Pearl Vardon facts for kids
Pearl Joyce Vardon (born April 5, 1915, in Jersey, Channel Islands – died November 2011) was a British person who worked as a broadcaster for Nazi Germany during World War II. After the war, she faced legal consequences for her actions.
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Early Life and War Years
Pearl Vardon was a school teacher on the island of Jersey. In 1940, during World War II, German forces took control of the Channel Islands. Because Pearl spoke German, the German administration asked her to work as an interpreter. This meant she helped translate for a construction company from Cologne, Germany. Later, in 1944, she traveled to Germany with a German officer she knew.
Broadcasting for Germany
Once in Germany, Pearl Vardon started working as an announcer at Radio Luxembourg. This radio station was part of a German broadcasting service called the DES (Deutsche Europasender).
Her job involved introducing music and hosting different radio shows. Some of these shows, like Ladies First, talked negatively about the USA and positively about Germany. Another show, Matters of Moment, shared news from the German point of view.
A very important part of her work was on a show called For the Forces and their Kin. On this program, she read letters that British POWs (Prisoners of War) had written to their families back home. This was a way for the German side to try and influence people listening. A German person who worked with her later said that Pearl seemed to dislike things from England and prefer things from Germany.
In mid-1944, as the war continued, she moved to Berlin. By October 1944, she was working in Apen, Lower Saxony, until the Red Army (Soviet forces) got close during their advance on the Eastern Front.
After the War
Pearl Vardon left Apen and arrived in Wilhelmshaven on April 30, 1945. She was taken into custody there when she asked about getting new identity papers. She was then held by the British Army at a camp where she was questioned.
In February 1946, Pearl Vardon had a trial. She admitted to doing something that could have helped the enemy. She received a prison sentence for her actions.
Years later, in 1950, Pearl Vardon married Siegfried Schwatlo in Abergavenny, Monmouthshire. She passed away in November 2011 in Weißenburg, Bavaria, Germany, at the age of 96.
Declassified Information
In 2000, secret files about Pearl Vardon from MI5 (the British security service) were made public. These files showed that British legal officials sometimes treated women who had helped the enemy differently than men.
The MI5 report about Pearl Vardon suggested that her main reason for her actions was to stay close to the German officer she knew. However, the report also mentioned that her reasons might have been more complex than they seemed. You can find more information about her in the files held by The National Archives.
See also
- Leonard Banning
- Norah Briscoe
- Gertrude Hiscox
- Tyler Kent
- John Lingshaw
- Dorothy O'Grady
- Anna Wolkoff
