Big Red Book

Celebrating television's This Is Your Life

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THIS IS YOUR LIFE - Francoise Rigby, charity founder, was surprised by Eamonn Andrews in the audience of the BBC Television Theatre, having been brought there by her husband as a surprise evening out.

Francoise, who was born in Ceroux-Mousty in Belgium, joined the resistance movement when the Germans invaded her country during the Second World War. She risked her life on many occasions, acting as a guide, courier, contact and message carrier to help Allied forces escape Belgium. Arrested and interrogated often, she was one of 1500 political prisoners bound for Germany on Le Train Phantom in September 1944 - only to be saved from a death sentence after railway workers sabotaged the train.

After the war, she married a British Army officer and, having settled in England, was alerted to the suffering of thousands of refugees in Germany by a BBC radio programme. She established the Adoption Committee for Aid to Displaced Persons in 1952, which became the charity Lifeline a year later. As President of the organisation, Francoise helped nearly 20,000 people rebuild their lives.

programme details...

• Edition No: 108
• Subject No: 108
• Broadcast live: Mon 2 Nov 1959
• Broadcast time: 7.30-8.05pm
• Venue: BBC Television Theatre
• Series: 5
• Edition: 10

on the guest list...

• Pierre Hauman - live link
• Mme Labouverie - mother
• Michel Labouverie - cousin
• Jacques Lagrange - live link
• Hilda Lagrange - live link
• M W Ugeux - live link
• Monique de Buyle
• Lady Harding
• Yvonne Chandler
• Hugh - husband
• Tadeusz Malina
• Wieslaw Majewski
• Mrs I Majewski

production team...

• Researcher: Ken Smith
• Writer: Ken Smith
• Director: unknown
• Producer: T Leslie Jackson

A Charitable Life

the unsung heroes

Photographs of Francoise Rigby This Is Your Life