Today is Release Day for a book about a piece of history unfamiliar to many French citizens, let alone those of other countries.
More About Band of Sisters: Madeleine Pauliac, the Women of the Blue Squadron, and Their Daring Rescue Missions in the Last Days of World War II
Band of Sisters tells the dramatic story of Madeleine Pauliac, a French army doctor, and a band of women—known as the Blue Squadron---in the final days of World War II operating in the most dangerous of circumstances to rescue and repatriate as many of the half million or so of their countrymen as possible.
Band of Sisters tells the dramatic story of Madeleine Pauliac, a French army doctor, and a group of Red Cross nurses and ambulance drivers—known as the Blue Squadron. At the request of Charles DeGualle, the group was sent to rescue French soldiers and civilians who had been captured, injured, or stranded during World War II. Written from letters, diary entries and interviews, the book recounts their rescue missions in Germany, Russia, and Poland in 1945, in the final days of the war and in the first months after the German defeat.
It’s a previously unknown story of heroism and daring by a remarkable group of women, none more brave and intrepid than Pauliac herself, who was the author’s aunt that he would never know.
More About Philippe Maynial
Philippe Maynial is a film executive turned writer and the nephew of Madeleine Pauliac, the main character of the narrative. Before he embarked on his research into his aunt’s experiences in World War II, Maynial spent his entire career in the film industry. He currently resides in France.
Thoughts About Band of Sisters
Band of Sisters was translated from French by Richard Bernstein.
Author Philippe Maynial has a unique connection to the main character of Band of Sisters, Madeliene Pauliac. She was his aunt but he never met her and even her family knew little about her time spent outside of France in the last days of World War II. So he offers both an emotional connection and the rigors of research to this book.
For me, this book covered new - and at times, disturbing - territory. Learning about this small group racing against time to claw back French nationals trapped behind a rapidly descending Iron Curtain amazed me. Maynial's writing does justice to the bravery, devastation and helplessness of the time. The inclusion of photographs as well as paperwork from the time helps cement the reality of the people featured. Occasionally, I found that chapters or scenes ended abruptly, with the events taken up again later int he book. It was a little jarring but overall I found myself eagerly following the trail of the Blue Squadron through Europe.
If you are interested in World War II history, France, Poland or the contributions of women to our world Band of Sisters is an interesting and haunting book.
A Little Extra
The 2016 French movie The Innocents was inspired by the experiences of Madeleine Pauliac. It is streaming on Prime Video. The movie is in French but has English subtitles available.
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