William Grover-Williams

William Grover-Williams
William Grover-Williams as the winner of the 1931 Belgian Grand Prix
Born	(1903-01-16)16 January 1903 Montrouge, Hauts-de-Seine, France
Died	February or March, 1945 (aged 42) Sachsenhausen concentration camp, Nazi Germany
Occupation	Racing driver SOE agent
Spouse(s)	Yvonne Aupicq (m. 1929–1945)
Parent(s)	Frederick Grover Hermance Dagan

William Charles Frederick Grover-Williams (born William Charles Frederick Grover, 16 January 1903 – February or March 1945),^[1] also known as "W Williams", was a Grand Prix motor racing driver and special agent who worked for the Special Operations Executive (SOE) inside France. He organised and coordinated the Chestnut network. He was captured and executed by the Nazis.

Personal and early life

Grover-Williams was born in Montrouge, Hauts-de-Seine, France, on 16 January 1903 to Frederick and Hermance Grover. Frederick Grover was an English horse breeder who had settled in Montrouge. Frederick met a French girl, Hermance Dagan, and they were soon married. Their first child was Elizabeth, born in 1897. William had two other siblings – Alice and Frederic.^[2] Born to an English father and a French mother, Grover-Williams grew up fluent in both the French and English languages.

When William was eleven, he was sent to live with relatives in Hertfordshire, in the United Kingdom. After the war, Frederick Grover moved the family to Monte Carlo. It was there that William developed a fascination for automobiles, having been taught to drive a Rolls-Royce by his sister's boyfriend. Grover-Williams passed his driving test whilst in Monaco and was granted a licence.^[3] Mechanically inclined, and fascinated by motorised vehicles, at the age of 15, Grover-Williams acquired an Indian motorcycle and it became his pride and joy.^[4] He would later go on to compete in motorcycle races in the early 1920s, although he kept it secret from his family by adopting the pseudonym, "W Williams".^[5]

In 1919, the Irish portrait painter, William Orpen became the official artist of the Paris Peace Conference. Orpen bought a Rolls-Royce car and hired Grover-Williams, who had returned to Paris, as his chauffeur.^[4] At the time, Orpen had a mistress named Yvonne Aupicq.^[6] Aupicq and Grover-Williams became good friends and, after the collapse of Aupicq's relationship with Orpen, the pair were married in November 1929.^[7][8]

Racing career

William Grover-Williams in 1929 Le Mans, Grand Prix A.C.F. driving Bugatti Type 35

By 1926, Grover-Williams had begun racing a Bugatti in races throughout France, using the alias, "W Williams",^[9] entering the Grand Prix de Provence at Miramas and the Monte Carlo Rally. In 1928, he won the French Grand Prix, repeating in 1929.^[9] That same year, driving a Bugatti 35B, painted in what would become known as "British racing green", he won the inaugural Monaco Grand Prix beating the heavily favoured Mercedes of the great German driver, Rudolf Caracciola.^[9]

Successful financially, Grover-Williams and his wife maintained a home in a fashionable district of Paris while owning a large house in the resort town of La Baule, Pays de la Loire, on the Bay of Biscay, which was home to one of the annual Grand Prix races. In 1931, he won the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps.^[9] He also won the Grand Prix de la Baule in three consecutive years (1931 to 1933). Then his career waned and he was out of racing by the latter part of the 1930s.

Second World War

Following the German occupation of France in the Second World War, Grover-Williams fled to England where he joined the Royal Army Service Corps. Due to his fluency in French and English, he was recruited into the Special Operations Executive (SOE) to foster the French Resistance. He recruited fellow racing driver Robert Benoist and together they worked in the Paris region to build up a successful circuit of operatives, forming sabotage cells and reception committees for Allied parachute operations.

On 2 August 1943,^[9] Grover-Williams was arrested by the Sicherheitsdienst and underwent lengthy interrogation before being deported to Berlin and was then held prisoner in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp.

Death

Grover-Williams was executed at Sachsenhausen in the spring of 1945, along with fellow SOE network leader Francis Suttill.^[10][11]

There is a theory that Grover-Williams survived the war, and lived on under an assumed identity as "Georges Tambal" who allegedly lived with Grover-Williams's widow for many years, but there is no evidence for this whatsoever.^[12][13]

Legacy and recognition

Grover-Williams is recorded on the Brookwood Memorial in Surrey, England,^[14] and as one of the SOE agents who died for the liberation of France, he is listed on the Valençay SOE Memorial's Roll of Honour in the French town of Valençay.

Grover-Williams was recommended for an Order of the British Empire by the head of the SOE, Major-General Colin Gubbins, in September 1945, but when it became clear that he had died the honour was not awarded.^[15]

The Saboteur, a video game released in 2009, features an Irish protagonist named Sean Devlin who is inspired by Grover-Williams.^[16]

Results and records

Grand Prix wins

Year	Grand Prix	Location	Car	Report
1928	French Grand Prix	Saint-Gaudens	Bugatti Type 35	Report
1929	Monaco Grand Prix	Monte Carlo	Bugatti Type 35	Report
	French Grand Prix	Le Mans	Bugatti Type 35	Report
1931	Belgian Grand Prix †	Spa-Francorchamps	Bugatti Type 51	Report
	Grand Prix de la Baule	La Baule	Bugatti Type 51	Report
1932	Grand Prix de la Baule	La Baule	Bugatti Type 51	Report
1933	Grand Prix de la Baule	La Baule	Bugatti Type 54	Report

† Grover-Williams shared a car with Caberto Conelli.

References

Books

Wikimedia Commons has media related to William Grover-Williams.

• Ryan, Robert (2002). Early one morning. Headline. ISBN 978-0-7472-6873-4. (A novel based on Grover-Williams's life.)
• Saward, Joe (2006). The Grand Prix Saboteurs. Morienval Press. ISBN 978-0-9554868-0-7.
• Higham, Peter (1995). The Guinness Guide to International Motor Racing. Guinness Publishing. ISBN 0-85112-642-1.