16th March 2007

Another Mother’s Son has its cinema première

Louisa Gould lived in Jersey throughout the Occupation and showed extraordinary bravery in sheltering a Russian prisoner of war, whom she hid from the German forces. Louisa took in the prisoner, called Feodor Buryi, because she wanted to do something for ‘another mother’s son’. However, Louisa was betrayed by some of her neighbours and customers to her shop.

When the Germans searched her home, they found evidence of the prisoner, who by then had been temporarily moved to a friend’s house in anticipation of the search. She was arrested and a string of other arrests followed. The authorities also found Louisa’s radio, which should have been surrendered when the order went out for all Jersey radios to be handed in, and it was for this infraction that she was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment. 

Sent to Europe

In June 1944, she was deported to prisons in France and, eventually, Ravensbruck Concentration Camp. While there, she fell ill with swollen ankles, and was sent to the gas chamber.

Louisa Gould’s story was turned into the film Another Mother’s Son, which was written by Jenny Lecoat and directed by Christopher Menaul. It had its London premiere on 16 March 2017. The cast list was impressive, with Jenny Seagrove playing Louisa Gould, Susan Hampshire playing Elena Le Fevre, and Irish singer Ronan Keating playing Harold Le Druillenec, Louisa Gould’s brother.