The life & poignant death of one of Britain's bravest women. In September 2010 the body of Eileen Nearne was found in a flat in Torquay. With no known friends or relatives a council burial was arranged. A police search of her belongings found wartime French currency & wartime medals. Further investigation revealed that she was one of 40 women sent into France by the SOE the Special Operations Executive Churchill's top secret wartime 'spook' organisation. Her story & her poignant death as a recluse became an international media sensation. Being fluent in French Eileen was identified early in the war by the SOE as a potential agent. After spending time as a wireless operator picking up transmissions from agents in the field & decoding them she was chosen to be parachuted into occupied France underwent paramilitary training & was assigned the codename 'ROSE'. After working in dangerous conditions in Paris for several months she was captured interrogated & tortured. Keeping to her story that she was an unwitting French girl caught up in resistance work she was transferred to a series of concentration camps in Germany. She miraculously escaped from a concentration camp in early 1945. Eileen had difficulty adjusting to living in post-war Britain suffered from a nervous breakdown & eventually became a recluse.
Includes:: 40 illustrations 10 in colour.