshine, but very little oppressive heat like what folks in other parts of the country experience. I’ve only been exposed to desert-like conditions a couple of times in my life when we visited Arizona and Texas.

Over the last few months, I was mired in a different kind of desert. Perhaps you’ve been there. 

Because of being short staffed, I worked six-day weeks and double shifts. Our house sold, which meant purging, packing, and moving a 4,000 square foot house in sixty days. Responsibilities at church, volunteer commitments, and the completion of a manuscript by deadline also vied for my time. I managed to keep all the plates spinning (to coin a phrase), but not without loss of sleep and lots of anxiety. Depression creeped in.

Then at the beginning of August, God intervened (even though I hadn’t asked Him to). My assistant manager is also a Christian and after a meeting commented that she was worried about me. I explained my struggles and assured her I had everything under control. Laughing, she replied that none of us do and reminded me that it’s God who should have control. She offered to pray for me, then proposed bits of practical advice that included her taking some of my workload.

Relief followed our conversation, and I finished the rest of my day. But God had more in store.

The following morning, I flipped over the date on my “Prayers for Emotional Wholeness” calendar* and found the following:

“Lord, I ask that You would restore any place in my life that is like a wasteland. Take the dry places in me and make them to be like a well-watered garden. In the areas of my life where I don’t see much fruit, make the roots of my life go down deep in You. Put in me a heart of thanksgiving and a voice that will always sing Your praise.”

“The Lord will comfort Zion, he will comfort all her waste places; He will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord.” Isaiah 51:3 [NKJV]

Wow. God knew I needed more and through His Word gave me His assurance that He knew exactly what I was going through and that He would take my Arizona-like-desert experience and turn it into New-Hampshire-like-garden. The remaining stress I’d been holding drained away. Peace overwhelmed me. I nearly wept with joy. I shouldn’t be, but I’m always astounded at how God personally and uniquely meets us where we are and provides exactly what we need. 

My problems haven’t all gone away, but by keeping my eyes on Him and allowing Him to carry my burden, I have joy in (spite of) my circumstances. I hope you can too.

*Written by Stormie Omartian and published by Dayspring

About Love’s Allegiance:

With most U.S. boys fighting for Uncle Sam in far off countries, Rochelle Addams has given up hope for a wedding in her future. Then she receives an intriguing offer from a distant relative to consider a marriage of convenience.

Conscientious objector Irwin Terrell is looking forward to his assignment at Shady Hills Mental hospital to minister to the less fortunate in lieu of bearing arms. At the arrival of the potential bride his father has selected for him, Irwin’s well-ordered life is turned upside down. And after being left at the altar two years ago, he has no interest in risking romance again. 

Despite his best efforts to remain aloof to Rochelle, Irwin is drawn to the enigmatic and beautiful young woman, but will time run out before his wounded heart can find room for her?

Inspired by the biblical love story of Rebekkah and Isaac, Love’s Allegiance explores the struggles and sacrifices of those whose beliefs were at odds with a world at war.

Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/2TybLz5

 

About Linda: Linda Shenton Matchett is an author, speaker, and history geek. A native of Baltimore, Maryland, she was born a stone’s throw from Fort McHenry and has lived in historic places all her life. Linda is a member of ACFW, RWA, and Sisters in Crime. She is a volunteer docent and archivist at the Wright Museum of WWII. 

Social Media links:

Website: www.LindaShentonMatchett.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/authorlindamatchett

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LinkedIn: www.linkedin/in/authorlindamatchett

The Story Behind the Story ~ Linda Shenton Matchett ~ Love's Belief

It's Wahoo Wednesday again, this time with author Linda Shenton Matchett, and "The Story Behind the Story of "Love's Belief."

Go, Linda ... I'm eager to hear about this new book from you.

~ ~ ~

Late last year, I read a book called German Voices, written by a man who was born in San Francisco, German immigrants, and then moved to Germany with them in 1933, just as Hitler was coming into power. He was unable to return to the U.S. to reclaim his citizenship until 1949. Reading his story was a moving and eye-opening experience, making me realize how uninformed I was about the German home front during WWII.

When it came time to consider the next volume in my Wartime Brides series, I knew I wanted to locate the story in Germany but was uncertain what aspect of life to explore. Each book in the series is a retelling of a biblical story set during WWII, so I searched my Bible for an appropriate story. During my investigation, I discovered a six-verse narrative in Exodus about Shiprah and Puah, two Hebrew midwives who disobeyed Pharaoh’s laws to kill male Jewish babies. These women had no shortage of imagination. When he asked them why they let the babies live, they said, “The Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife can get there.” (NASB).

Because of German Voices and additional reading I knew there was a cadre of people within Germany who protected and saved Jewish people and others considered “undesirables” according to the Nuremberg laws. Some who helped were part of the German Resistance, while others simply followed their conscience and did what they could when opportunities arose.

Further research led me to Nanna Conti, head of the German Midwives Association. Despite her extreme anti-Semitic views, she made great improvements to the midwife profession and pre-natal care for mothers, and she was highly placed within the Nazi organization, unusual for a woman. She played a large role in ensuring “her” midwives” adhered to the laws.

The final piece came together when I read about the Rosenstrasse protest that occurred in Berlin between the end of February and the middle of March in1943. A group of Jewish men who had previously been protected because of being married to Gentile women were arrested and targeted for deportation. They were held at a facility on Rosenstrasse (Rose Street) awaiting transportation. Their wives showed up in droves and demanded the return of their husbands. They faced down soldiers and stood for hours in the freezing weather. Word got out of Germany, and Goebbels realized he had no choice but to release the men.

Combining actual events from the war with inspiration from the story of Shiprah and Pual, Love’s Belief shows how one person can change the world.

About Love’s Belief:

Midwife Pia Hertz and her mother Sabine have been delivering babies long before the Nazis came to power. Now, the Third Reich has implemented mandates that require Jewish babies and other “undesirables” to be killed as part of The Final Solution. Is Pia’s new faith in Christ strong enough to defy the laws of man?

Despite the agony of the injury at the Battle of Drøbak Sound that took his arm, Dieter Fertig is relieved he’s no longer part of Hitler’s army. He returns to Berlin and discovers Jews are being deported by the thousands. When he realizes the Nuremberg Laws require his best friend’s baby girl to be killed, he must find a way to spirit the child out of Germany before the Nazis discover her existence. 

Inspired by the biblical story of Shiprah and Puah, the midwives who saved Jewish babies during Pharaoh’s reign, Love’s Belief shows how one person’s actions can change the world.

Available from:

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2V6ShRg

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/love-s-belief

Apple Books: https://itunes.apple.com/book/id1459365377

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/loves-belief-linda-shenton-matchett/1131299569?ean=9780998526553

About the Author: 

Linda Shenton Matchett is an author, speaker, and history geek. A native of Baltimore, Maryland, she was born a stone’s throw from Fort McHenry and has lived in historic places all her life. Linda is a member of ACFW, RWA, and Sisters in Crime. She is a volunteer docent and archivist at the Wright Museum of WWII.

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