Eileen Nearne, 89; captured three times by the Germans in WWII
Rick B.
War heroine found dead in Devon to have council funeral
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.
According to reports, she was hidden by a priest in Leipzig until the
arrival of US troops.
Despite her daring adventures on the continent in the 1940s, Miss Nearne
survived the war and ended her days in Torquay.
She was found dead at her home in Lisburne Square, off Babbacombe Road, on
2 September and her possessions are to be handed over to MI5.
Professor Michael Foot, who wrote a book about SOEs, described Miss Nearne
as "a real heroine, although a silent one".
He told BBC News: "I came across her some 50 years ago and found she had
done some important work in the spring and summer of 1944 when she was
working a secret wireless set from Paris to England.
"She primarily arranged drops of arms from London to resistors in eastern
Paris and around Lille where they made the French rail network practically
unusable by the Germans during the fighting in Normandy.
"They [the Germans] caught her at her set - there was no denying she was a
clandestine wireless operator because she was with her recognisable set and
her fingerprints were all over it.
"She told them that she was just a little shop girl who had gone into the
resistance for fun.
"They didn't, of course, believe her but they couldn't get anything else
out of her at all."
'Protocol of service'
According to Professor Foot the Germans tried to extract information from
Miss Nearne through torture.
She was stripped naked and repeatedly forced face down into a bath of cold
water until she nearly drowned, but such was her allegiance to Britain that
she refused to divulge anything to her captors.
Miss Nearne was sent to Ravensbrück concentration camp in Germany and later
transferred to a sub camp from where she escaped.
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.
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.
John Portreath, Devon manager for the Royal British Legion, added: "I'm sad
to say that we had no idea she existed until the news came through
yesterday.
"I am just so sorry we were unable to meet her before she died.
"She was clearly a remarkable woman. She was 23 when she was dropped into
France and her only qualification was that she was a linguist.
"To survive all that she went through - I think perhaps she was never the
same after the concentration camp.
"She certainly lived pretty much under the cover all her life and was a
recluse.
"There will be a big Royal British Legion presence at her funeral because
she was a combatant."
A Torbay Council spokesperson said: "We have been contacted by various
organisations including the Torbay District & Funeral Service and
Westerleigh Group which have offered to fund the funeral arrangements of
Eileen Nearne.
"We are currently liaising with the Royal British Legion regarding a
protocol for the service so Miss Nearne can be laid to rest with the
dignity and respect she deserves.
"New funeral arrangements will be publicised in due course."