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Louise de Bettignies was a woman of aristocratic birth who found herself caught up the war in Northern france. She made her way to Britian where she decided to help by spying on the Germans back in France. She'd sit in cafés listening to the soldiers and passing back anything useful. More joined her and they were used to help soldiers escape back to British lines.
In October 1915 she was arrested and sentenced to death. The sentence was commuted and she was imprisoned in Sieberg. She was kept in isolation after rousing the inmates and raising a strike to stop working for the Germans. She contracted pneumonia and was transferred to a hospital in Cologne where she died in September 1918. She was buried with the cross pictured. In 1920 her body was returned to France.
She was awarded the Legion of Honour, Croix de Guerre, OBE, and Military Cross. A truly remarkable woman.
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