Noëlla Rouget

Noëlla Rouget (25 December 1919 – 22 November 2020) was a French Resistance member and teacher. She spoke of her experiences in the 1980s in Switzerland, Haute-Savoie, and Ain. Noëlla Rouget was born Noëlla Poudeau in Saumur to Clément and Marie (née Bossard) Poudeau. Her brother, Georges, was a Catholic priest and six years her senior. Noëlla attended the Scolarité au pensionnat Saint-Laud d'Angers. She was involved in Scouting with the Girl Guides of France, of which she was a leader. Although she intended to pursue a career in literature, World War II prevented her from doing so. During the Battle of France in 1940, Rouget was working as a teacher at the Scolarité au pensionnat Saint-Laud d'Angers. She did not hear Charles de Gaulle's Appeal of 18 June, but discovered it in a leaflet while on a walk. Angers became occupied by Nazi Germany the following day. After the occupation began, she started to distribute the leaflets and underground newspapers without the knowledge of her parents. She became a liaison, carrying various packages, some of which included weapons, to fighters of the French Resistance. Her first contact was René Brossard, who later died after being tortured by the Nazis on 23 October 1943. She joined the network Honneur et Patrie, a Gaullist organization under the leadership of Victor Chatenay. She joined the English network Buckmaster Alexandre Privet in June 1942 until her arrest, according to Captain F.W. Hazeldine. She was one of several French people to be a part of two or more networks during the War. During her resistant activities, she met Adrien Tigeot, a young teacher who had escaped the Service du travail obligatoire. The two decided to get engaged before being arrested in June 1943 and imprisoned in Angers. Tigeot was shot and killed by the Nazis on 13 December 1943. Shortly before his death, he sent a letter to Rouget encouraging her "to live, to forget, and to love". On 9 November 1943, Rouget left Angers for the Royallieu-Compiègne internment camp.