Dorothy "Dodo" Lees (20 April 1920 – 26 August 1991) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

nurse who became prominent in the French Army. Born in

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

, she became a journalist for the ''

Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first ...

''. Based in Germany, she met

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

shortly before

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, who told her that she would be a good speaker because the two shared a birthday. With the Nazi

occupation of Czechoslovakia Occupation commonly refers to: *Occupation (human activity), or job, one's role in society, often a regular activity performed for payment *Occupation (protest), political demonstration by holding public or symbolic spaces *Military occupation, th ...

, she lent her passport to a

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

from Prague, to help them escape. During the war, she served as a nurse with the

Voluntary Aid Detachment The Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) was a voluntary unit of civilians providing nursing care for military personnel in the United Kingdom and various other countries in the British Empire. The most important periods of operation for these units we ...

until

D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during the Second World War. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

, after which she served as an ambulance driver in the

French First Army The First Army () was a field army of France that fought during World War I and World War II. It was also active during the Cold War. World War I On mobilization in August 1914, General Auguste Dubail was put in the charge of the First Army, ...

. She was present at the liberation of the

Dachau concentration camp Dachau (, ; , ; ) was one of the first concentration camps built by Nazi Germany and the longest-running one, opening on 22 March 1933. The camp was initially intended to intern Hitler's political opponents, which consisted of communists, s ...

, and used her nursing skills to tend to the former inmates. Around the end of 1944, she disguised herself as a civilian and crossed German lines, living in a cave while she tended to

French resistance The French Resistance ( ) was a collection of groups that fought the German military administration in occupied France during World War II, Nazi occupation and the Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy#France, collaborationist Vic ...

members in the

Vosges The Vosges ( , ; ; Franconian and ) is a range of medium mountains in Eastern France, near its border with Germany. Together with the Palatine Forest to the north on the German side of the border, they form a single geomorphological unit and ...

. She crossed into Switzerland to acquire medical supplies, the bills being paid by the

French Red Cross The French Red Cross (), or the CRF, is the national Red Cross Society in France founded in 1864 and originally known as the ''Société française de secours aux blessés militaires'' (SSBM). Recognized as a public utility since 1945, the Frenc ...

after the war. For her efforts, she was awarded the

Croix de Guerre The (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awarded during World ...

, and after the war was made personal staff officer to

Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque Philippe François Marie Leclerc de Hauteclocque (22 November 1902 – 28 November 1947) was a Free France, Free-French general during World War II. He became Marshal of France posthumously in 1952, and is known in France simply as or ju ...

. After Leclerc died in a plane crash, Lees transferred to the French Foreign Office, and toured the United States to speak about French views on the

Marshall Plan The Marshall Plan (officially the European Recovery Program, ERP) was an American initiative enacted in 1948 to provide foreign aid to Western Europe. The United States transferred $13.3 billion (equivalent to $ in ) in economic recovery pr ...

. Back in England, Lees joined the Labour Party, and stood in Bournemouth East and Christchurch at the

1950 UK general election The 1950 United Kingdom general election was the first to be held after a full term of a majority Labour government. The general election was held on Thursday 23 February 1950, and was also the first to be held following the abolition of plural ...

. At the

1951 UK general election The 1951 United Kingdom general election was held twenty months after the 1950 general election, which the Labour Party had won with a slim majority of just five seats. The Labour government called a snap election for Thursday 25 October 1951 ...

, she took a close second place in

Lancaster Lancaster may refer to: Lands and titles *The County Palatine of Lancaster, a synonym for Lancashire *Duchy of Lancaster, one of only two British royal duchies *Duke of Lancaster *Earl of Lancaster *House of Lancaster, a British royal dynasty ...

. In 1953, she was asked to stand for a

safe seat A safe seat is an electoral district which is regarded as fully secure, for either a certain political party, or the incumbent representative personally or a combination of both. With such seats, there is very little chance of a seat changing h ...

, but she was about to marry and decided against a political career. Known after marriage as Dodo Selby-Bennett, she worked closely with

Dom Mintoff Dominic Mintoff ( ; often called ''il-Perit'', "the Architect"; 6 August 1916 – 20 August 2012) was a Maltese socialist politician, architect, and civil engineer who was leader of the Labour Party (Malta), Labour Party from 1949 to 1984 ...

in Malta from 1955, promoting tourism. At the

1962 South Dorset by-election The 1962 South Dorset by-election occurred following the death of George Montagu, 9th Earl of Sandwich on 15 June 1962. His son Victor Montagu, Viscount Hinchingbrooke, the incumbent MP for the constituency of South Dorset (UK Parliament constitue ...

, she campaigned for Guy Barnett, the successful Labour candidate. In the late 1960s, Lees spent time in Latin America, where her husband was an attache. Back in England again, she remained active in the Labour Party, speaking in favour of

foxhunting Fox hunting is an activity involving the tracking, chase and, if caught, the killing of a fox, normally a red fox, by trained foxhounds or other scent hounds. A group of unarmed followers, led by a "master of foxhounds" (or "master of houn ...

, and campaigning against her own husband when he stood for

Dorset County Council Dorset County Council was the county council of Dorset in England. It was created in 1889 and abolished in 2019. Throughout its existence, the council was based in Dorchester. Bournemouth and Poole were made independent from the county counci ...

as a Conservative Party candidate.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lees, Dodo 1920 births 1991 deaths 20th-century British journalists British women in World War II Female recipients of the Croix de Guerre (France) Labour Party (UK) parliamentary candidates People from Dorset English expatriates in Germany French Army personnel of World War II