Eileen Nearne ….. Wartime hero for sure!
I have always been interested in the SOE/OSS history of WWII and saw this story of a remarkable woman who just passed at 89 and no one knew of her wartime service with the SOE. A true hero….. she did her job and never spoke of it. I wish I could be at her service on Sept 21 in Torquay, just to pay my respects. These were very brave & remarkable people and did much to bring vital
info to the Allies about Germans ! I live a long way from Torquay but I”ll take a moment on Sept 21 to offer a prayer for her life & service in helping to defeat The Nazi’s !
We will remember!
BlueNoser352
Eileen Nearne: Lonely death of a spy who evaded Gestapo
To many, she was simply a quiet and unassuming 89-year-old lady who would see out her twilight years as a social recluse in a small flat in Torquay.
Indeed, after dying alone at her small seaside flat on 2 September, 89-year-old Eileen Nearne was to be laid to rest with few – if any – mourners expected at her funeral. Yet neighbours and council officials were stunned when they found out that Eileen Nearne had been a British spy who had plotted behind enemy lines during much of the Second World War.
Details of Ms Nearne’s history were discovered among her possessions at her flat in Torquay. Included was French currency, correspondence written in French, and medals. Ms Nearne, had been a member of the Special Operations Executive (SOE). She was one of the few female agents who risked their lives in occupied France during the Second World War to work with the resistance.
Despite the wealth of accomplishments, Ms Nearne’s funeral resembles the life of a real-life Eleanor Rigby, with no known family or friends to mourn her. Torbay Council, which has had to arrange the funeral, is now hoping that the publicity will drive those who knew her to attend.
Ms Nearne was one of just 39 female agents sent to France by the SOE, and one of a handful to be captured by the Germans. Her neighbours were astonished to learn of her wartime record, which she’d never mentioned.
Steven Cook said: “I have known her for about six years and she was very reclusive. We thought she may have been in the French Resistance from rumours but I was very surprised at the extent of her heroism.
“You would never have thought it, as she never spoke of it. I just want everyone to know what she had done in her past.” Ms Nearne was the youngest of three children with a Spanish mother and English father who all became agents. Their parents had moved to France in 1923 but made their way back to England at the outbreak of war.
Ms Nearne and her older sister, Jacqueline, joined the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force, operating barrage balloons. Their fluent French soon caught the eye of SOE recruiters and they were trained in the dark arts of secret warfare at a remote castle in Scotland.
Ms Nearne honed her skills as a radio operator at listening stations in England, keeping contact with agents in occupied Europe. In March 1944, she was flown to a field near Les Lagnys, in central France, where she joined the Wizard network as a radio operator.
She assumed the name Mademoiselle du Tort. Four months after her arrival, and two months after the D-Day landings, she was captured by the Gestapo but persuaded them that she was an innocent French woman arrested by mistake.
After the war Ms Nearne was awarded the MBE and lived in London with her sister. She moved to Torquay after her sister’s death. Neither sister married. Ms Nearne’s funeral service is due be held at Drakes Chapel, in Torquay, at 11am on 21 September.
By: BlueNoser352 - 24th September 2010 at 09:50
I always wanted to meet someone from THe SOE !
On my many trips over the big pond over the years to th UK, I always hope to meet someone from the SOE. I knew this might prove most difficult due to the nature of their work. Have meet some OSS folks on this side of the pond…but they are still most guarded in their comments…. its the life style they led of course. I did inquire at one time at The Imperial War Museum..one author who had written a book was making a talk but …sadly no real agents showed up. Love that documentary…………..” Now It Can Be Told” I picked up the other day off Amazon.co.uk This past weeks passing of this remarkable woman has again turned my attention to this chapter of the Second World War. Sadly the time has passed & with it many of the field agents I have read about ! I am sure being a guest of the Nazis, Gestapo & SS had a terrible effect on her . I know one day I will get to visit Torquay and will feel its my duty and obligation to visit her grave and pay my respects ! She & others like her fought the good fight against sheer evil & won ! Indeed “CARVE HER NAME WITH PRIDE”……
BlueNoser352!
By: critter592 - 24th September 2010 at 01:13
R.I.P. Ms. Nearne.
Thank you for your service.
By: roadracer - 23rd September 2010 at 15:32
Thanks Bluenoser, She really was a remarkable woman , how sad is it that someone like her nearly ended up dying without recognition and without a proper funeral , thank god it didnt happen like that.
May she rest in peace secure in the knowledge that she helped save the world from evil.
By: BlueNoser352 - 23rd September 2010 at 12:28
BBC Film Report
By: BlueNoser352 - 23rd September 2010 at 12:27
A true Hero !
BBC Report
http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/devon/hi/people_and_places/newsid_9019000/9019821.stm
By: BlueNoser352 - 23rd September 2010 at 12:20
A prayer for a life well lived !!!
Found this today about her funeral service….a remarkable woman …brave & resourceful. I hold these kind of people in the highest regard. Its hard for any of us here to know the kind of life she had during her operational duties and prisoner of the Germans. Very stressful & difficult I am sure. We owe people like this our deep thanks for the freedoms we enjoy today. I know I took a few moments to do so yesterday. May she rest in peace !
BlueNoser352!
Wednesday, September 22, 2010, 10:002 comments Share
Mourners told of Eileen’s life of wartime bravery
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SHE lived a wartime life of secrecy and extreme danger and died alone in a Torquay flat.
But yesterday Eileen Nearne MBE was given a funeral service that was beamed live to the world on TV.
The contrast could hardly have been more acute.
When the Herald Express first broke the news of Eileen’s death at the age of 89 last week, it was at first thought she had no living relatives.
She was destined for the most basic council-organised funeral with no frills or fanfare.
But after the national spotlight swung on to the story, all that changed.
Yesterday the Church of Our Lady Help of Christians and St Denis in St Marychurch was packed.
Her niece Odile Nearne told the congregation: “She never wanted to speak about what she did during the war and she never wanted to be famous.
“People like her just want to forget and not relive the sufferings.
“Because of what she had been through she wanted to be left in peace. She did many good deeds like collecting for Animals in Distress and helping people in need.
“She was a devoted Roman Catholic and her faith saved her when she was tortured.
“At the same time she was very modest. She was altogether very much loved.”
Military men in uniform sat in the front pews and crowds gathered outside the church.
Torbay Council had to bring in road closures and special parking arrangements to cope with the number of people attending.
Newspaper, radio and TV reporters gathered on the balcony at the rear of the church, and images were transmitted live on satellite news channels.
Civic dignitaries and VIPs were among the congregation at the requiem mass.
During wartime Eileen Nearne had been a member of one of the most clandestine of all organisations.
As a member of the Special Operations Executive — known as Churchill’s Secret Army — she operated deep under cover in occupied France during the 1939-45 war.
She was flown into France to work as a wireless operator, using the names Mademoiselle du Tort, Jacqueline Duterte and Alice Wood. In July 1944 her transmitter was detected and she was arrested.
She was reportedly tortured but managed to convince her captors that she had been sending messages for a businessman, unaware that he was British.
She was sent to Ravensbrück concentration camp and then transferred to a forced labour camp in Silesia.
Identities
She escaped from the Germans three times in a year and assumed numerous identities to carry out actions including missions alongside the French Resistance.
In recent years the reclusive Eileen lived alone and rarely talked about her extraordinary life.
She died after suffering a heart attack at her Lisburne Crescent home in Torquay earlier this month.
It was at first thought she had no immediate family, but her niece was then traced in Italy.
She was found living in Tuscany by London-based genealogists Fraser and Fraser.
She said she had been very fond of her aunt, and had visited her often at her Torquay home.
She told reporters she had last seen her aunt six months ago.
At yesterday’s service French Consul General Edouard Braine said: “We are here to show our gratitude to someone to whom we owe the freedom of our country.
“Without efforts like hers, France would not have been liberated.”
Royal British Legion standard bearers from all over Devon were at the service yesterday, along with buglers from the French army and the Royal Marines. A piper from the Plymouth Pipe and Drums band played as the coffin was brought into the church.
Father Jonathan Shaddock said Miss Nearne was a humble, quiet, brave lady and she often came to church to take Catholic communion. “She savoured her story in her own heart — we get to share it today,” he said.
Adrian Stone, chairman of the Special Forces Club, said she joined them in 1982 but resigned in 1992 because they barred dogs from the lounge at their London headquarters.
Eileen Nearne received her MBE in 1946 in recognition of her war service.
By: PeterVerney - 20th September 2010 at 16:32
Now she was a true heroine.
By: BlueNoser352 - 20th September 2010 at 14:57
Good follow up Forum members
Good follow up to my post………… what a life she lived in WW II… Danger and instant death tugging at her elbow with ever move she made. I would have treasured the opportunity to speak to a person like her. Wish someone would have been able to record her wartime service . I respect her wishes not to speak of the war ………guess she was sworn to maintian silence about it ? Perhaps someone can post any links to the service ..glad she is getting someone to attend her funeral . I wish I could be there … I have read much about the SOE……….. remarkable individuals who did this service……..!!!! Duty to King and Country for sure during that wartime experience ! Of the 39 Female agents that were in the SOE..wonder how many are still alive today ? All free men and women today owe her much !
BlueNoser352!
By: wl745 - 20th September 2010 at 14:27
Obits
I usually read the Obituarys in the “Telegraph”each day and there are so many heroes to read about and the brave deeds they did,I recommend it to all of you.Eileen Nearne was captured by the Gestapo and tortured but never gave anything away,after she was sent to a concentration camp.
By: Graham Adlam - 20th September 2010 at 14:19
“I sometimes sat and chatted with her. She never talked about herself, only about her cat who she took in after someone abandoned him. What a brave lady.”
Another added: “Please if a lesson has to be learned from this – next time you see that old person walking down the street just remember they have a history, a story to tell and sometimes it is brilliant like this.”
Taken from the news report as linked above, the last paragraph makes a very valid statement.
I remember leaving my terraced house in Taunton one day carrying my radio controlled Spitfire out to the car a very frail old chap who was passing said “I used to fly one of those” when I asked him more it turned out he flew Spitfires with the PRU. When i told him I had a full sized replica out the back in the garage he gave me a very strange look and declined to take a look, probably thought i was mad.
He lived just a few doors up and I had seen him many times, just goes to show we should all respect our elders.
By: PaulR - 20th September 2010 at 12:42
Glad to report that Ms.Nearne wasn’t as lonely as first thought and that she will get the send-off she so richly deserves.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/14/wartime-spy-eileen-nearne
RIP Ms.Nearne, one of the brave.
By: pagen01 - 20th September 2010 at 09:09
Yes I saw the news item, these were indeed remarkable people.
I used to know an ex SOE chap and he was the the most modest and unassuming person I have ever met, fascinating tails of disapearing through aft holes in Whitleys and Stirlings and being involved in rounding-up and collecting axis data, personnel and machines in the post-war period period.
Eileen Nearn, really was the epitome of this very British service and her silence not only showed a deep modesty but also a tremendous loyalty to the country and cause, something very hard to find now.
By: BlueNoser352 - 20th September 2010 at 08:32
The DVD documentary ” Now IT Can Be Told”
I had just seen the above article on line from The Independent this past week, when a dvd I bought on Amazon.co.uk arrived called ” NOW IT CAN BE TOLD”.
A film I had seen years ago at The Imperial War Museum while on a visit to London. Great documentary about the wartime service of two real SOE members.
A great visual record of how agents were recruited, trained and dropped into occupied France during the war. These people define what bravery is really all about…………. have already watched it twice ..great to have it on dvd!
BlueNoser352!
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September 20, 2010 at 8:22 am