William Charles Frederick Grover-Williams (born William Charles Frederick Grover, 16 January 1903 – 18 March 1945 (or shortly thereafter)), also known as "W Williams", was a British Grand Prix motor racing driver and special agent who worked for the

Special Operations Executive The Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a secret British World War II organisation. It was officially formed on 22 July 1940 under Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton, from the amalgamation of three existing secret organisations. Its p ...

(SOE) inside

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. As a racing driver, he is best known for winning the first Monaco Grand Prix and as an SOE agent he organised and coordinated the

Chestnut The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Castanea'', in the beech family Fagaceae. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce. The unrel ...

network, before being captured and executed by the

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in N ...

Personal and early life

Grover-Williams was born in Montrouge,

Hauts-de-Seine Hauts-de-Seine (; ) is a département in the Île-de-France region, Northern France. It covers Paris's western inner suburbs. It is bordered by Paris, Seine-Saint-Denis and Val-de-Marne to the east, Val-d'Oise to the north, Yvelines to the west ...

, 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 woman, Hermance Dagan, and they were soon married. Their first child was Elizabeth, born in 1897. William had two other siblings – Alice and Frederic. 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 Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For gov ...

, in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

. After the war, Frederick Grover moved the family to

Monte Carlo Monte Carlo (; ; french: Monte-Carlo , or colloquially ''Monte-Carl'' ; lij, Munte Carlu ; ) is officially an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco, specifically the ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is ...

. 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 Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

and was granted a licence. Mechanically inclined, and fascinated by motorised vehicles, at the age of 15, Grover-Williams acquired an

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

motorcycle and it became his pride and joy. 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". 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 A chauffeur is a person employed to drive a passenger motor vehicle, especially a luxury vehicle such as a large sedan or limousine. Originally, such drivers were often personal employees of the vehicle owner, but this has changed to special ...

. At the time, Orpen had a

mistress Mistress is the feminine form of the English word "master" (''master'' + ''-ess'') and may refer to: Romance and relationships * Mistress (lover), a term for a woman who is in a sexual and romantic relationship with a man who is married to a d ...

named Yvonne Aupicq. Aupicq and Grover-Williams became good friends and, after the collapse of Aupicq's relationship with Orpen, the pair were married in November 1929.

Racing career

William Grover-Williams at the 1929 French Grand Prix (5)

By 1926, Grover-Williams had begun racing a Bugatti in races throughout France, using the alias, "W Williams", entering the ''Grand Prix de Provence'' at Miramas and the

Monte Carlo Rally The Monte Carlo Rally or Rallye Monte-Carlo (officially ''Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo'') is a rallying event organised each year by the Automobile Club de Monaco. The rally now takes place along the French Riviera in Monaco and southeas ...

. In 1928, he won the French Grand Prix, repeating in 1929. That same year, driving a Bugatti 35B, painted in what would become known as " British racing green", he won the inaugural

Monaco Grand Prix The Monaco Grand Prix (french: Grand Prix de Monaco) is a Formula One motor racing event held annually on the Circuit de Monaco, in late May or early June. Run since 1929, it is widely considered to be one of the most important and prestigio ...

beating the heavily favoured Mercedes of the great

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

driver, Rudolf Caracciola. 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 Pays de la Loire (; ; br, Broioù al Liger) is one of the 18 regions of France, in the west of the mainland. It was created in the 1950s to serve as a zone of influence for its capital, Nantes, one of a handful of "balancing metropolises" (). ...

, on the Bay of Biscay, which was home to one of the annual Grand Prix races. In 1931, he won the

Belgian Grand Prix The Belgian Grand Prix ( French: ''Grand Prix de Belgique''; Dutch: ''Grote Prijs van België''; German: ''Großer Preis von Belgien'') is a motor racing event which forms part of the Formula One World Championship. The first national race o ...

Spa-Francorchamps The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps (), frequently referred to as ''Spa'', is a motor-racing circuit located in Stavelot, Belgium. It is the current venue of the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix, hosting its first Grand Prix in 1925, and has he ...

. 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

occupation of

in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, Grover-Williams fled to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

where he joined the Royal Army Service Corps. Due to his fluency in French and English, he was recruited into the

(SOE) to foster the

French Resistance The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...

. He recruited fellow racing driver

Robert Benoist Robert Marcel Charles Benoist (20 March 1895 – 14 September 1944) was a French Grand Prix motor racing driver and war hero. Early life Born near Rambouillet, Île-de-France, France, Robert Benoist was the son of Baron Henri de Rothschild' ...

and together they worked in the

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

region to build up a successful circuit of operatives, forming sabotage cells and reception committees for Allied parachute operations. On 2 August 1943, 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 Francis Alfred Suttill DSO (born, France, 17 March 1910 – executed, c. 23 March 1945), code name Prosper, was an agent of the United Kingdom's clandestine Special Operations Executive (SOE) organization in World War II. Suttill was the crea ...

. The date of death shown on the official War Office casualty lists, originally "On or shortly after 1.2.1945" has been amended to read "On or shortly after 18.3.1945", while the

Commonwealth War Graves Commission The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations m ...

records the date simply as 18 March 1945. No evidence has been found to support speculation that Grover-Williams survived the war and lived on under an assumed identity as "Georges Tambal", who allegedly lived with Grover-Williams' widow for many years.

Legacy and recognition

Grover-Williams is recorded on the Brookwood Memorial in

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant ur ...

, England, 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 The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

by the head of the SOE, Major-General

Colin Gubbins Major-General Sir Colin McVean Gubbins (2 July 1896 – 11 February 1976) was the prime mover of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) in the Second World War. Gubbins was also responsible for setting up the secret Auxiliary Units, a comman ...

, in September 1945, but when it became clear that he had died the honour was not awarded. ''

The Saboteur ''The Saboteur'' is an action-adventure video game developed by Pandemic Studios and published by Electronic Arts. It was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in December 2009. A mobile version of the game was developed an ...

'', a 2009 video game, features an Irish

protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...

named Sean Devlin who is inspired by Grover-Williams. A statue of Grover-Williams in his 1929 Monaco Grand Prix-winning Bugatti Type 35 is located at the first corner of the

Circuit de Monaco Circuit de Monaco is a street circuit laid out on the city streets of Monte Carlo and La Condamine around the harbour of the Principality of Monaco. It is commonly, and even officially, referred to as "Monte Carlo" because it is largely inside ...

(

Sainte-Dévote Chapel Sainte-Dévote Chapel (french: Chapelle Sainte Dévote; lij, Geija de Santa Devotâ) is a Roman Catholic chapel dedicated to Saint Devota, the patron saint of Monaco. The chapel was first mentioned in archived documents dated 1070, built again ...

). The statue is temporarily moved a couple of meters during the yearly

and the biannual

Monaco ePrix The Monaco ePrix is a recurring automobile race of the Formula E World Championship which takes place in Monte Carlo, Monaco. Circuit On 18 September 2014 it was announced that Formula E would be racing on a shorter version of the original ...

and

Historic Grand Prix of Monaco The Historic Grand Prix of Monaco (also called the Monaco Historic Grand Prix depending upon the source) is a series of automotive races focussed on historic motorsport. The event is typically held biennially two weeks before the Formula One Grand ...

Results and records

Grand Prix wins

Complete European Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

References

Books

* (A novel based on Grover-Williams's life.) * *

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Groverwilliams, William 1903 births 1945 deaths British Army personnel killed in World War II British people executed in Nazi concentration camps Bugatti people Chauffeurs English expatriates in Monaco English people of French descent English racing drivers Executed people from Île-de-France Executed spies French Resistance members Grand Prix drivers Resistance members killed by Nazi Germany People from Montrouge People who died in Sachsenhausen concentration camp British Army General List officers Spies who died in Nazi concentration camps French Special Operations Executive personnel British Special Operations Executive personnel Sportspeople from Hauts-de-Seine European Championship drivers