8 June 1944. After their arrival at DZ Orange at around 2 a.m., SÔE Salesman II team are taken to the nearby village of Sussac and a safehouse, the grocery store owned by Anne Ribiéras. Violette Szabo, now known as Louise Leroy, grabs some sleep in a small room. 1/5
Their task is to organize the local 'Guingouin' maquis but the notoriously security conscious leader of the group is not there and the Salesman II leader, Philippe Liewer (Major Staunton) is instead met by Charles Gaumondie, the frontman for Georges Guingouin. 2/5
Guingouin has already undertaken small sabotage missions and Liewer is keen to meet him. Gaumondie suggests trying a certain Mme Lazerat in Magnac Vicq where Guingouin is known to visit. Liewer tasks Violette with cycling the hilly 22 kms there to introduce herself. 3/5
At the small grocery store run by Mme Lazarat in the hamlet (now the house in the photo), Violette outlines the team's mission and asks what Resistance groups are nearby and if they are ready to carry out acts of sabotage. Violette then returns to Sussac late afternoon. 4/5
Unknown to Violette, listening in to the conversation was Guingouin himself. The maquis leader is uneasy at the idea of sabotage due to consequences on the population. Events the following day in Tulle, and in Oradour on the 10th, will give credence to this point of view. 5/5
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