Chetta Chevalier

Chetta Chevalier
BEM
Born
Henrietta Scerri

2 April 1901 (1901-04-02)
Sliema, Crown Colony of Malta
Died9 July 1973 (1973-07-10) (aged 72)
Malta
Burial placeAddolorata Cemetery, Paola, Malta
NationalityBritish
Occupations
  • Spy
  • nurse
  • housewife

Henrietta Chetta Chevalier BEM (2 April 1901 – 9 July 1973), a Maltese woman of British nationality resident in Rome, was a critical node in Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty's "Rome Escape Line" network operating in the Vatican during World War II. Her third-floor flat on the Via Imperia was used as a depot for supplies, and to lodge escapees fleeing the Fascist regimes of Europe. She was known within the organization as "Mrs. M." The provenance of her nom de guerre — whether this was a reference to her home island of Malta, her mother's maiden name, or another factor — is unknown.

Life

Chevalier was born Henrietta Scerri to Emmanuel Scerri and his wife Maria née Mamo in Sliema, Malta. She married Thomas Chevalier on 15 May 1920 at the Church of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in Sliema. The couple lived in Rome, where Mr. Chevalier worked as an agent for British travel company Thomas Cook & Sons, and had several children. After the death of her husband and the imprisonment of one of her sons in 1939, the British widow found herself stuck in Mussolini's fascist state and responsible for the welfare of her children and elderly mother. Recruited into O'Flaherty's network, Chevalier essentially gave O'Flaherty carte blanche to use her apartment as a storehouse and safehouse for people fleeing fascism. Despite several close scrapes — including one which one of her daughters, Gemma, hid from Chevalier — and being under constant surveillance by Hitler's Sicherheitsdienst, Chevalier and her family continued their clandestine activities under constant risk of death until being evacuated by O'Flaherty's network one by one to a farm on the outskirts of the city where they lived out the rest of the war in hiding themselves.[1][2][3][4]

In 1945, Chevalier was awarded a British Empire Medal (BEM) for her extraordinary efforts to offer sanctuary to those in need.[5] Her efforts are credited with directly offering assistance to 4,000 people during the war.[6][1][4]

Chevalier passed away on her native Malta on 9 July 1973, and is buried at the Santa Maria Addolorata Cemetery. A memorial garden has been planted in her honour at the Malta Aviation Museum and was opened on 24 November 2012.[7][1][2][4]

References

  1. ^ a b c Debono, Charles (9 February 2014). "Maltese escape committees and the Dodecanese setback". Times of Malta. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
  2. ^ a b "Henrietta Chetta Chevalier B.E.M. - Spy, Nurse, Housewife - A Tribute". WW2Talk. 8 October 2018. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
  3. ^ Goldstein, Norm (26 July 2019). "Vatican Intrigue: Priest Outwits Nazis". HistoryNet. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
  4. ^ a b c Dalmas, Maria Rossella (12 June 2012). "An unsung hero of wartime". Times of Malta. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
  5. ^ "No. 37047". The London Gazette (Supplement). 20 April 1945. p. 2165.
  6. ^ Malta Independent 3 Feb 2013
  7. ^ Malta Aviation Museum: Henrietta Chevalier Memorial Garden