Sophie Moss
Encyclopedia
Sophie Moss founded the Cairo Branch of the Polish Red Cross at General Sikorski's request.
, a town in south-eastern Poland founded by her Tarnowski family in 1593. She was the granddaughter of Count Stanislaw Tarnowski
(1837–1917), Professor and Rector at the Jagiellonian University
in Krakow
(his home, the Szlak, in the past having been the resting place of deceased Polish kings on the night before burial at Wawel
), and direct descendant of Catherine the Great of Russia
. Her family had held some of the highest offices in Poland.
She spent her childhood roaming the freedom of the wide open spaces, the farms and the forests of the estate.
In 1937, she married Andrew Tarnowski, a member of the senior branch of the family. Her first son was under two when he died (on the day she gave birth to her second) in July 1939.
, the British Ambassador and Sir Duncan Mackenzie of the British Red Cross. She became friends with King Farouk
and Queen Farida
.
As Rommel
advanced into Egypt in June 1942 after the fall to Tobruk
, to within 100 km of Alexandria
, Cairo was evacuated. She was living at the National Hotel. Many of her contemporaries left for Palestine but she refused to leave and carried on working for the Polish Red Cross until everyone else had left and there was nothing more that she could do. She was ordered to leave for Palestine by the Polish Legation. She refused and instead set off defiantly for the front, to Alexandria, to be near the troops within earshot of First Battle of El Alamein
. There she stayed in an hotel, as the only guest, all others having fled. As Rommel’s advance was halted, she returned to Cairo in July 1942 to welcome the returning evacuees.
had found, by sheer chance, a spacious villa in Gezira Island
, boasting a great ballroom with parquet floors which four or five people might share rather than live in the SOE hostel, “Hangover Hall”. He moved in alone at first, then bought his Alsatian puppy, Pixie (whose mother had been a POW), then Xan Fielding
, who had worked in Crete, joined him. Next was Tarnowska, followed by Arnold Breene of SOE HQ. Finally Patrick Leigh Fermor
, an SOE officer who had spent the previous nine months in Crete, joined the household.
The villa's new inhabitants called it Tara
– the legendary home of the High Kings of Ireland.
Tarnowska and two other women had been asked to share the house with the SOE agents but the other two dropped out. The men pleaded with her not to let them down. So she moved in with her few possessions (a bathing costume, an evening gown, a uniform and two pet mongooses), her reputation in the all-male household protected by an entirely fictitious chaperone, Madame Khayatt, who suffered from “distressingly poor health" and was always indisposed when visitors called.
They were later joined SOE agents Billy McLean
, David Smiley
returning from Albania, (“David deciding that it would be cheaper to live in Tara than to come in every day and be tapped by the cook or Abdul for money to pay for meals") and Rowland Winn
also active in Albania.
Tara became the most exciting place in the city, the centre of high-spirited entertaining of diplomats, officers, writers, lecturers, war correspondents and Coptic and Levantine party-goers, under the guiding hand of Princess Dneiper-Petrovsk (Countess Sophie Tarnowska) and the young buccaneers - Sir Eustace Rapier (Lt-Col. Neil (Billy) McLean), the Marquis of Whipstock (Col David Smiley LVO OBE MC), the Hon, Rupert Sabretache (Rowland Winn MC), Lord Hughe Devildrive (Major Xan Fielding DSO), Lord Pintpot (Arnold Breene), Lord Rakehell (Lt-Col Patrick Leigh-Fermor DSO) and Mr Jack Jargon (Capt W. Stanley Moss MC.
Tarnowska drew on memories of liqueur-making on her father’s estates to produce the party drinks, adding plums, apricots and peaches to raw alcohol (as a substitute for vodka) purchased from the local garage, in the bath. The results were disappointing as, rather than being left to mature for three weeks, the mixture was drunk after three days.
At the end of their first ball, Leigh Fermor fell asleep on a sofa which ignited, before it was thrown burning into the garden below. Over the course of the winter of 1943, a piano was borrowed from the Egyptian Officers' Club, lightbulbs were shot out, On one occasion, King Farouk arrived at the villa with a crate of champagne.
By the winter of 1944, the Tara household had to leave their rather battered villa and move into a flat. Their landlord finally secured their eviction on the grounds that the villa had not been let to Princess Dneiper-Petrovsk et al., as stated on the villa's name plate.
. He had fought with the 8th Army in the North African Campaign before joining the Special Operations Executive
based in Cairo. He is best remembered for the capture and Abduction
to Egypt, in April and May 1944, of General Heinrich Kreipe
. He became a best-selling author in the 1950s.
They had three children, Christine Isabelle Mercedes, Sebastian (who died in infancy) and Gabriella Zofia. Initially living in London, they moved to Riverstown House, County Cork in Ireland
. They later returned to London
, Putney
, but separated in 1957. Bill Stanley Moss died in 1965 in Kingston, Jamaica.
, who with his army was famously defeated on the Tarnowski estate. In 1957 she and her brother (also living in London) decided to give this standard to the Wawel
museum in Krakow
(where it remains); the Communist government was keen to make as much as possible of this event, and granted them visas, but she refused all offers of expenses-paid travel and hospitality. They both travelled to Poland and were allowed to revisit Rudnik, where they were given an emotional welcome.
After the fall of communism, her nephew was eventually able to buy back Rudnik - sadly dilapidated, now gradually being restored - and she and her brother presided over several family gatherings there.
and Zofia Tarnowska Moss
Early life
She was born, in the throes of the First World War, in Rudnik, a forested estate near TarnobrzegTarnobrzeg
Tarnobrzeg is a city in south-eastern Poland, on the east bank of the river Vistula, with 49,419 inhabitants, as of December 31, 2009. Situated in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship since 1999, it had previously been the capital of Tarnobrzeg Voivodeship...
, a town in south-eastern Poland founded by her Tarnowski family in 1593. She was the granddaughter of Count Stanislaw Tarnowski
Stanislaw Tarnowski (1837-1917)
Count Stanisław Tarnowski was a Polish nobleman , historian, literary critic, publicist.-Life:...
(1837–1917), Professor and Rector at the Jagiellonian University
Jagiellonian University
The Jagiellonian University was established in 1364 by Casimir III the Great in Kazimierz . It is the oldest university in Poland, the second oldest university in Central Europe and one of the oldest universities in the world....
in Krakow
Kraków
Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...
(his home, the Szlak, in the past having been the resting place of deceased Polish kings on the night before burial at Wawel
Wawel
Wawel is an architectural complex erected over many centuries atop a limestone outcrop on the left bank of the Vistula River in Kraków, Poland, at an altitude of 228 metres above the sea level. It is a place of great significance to the Polish people. The Royal Castle with an armoury and the...
), and direct descendant of Catherine the Great of Russia
Catherine II of Russia
Catherine II, also known as Catherine the Great , Empress of Russia, was born in Stettin, Pomerania, Prussia on as Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg...
. Her family had held some of the highest offices in Poland.
She spent her childhood roaming the freedom of the wide open spaces, the farms and the forests of the estate.
In 1937, she married Andrew Tarnowski, a member of the senior branch of the family. Her first son was under two when he died (on the day she gave birth to her second) in July 1939.
Expulsion
At the outbreak of war, relentless bombing forced Tarnowska and her husband to leave their home. As a gesture of commitment never to leave Polish soil, she burnt her passport. Sadly, events forced a different outcome. Tarnowska and her companions, including her brother, determined to join the front-line troops' bid to expel the German army from Polish soil; for a fortnight they criss-crossed Poland by car, in this vain attempt, finally forced to cross the border into Romania, reaching Bucharest. As sympathy for the Nazi cause grew in Bucharest, they decided to leave and head for Belgrade. The Serbs made them welcome. They travelled through the Balkans, where her baby died. They travelled on, ending up in Palestine, where her marriage broke down.Cairo
Separated from her husband, she left Palestine and travelled to Cairo where she and her sister-in-law were looked after by Prince Youssef Kamal ed-Dine (a visitor to Poland before the War) and made welcome by all. She began working for the International Red Cross, tracing missing Allied soldiers. General Sikorski, the Polish Prime Minister-in-Exile and Commander-in-Chief visited Cairo in November 1941. At his request, she set up the Cairo branch of the Polish Red Cross with the help of Lady Lampson, wife of Sir Miles LampsonMiles Lampson, 1st Baron Killearn
Miles Wedderburn Lampson, 1st Baron Killearn, GCMG, CB, MVO, PC was a British diplomat.-Background and education:...
, the British Ambassador and Sir Duncan Mackenzie of the British Red Cross. She became friends with King Farouk
Farouk of Egypt
Farouk I of Egypt , was the tenth ruler from the Muhammad Ali Dynasty and the penultimate King of Egypt and Sudan, succeeding his father, Fuad I, in 1936....
and Queen Farida
Farida of Egypt
Queen Farida, born Safinaz Zulficar was the Queen consort of Egypt and the first wife of King Farouk.-Personal life:...
.
As Rommel
Erwin Rommel
Erwin Johannes Eugen Rommel , popularly known as the Desert Fox , was a German Field Marshal of World War II. He won the respect of both his own troops and the enemies he fought....
advanced into Egypt in June 1942 after the fall to Tobruk
Tobruk
Tobruk or Tubruq is a city, seaport, and peninsula on Libya's eastern Mediterranean coast, near the border with Egypt. It is the capital of the Butnan District and has a population of 120,000 ....
, to within 100 km of Alexandria
Alexandria
Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
, Cairo was evacuated. She was living at the National Hotel. Many of her contemporaries left for Palestine but she refused to leave and carried on working for the Polish Red Cross until everyone else had left and there was nothing more that she could do. She was ordered to leave for Palestine by the Polish Legation. She refused and instead set off defiantly for the front, to Alexandria, to be near the troops within earshot of First Battle of El Alamein
First Battle of El Alamein
The First Battle of El Alamein was a battle of the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War, fought between Axis forces of the Panzer Army Africa commanded by Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, and Allied forces The First Battle of El Alamein (1–27 July 1942) was a battle of the Western Desert...
. There she stayed in an hotel, as the only guest, all others having fled. As Rommel’s advance was halted, she returned to Cairo in July 1942 to welcome the returning evacuees.
Tara
In 1943, Capt Bill Stanley MossW. Stanley Moss
Ivan William "Billy" Stanley Moss MC , was a British army officer in World War II, and later a successful writer, broadcaster, journalist and traveller. He served with the Coldstream Guards and the Special Operations Executive . He was a best-selling author in the 1950s, based both on his novels...
had found, by sheer chance, a spacious villa in Gezira Island
Gezira Island
Gezira Island is located in the Nile River, in central Cairo, Egypt. The southern portion of the island contains the Gezira District, and the northern third contains the affluent Zamalek District....
, boasting a great ballroom with parquet floors which four or five people might share rather than live in the SOE hostel, “Hangover Hall”. He moved in alone at first, then bought his Alsatian puppy, Pixie (whose mother had been a POW), then Xan Fielding
Xan Fielding
Xan Fielding, born Alexander Wallace Fielding DSO , was a British soldier and writer, noted for his English translations of Planet of the Apes and The Bridge on the River Kwai, both by Pierre Boulle....
, who had worked in Crete, joined him. Next was Tarnowska, followed by Arnold Breene of SOE HQ. Finally Patrick Leigh Fermor
Patrick Leigh Fermor
Sir Patrick "Paddy" Michael Leigh Fermor, DSO, OBE was a British author, scholar and soldier, who played a prominent role behind the lines in the Cretan resistance during World War II. He was widely regarded as "Britain's greatest living travel writer", with books including his classic A Time of...
, an SOE officer who had spent the previous nine months in Crete, joined the household.
The villa's new inhabitants called it Tara
Hill of Tara
The Hill of Tara , located near the River Boyne, is an archaeological complex that runs between Navan and Dunshaughlin in County Meath, Leinster, Ireland...
– the legendary home of the High Kings of Ireland.
Tarnowska and two other women had been asked to share the house with the SOE agents but the other two dropped out. The men pleaded with her not to let them down. So she moved in with her few possessions (a bathing costume, an evening gown, a uniform and two pet mongooses), her reputation in the all-male household protected by an entirely fictitious chaperone, Madame Khayatt, who suffered from “distressingly poor health" and was always indisposed when visitors called.
They were later joined SOE agents Billy McLean
Neil McLean (politician)
Lieutenant-Colonel Neil Loudon Desmond McLean DSO, known as Billy McLean , was a British Army intelligence officer and politician who led a celebrated Special Operations Executive operation in Albania during the Second World War, and later attempted to overthrow Communism in the country...
, David Smiley
David Smiley
Colonel David de Crespigny Smiley, LVO, OBE, MC & Bar was a British special forces and intelligence officer. He fought in the Second World War in Palestine, Iraq, Persia, Syria, Western Desert and with Special Operations Executive in Albania and Thailand.- Background :Smiley was the 4th and...
returning from Albania, (“David deciding that it would be cheaper to live in Tara than to come in every day and be tapped by the cook or Abdul for money to pay for meals") and Rowland Winn
Rowland Winn, 4th Baron St Oswald
Rowland Denys Guy Winn, 4th Baron St Oswald MC DL , was a British soldier and Conservative politician.St Oswald was the eldest son of Rowland George Winn, 3rd Baron St Oswald, and his wife Eve Carew, daughter of Charles Greene...
also active in Albania.
Tara became the most exciting place in the city, the centre of high-spirited entertaining of diplomats, officers, writers, lecturers, war correspondents and Coptic and Levantine party-goers, under the guiding hand of Princess Dneiper-Petrovsk (Countess Sophie Tarnowska) and the young buccaneers - Sir Eustace Rapier (Lt-Col. Neil (Billy) McLean), the Marquis of Whipstock (Col David Smiley LVO OBE MC), the Hon, Rupert Sabretache (Rowland Winn MC), Lord Hughe Devildrive (Major Xan Fielding DSO), Lord Pintpot (Arnold Breene), Lord Rakehell (Lt-Col Patrick Leigh-Fermor DSO) and Mr Jack Jargon (Capt W. Stanley Moss MC.
Tarnowska drew on memories of liqueur-making on her father’s estates to produce the party drinks, adding plums, apricots and peaches to raw alcohol (as a substitute for vodka) purchased from the local garage, in the bath. The results were disappointing as, rather than being left to mature for three weeks, the mixture was drunk after three days.
At the end of their first ball, Leigh Fermor fell asleep on a sofa which ignited, before it was thrown burning into the garden below. Over the course of the winter of 1943, a piano was borrowed from the Egyptian Officers' Club, lightbulbs were shot out, On one occasion, King Farouk arrived at the villa with a crate of champagne.
By the winter of 1944, the Tara household had to leave their rather battered villa and move into a flat. Their landlord finally secured their eviction on the grounds that the villa had not been let to Princess Dneiper-Petrovsk et al., as stated on the villa's name plate.
Family
In 1945, she married MossW. Stanley Moss
Ivan William "Billy" Stanley Moss MC , was a British army officer in World War II, and later a successful writer, broadcaster, journalist and traveller. He served with the Coldstream Guards and the Special Operations Executive . He was a best-selling author in the 1950s, based both on his novels...
. He had fought with the 8th Army in the North African Campaign before joining the Special Operations Executive
Special Operations Executive
The Special Operations Executive was a World War II organisation of the United Kingdom. It was officially formed by Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton on 22 July 1940, to conduct guerrilla warfare against the Axis powers and to instruct and aid local...
based in Cairo. He is best remembered for the capture and Abduction
Kidnap of General Kreipe
The Kidnap of General Kreipe was a Second World War operation by the Special Operations Executive, an organisation of the United Kingdom. The mission took place on the German occupied island of Crete in May 1944....
to Egypt, in April and May 1944, of General Heinrich Kreipe
Heinrich Kreipe
Karl Heinrich Georg Ferdinand Kreipe was a German general, who served in World War II. He is most famous for his spectacular abduction by British and Cretan resistance fighters from occupied Crete in April 1944....
. He became a best-selling author in the 1950s.
They had three children, Christine Isabelle Mercedes, Sebastian (who died in infancy) and Gabriella Zofia. Initially living in London, they moved to Riverstown House, County Cork in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. They later returned to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, Putney
Putney
Putney is a district in south-west London, England, located in the London Borough of Wandsworth. It is situated south-west of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London....
, but separated in 1957. Bill Stanley Moss died in 1965 in Kingston, Jamaica.
Return to Poland
When Tarnowska left her father's home at Rudnik at the outbreak of war in 1939, he gave her for safe-keeping the personal standard, the “proporzec”, of the seventeenth-century King Karl Gustav of SwedenCharles X Gustav of Sweden
Charles X Gustav also Carl Gustav, was King of Sweden from 1654 until his death. He was the son of John Casimir, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken-Kleeburg and Catherine of Sweden. After his father's death he also succeeded him as Pfalzgraf. He was married to Hedwig Eleonora of Holstein-Gottorp, who...
, who with his army was famously defeated on the Tarnowski estate. In 1957 she and her brother (also living in London) decided to give this standard to the Wawel
Wawel
Wawel is an architectural complex erected over many centuries atop a limestone outcrop on the left bank of the Vistula River in Kraków, Poland, at an altitude of 228 metres above the sea level. It is a place of great significance to the Polish people. The Royal Castle with an armoury and the...
museum in Krakow
Kraków
Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...
(where it remains); the Communist government was keen to make as much as possible of this event, and granted them visas, but she refused all offers of expenses-paid travel and hospitality. They both travelled to Poland and were allowed to revisit Rudnik, where they were given an emotional welcome.
After the fall of communism, her nephew was eventually able to buy back Rudnik - sadly dilapidated, now gradually being restored - and she and her brother presided over several family gatherings there.
Later years
For much of the latter part of her life, she divided her time between London and spending her summer months returning to Ireland.Literature
My father joins the fire brigade Bruno Schulz, transl. by W. Stanley MossW. Stanley Moss
Ivan William "Billy" Stanley Moss MC , was a British army officer in World War II, and later a successful writer, broadcaster, journalist and traveller. He served with the Coldstream Guards and the Special Operations Executive . He was a best-selling author in the 1950s, based both on his novels...
and Zofia Tarnowska Moss