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I'll Lock Up
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- 5,927
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- Sydney Australia
December 7, 2009
Sophie Moss, as Countess Zofia Tarnowksa, was the hostess of a villa in wartime Cairo where British agents on leave from secret assignments held some of the most riotous parties of the war.
With considerable misgivings, she had agreed to join the all-male household at the invitation of her future husband, the Coldstream officer Billy Moss, and moved in with her few possessions, including a swimsuit, an evening dress, a uniform and two pet mongooses. In the field, the agents were cold, hungry, lice-ridden and in constant danger. On leave, with months of backpay to spend, they held uproarious parties at the villa. These attracted the most distinguished soldiers, diplomats, writers and, on one occasion, King Farouk, who arrived with a crate of champagne.
The evenings grew steadily more rowdy and, as costly repairs were often needed afterwards, Abbas, the butler, tried to raise funds by accosting guests and holding out his tarboosh for contributions.
Eager to save money, Sophie remembered how fruit was added to vodka to make liqueurs on her father's Polish estates. The household experimented using the bath, in which prunes were mixed with raw alcohol from the local garage. Sadly, the results were disappointing.
The bathroom had other uses. In 1943 Billy Moss and the author Patrick Leigh Fermor sat there while the intelligence officer David Smiley explained how to organise the perfect ambush, drawing a diagram on the steamed-up tiles. After this, Leigh Fermor and Moss captured the German general Heinrich Kreipe (the story was later recounted by Moss as the best-selling Ill Met By Moonlight). Zofia Roza Maria Jadwiga Elzbieta Katarzyna Aniela Tarnowska was born on March 16, 1917, at Rudnik, a forested estate in Poland founded by her family in 1593. Her father wanted only to be a country gentleman. His marriage was unhappy, and Sophie and her brother Stanislaw grew up headstrong and mischievous.
Her mother sent her to a convent, where Sophie got into trouble for standing on a pudding to prove it was inedible, ran away and refused to go back.
In 1937 she married Andrew Tarnowski, from the senior branch of the family. As war drew closer, Sophie decided she would never abandon Poland and burnt her passport, but when the Germans were pouring over the western frontier and the Russians were approaching from the east, she set off by car with her husband, her brother, his fiancee, Chouquette, and her sister.
The party drove through Greece to Palestine. In Jerusalem Andrew confessed to Sophie that he was in love with Chouquette. Later Sophie accompanied Chouquette and her son to Cairo, where an uncle of King Farouk offered them a luxurious villa. She soon moved out.
After she joined the International Red Cross, Poland's prime minister suggested she start a branch. She agreed, but only if it was established without ranks.
Sophie was soon equipped with a committee, an office and a delivery truck. Along with the parties, she also visited hospitals and helped Polish PoWs in Germany to contact their scattered families.
After divorcing Andrew, she married Billy Moss in 1945. Money was always tight and by the late 1950s their marriage was over and she took in lodgers.
After the fall of communism, Sophie's nephew bought back Rudnik, and she presided over a family gathering in 1999. But too much had changed for her to contemplate settling there.
Telegraph, London
Sophie Moss, as Countess Zofia Tarnowksa, was the hostess of a villa in wartime Cairo where British agents on leave from secret assignments held some of the most riotous parties of the war.
With considerable misgivings, she had agreed to join the all-male household at the invitation of her future husband, the Coldstream officer Billy Moss, and moved in with her few possessions, including a swimsuit, an evening dress, a uniform and two pet mongooses. In the field, the agents were cold, hungry, lice-ridden and in constant danger. On leave, with months of backpay to spend, they held uproarious parties at the villa. These attracted the most distinguished soldiers, diplomats, writers and, on one occasion, King Farouk, who arrived with a crate of champagne.
The evenings grew steadily more rowdy and, as costly repairs were often needed afterwards, Abbas, the butler, tried to raise funds by accosting guests and holding out his tarboosh for contributions.
Eager to save money, Sophie remembered how fruit was added to vodka to make liqueurs on her father's Polish estates. The household experimented using the bath, in which prunes were mixed with raw alcohol from the local garage. Sadly, the results were disappointing.
The bathroom had other uses. In 1943 Billy Moss and the author Patrick Leigh Fermor sat there while the intelligence officer David Smiley explained how to organise the perfect ambush, drawing a diagram on the steamed-up tiles. After this, Leigh Fermor and Moss captured the German general Heinrich Kreipe (the story was later recounted by Moss as the best-selling Ill Met By Moonlight). Zofia Roza Maria Jadwiga Elzbieta Katarzyna Aniela Tarnowska was born on March 16, 1917, at Rudnik, a forested estate in Poland founded by her family in 1593. Her father wanted only to be a country gentleman. His marriage was unhappy, and Sophie and her brother Stanislaw grew up headstrong and mischievous.
Her mother sent her to a convent, where Sophie got into trouble for standing on a pudding to prove it was inedible, ran away and refused to go back.
In 1937 she married Andrew Tarnowski, from the senior branch of the family. As war drew closer, Sophie decided she would never abandon Poland and burnt her passport, but when the Germans were pouring over the western frontier and the Russians were approaching from the east, she set off by car with her husband, her brother, his fiancee, Chouquette, and her sister.
The party drove through Greece to Palestine. In Jerusalem Andrew confessed to Sophie that he was in love with Chouquette. Later Sophie accompanied Chouquette and her son to Cairo, where an uncle of King Farouk offered them a luxurious villa. She soon moved out.
After she joined the International Red Cross, Poland's prime minister suggested she start a branch. She agreed, but only if it was established without ranks.
Sophie was soon equipped with a committee, an office and a delivery truck. Along with the parties, she also visited hospitals and helped Polish PoWs in Germany to contact their scattered families.
After divorcing Andrew, she married Billy Moss in 1945. Money was always tight and by the late 1950s their marriage was over and she took in lodgers.
After the fall of communism, Sophie's nephew bought back Rudnik, and she presided over a family gathering in 1999. But too much had changed for her to contemplate settling there.
Telegraph, London
