Eileen Nearne Eileen Mary " Didi " Nearne MBE ( 15 March 1921 – 2 September 2010 ( date body found ) ) was a member of the UK ' s Special Operations Executive ( SOE ) during World War II . She served in occupied France as a radio operator under the codename " Rose " . ( French Resistance operative Andree Peel is also known as " Agent Rose " . ) Early life and career . Born in 1921 in London to an English father , John Nearne , and French mother , Marie de Plazoala , she was the youngest of four children . Her elder sister , Jacqueline Nearne , and one of her two brothers , Francis , would also become SOE operatives . In 1923 , the family moved to France , where Nearne became fluent in French . The two young women made their way to London via Barcelona , Madrid , Lisbon , Gibraltar and Glasgow , while the rest of the family remained in Grenoble , despite the German invasion of the country . On her arrival in England she was offered service in the WAAF working on barrage balloons , but turned this down and was recruited by the SOE . Initially Nearne worked as a home - based signals operator , receiving messages from agents in the field . Her sister Jacqueline was sent to France to work as a courier . The sisters were supposed to keep their roles secret from one another , but were unsuccessful . She was flown by a Lysander aircraft to a field near Les Lagnys , Saint - Valentin in Indre , France , in the late hours of 2 March and the early hours of 3 March 1944 with Jean Savy to work as a wireless operator for the Wizard network as part of Operation Mitchel . Her cover story was that she was " Mademoiselle du Tort " ( also using the aliases " Jacqueline Duterte " and " Alice Wood " ) . Using the code name " Rose " , she was given the mission of helping Savy set up a network in Paris called " Wizard " ; its aim , unlike the networks dedicated to sabotage , was to organise sources of finance for the Resistance . Nearne ' s role was to maintain a wireless link to London , and in the course of the next five months she transmitted 105 messages . Savy had returned to London with important information about German V1 rockets , leaving Nearne on her own . Although she did not know it at the time , the same aircraft which took Savy home also carried her sister , Jacqueline , who had just completed 15 months in the field . Nearne then worked for the " Spiritualist " network . In July 1944 her transmitter was detected and she was arrested . Nearne " survived , in silence , the full revolting treatment of the baignoire " in the torture chamber of the Paris headquarters of the Gestapo on the Rue des Saussaies . She reportedly managed to convince her captors , under torture , that she had been sending messages for a businessman , unaware that he was British . On 15 August 1944 , she was sent to Ravensbrück concentration camp where she refused to do prison work . Her head was shaved and she was told she would be shot if she continued to refuse . She was then transferred to a forced labour camp in Silesia . While in one of these prisons she was reportedly tortured . On 13 April 1945 she escaped with two French girls from a work gang by hiding in the forest , later travelling through Markkleeberg , where they were arrested by the S . S . but released after fooling their captors and reportedly hidden by a priest in Leipzig until the arrival of United States troops . Awards and honours . After World War II , she was awarded the Croix de Guerre by the French government . On 19 February 1946 she was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire ( MBE ) by King George VI for " services in France during the enemy occupation " . Later years and death . After the war Nearne lived in London with her sister , Jacqueline , where , " The New York Times " reported , she suffered from " psychological problems brought on by her wartime service " . After her sister ' s death in 1982 , she moved to Torquay and lived there quietly until her death . She died alone from a heart attack in her seaside flat . Her body is thought to have remained undiscovered for some time until found on 2 September 2010 . She was 89 years old . Nearne talked about her wartime activities on a " Timewatch " television documentary in 1997 , but she wore a wig , and spoke in French under her codename " Rose " , and her wartime activities were not generally known about . It was only when her flat was being searched by council workers to try to establish her next - of - kin that medals and other papers related to her war career were found . Her next of kin , a niece , was located living in Italy and has said she was upset that Nearne had been portrayed as being " alone or unloved " , adding , " Although I don ' t live in the UK , I was very close to Aunt Eileen and visited her often . I only saw her six months ago . She was always cherished by the family . " Nearne ' s funeral , which was provided free of charge by the Torbay & District Funeral Service of Torquay , was held on 21 September 2010 at Our Lady Help of Christians and St Denis Roman Catholic Church , Torquay . The eulogy was made by Adrian Stones , Chairman of the Special Forces Club . Her body was cremated , and her ashes scattered at sea , according to her wishes . Nearne died intestate and her estate of around £13 , 000 went to her niece in Tuscany , Italy , according to BBC One ' s program " Heir Hunters " ; series 6 , episode 1 .