THREE WEEKS ago 89-year-old Eileen Nearne was destined for a council grave after being found dead in her Torquay home, alone and poor.
But yesterday, hundreds gathered under the glare of television camera lights to mourn the passing of the former second World War secret agent.
The 23-year-old Ms Nearne was one of 39 women parachuted into France by Britain's Special Operations Executive in March 1944 to work as an undercover agent helping to co-ordinate a network of resistance fighters and spies. She was arrested by the Nazis on three occasions, and tortured and held in a concentration camp, at one time alongside Violette Szabo, who was executed and later immortalised in the film Carve Her Name With Pride.
She was first arrested by the Gestapo four months after her arrival in France but was able to pass herself off as a Frenchwoman because of her fluency in the language – acquired during childhood when her family lived in the country.
Ms Nearne was arrested again weeks later and imprisoned at Ravensbrück concentration camp before being transferred to a forced labour camp in Silesia.
She escaped in April 1945, but was rearrested before escaping one last time.
Ms Nearne was repeatedly tortured by the Gestapo using techniques which were known as water-boarding when used by the CIA after 9/11. She did not break under interrogation, however.
After the war, Ms Nearne was awarded an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) in recognition of her services. She lived for most of the rest of her life with her sister Jacqueline, who had also served in the SOE.
Her war-time experiences left her damaged, and in later life she withdrew into herself, becoming a recluse after Jacqueline died in 1982. She did return to Ravensbrück though in the 1990s, when she was awarded the French Croix de Guerre.
Ms Nearne, who never married, is believed to have moved to her final home, the flat in Torquay, about 20 years ago. Her neighbours knew little about her, except for her fondness of cats. Her past came to light only in the days after her death, when documents and medals were found in the flat by council officials preparing to bury the woman they believed had no relatives.
A niece was then tracked down in Italy. Preferring to remain unnamed yesterday, she said: “My Aunt Eileen was a very private and modest person, and without doubt she would be astounded by all the public and media attention. I hope that in death, she will be remembered along with other SOE agents with pride and gratitude.”
