General Chat

This ladys name is familiar to me and I dont know why, unless we were told about her at school. What a sad end for someone who did so much for her country.

Torbay Council has arranged her funeral for 21 September. It was due to take place at Drakes Chapel in Torquay, but because of global interest in her story a church service is now being arranged and will involve members of the military.

Drakes of Torbay Funeral Service said they had received e-mails and phone calls from people around the world who had been so moved by her plight that they were offering to pay for her funeral or wanting to send flowers.


Miss Nearne was found dead at her Torquay home on 2 September The church venue for the funeral service has yet to be announced, but a Union Jack flag is to be placed on her coffin and the Royal British Legion has said its organisation will be at the funeral.

May She Rest in Peace

A wartime heroine who was captured three times by the Germans and endured spells in concentration and labour camps is to be buried by a council because no friends or family can be traced.

Eileen Nearne, 89, who died in her Devon home on 2 September, was one of 39 female agents sent to occupied France in her capacity as a member of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) during World War II.

Miss Nearne, who was fluent in French, was captured by the Germans just four months after arriving in France, but managed to persuade them she was an innocent French woman.

Her bravery and resilience continued throughout the war - she was caught again and sent to a concentration camp before being transferred to a forced labour camp in Silesia where she managed to escape.

She was later recaptured in Germany by the SS, but was again able to persuade her captors of her innocence and was released.

What an amazing and brave young woman,who kept her secrets right to the end.
Anyone read the story today?