By Brenda Williams
William Charles Frederick Grover was born on January 16, 1903 in Montrouge, Paris, France. His father, Frederick Grover, was English and a horse breeder. William's mother, Hermance Dagan Grover, was French. When William was eleven, his parents sent him to England to stay with relatives. After World War I, the family moved to Monte Carlo where William developed an interest in automobiles. He learned to drive a Rolls Royce and obtained a driver's license in Monaco. When he was 15, he acquired a motorcycle that he adored. In 1919 William Orpen, the official artist of the Paris Peace Conference hired Grover to be his chauffeur. During this employment, he drove both Orpen and his mistress Yvonne Aubicq with whom he became friendly.
In the early 1920's Grover started in motorcycle racing but he raced under the name of W. Williams to keep his family from finding out. Again, using the pseudonym W. Williams Grover started entering car races driving a Bugatti He started in the Grand Prix de Provence and the Monte Carlo Rally. Then he won the French Grand Prix in 1928 and 1929. Again in 1929, he entered the inaugural Monaco Grand Prix. William came in first ahead of the famous German driver Rudolf Caracciola. In the same year he married Yvonne Aubicq who had since dissolved her relationship with Orpen. Grover-Williams continued to race and in 1931 placed first in the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps. Then he went on to win the Grand Prix de la Baule each year from 1931 to 1933.
When the Nazis invaded and occupied France in World War II, Grover-Williams left for England to join the Royal Army Service Corps. However, his fluency in both English and French attracted the attention of the Special Operations Executive, an English intelligence unit that had been formed to organize and assist underground resistance forces in the Nazi occupied nations of Europe. The SOE recruited Grover-Williams and after extensive training he was parachuted into France with orders to set up an underground network code named 'Chestnut.' Its mission was to organize a resistance army for use in the coming invasion of France and carry out sabotage operations against the Nazis. Grover-Williams' friends from the racing circuit, Robert Benoist and Jean-Pierre Wimille joined him to help with establishing the network.
Unfortunately, the Nazis learned of the operation, possibly through a double agent and raided them in August of 1943. Grover-Williams was imprisoned in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp and is believed to have been executed there in March 1945. A video game, called The Saboteur has been created with an Irish protagonist whose name is Sean Devlin. Devlin's role is thought to be based upon the wartime experiences of Grover-Williams. The novel by
Robert Ryan, 'Early One Morning' is also based upon the espionage activities of Grover-Williams and his racing friends, Benoist and Wimille.
The Brookwood Memorial in Surrey, England lists Grover-Williams as one of the SOE agents who gave his life to liberate France. He is also honored in France with his name on the Valencay SOE Memorial Roll of Honour in the town of Valencay.
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