William Grover-Williams
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Charles Frederick William Grover-Williams (born 16 January 1903 - last seen towards the end of March 1945, believed executed soon afterwards)[1] was a Grand Prix motor racing driver and war hero.
Born to an English father and a French mother in the Montrouge suburb of Paris, France, Grover-Williams grew up fluent in both the French and English languages. When World War I broke out, his family moved to Monaco where he got a job as a chauffeur. Mechanically inclined, and fascinated by motorized vehicles, Charles Frederick William Grover-Williams bought a motorcycle and began racing. Returning to Paris, in 1919 he worked as the chauffeur for the famous Irish war artist, Sir William Orpen.
Racing career
By 1926, Grover-Williams had begun racing a Bugatti in races throughout France, entering the Grand Prix de Provence at Miramas and the Monte Carlo Rally. 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 beating the heavily favored Mercedes of the great German driver, Rudolf Caracciola.
In November 1929, Grover-Williams married Yvonne Aubicq, whom he had met when chauffeuring the two around Paris. Successful financially, they 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 and the Grand Prix de la Baule three consecutive years (1931 to 1933). Then his career waned and he was out of racing by the latter part of the 1930s.
World War II
Following the Nazi occupation of France in World War II, 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 parachute operations.
In June 1943, Grover-Williams was arrested by the SD and underwent lengthy interrogation before being deported to Berlin and was then held prisoner in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp.
Posthumous
He was believed to have been executed in the spring of 1945 along with Francis Suttill, another important SOE network leader.
Acknowledgement
Grover-Williams is recorded on the Brookwood Memorial in Surrey, England, and as one of the SOE agents who died for the liberation of France, he is listed on the Roll of Honour on the Valençay SOE Memorial in the town of Valençay, Indre, France.
Racing
Racing Major Career Wins
- Belgian Grand Prix 1931
- French Grand Prix 1928, 1929
- Grand Prix de la Baule 1931, 1932, 1933
- Monaco Grand Prix 1929
Complete European Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)
| Year | Entrant | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | EDC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1931 | Usines Bugatti | Bugatti | ITA |
FRA Ret |
BEL 1 |
9= | 14 | |
| 1932 | Private entry | Bugatti | ITA |
FRA 6 |
GER |
9= | 20 | |
| 1936 | Bugatti | Bugatti | MON 9 |
GER |
SUI |
ITA |
18= | 28 |