Eileen Nearne WWII Heroine

By: Bill Waters
09/14/2010 06:52 PM ET

Intrepid World War II secret agent Eileen Nearne died alone in her south-west England home, but no one from the WWII heroine came forward to claim her body or make funeral arrangements.

A few days after her death, the secret identity of the 89-year-old woman began to emerge when authorities entered her home. They were looking for information that would lead them to her family. Instead, they uncovered that she was a fearless World War II secret agent.

“Agent Rose” defied the Nazis’s as a wireless operator in occupied France and had a treasure trove of medals and papers to prove it. At the age of 23, in March of 1944, she took a night flight into France to work as an undercover agent. As a member of the secretive Special Operations Executive (SOE), she helped coordinate a network of resistance fighters and spies.

After escaping multiple times from the official secret police of Nazi Germany, Nearne was awarded an MBE, or Member of the Order of the British Empire. Nearne’s funeral arrangements have now been taken over by The Legion, which is an organization dedicated to the welfare and memory of members and veterans of the British armed forces.

“Isn’t it ironic that this lady, with her Special Operations Executive training, carried this through for the rest of the life and remained under cover, so much so that we’re talking about her with such surprise just after her death,” John Pentreath, the Royal British Legion, said in a statement.

“We began to realize that a large bit of our history has just left us, and it is hugely important to us that even now, after she’s died, we do something about it, which is what we’re going to do at her funeral,” Pentreath said. “We will pay her the honor and respect that she deserves.”