Eileen Nearne was the spy who never came in from the cold

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.khaleejtimes.ae/DisplayArticle08.asp?xfile=data/international/2010/October/international_October1318.xml§ion=international

Secret World War II heroine’s file released (AP)

29 October 2010, LONDON — Buried deep in Eileen Nearne’s secret World War II file, released on Friday by the National Archives, is the secrecy agreement she signed on September 4, 1942. It was a commitment she honoured until her death last month at the age of 89.

Nearne was the spy who never came in from the cold. When she died alone, with precious little support or human contact, none of her neighbours knew she had been decorated for her bravery behind enemy lines in occupied France.

Her wartime role was not publicly acknowledged until local officials went into her apartment after her death and found a treasure trove of medals, records and memorabilia, including French currency used during the war.

Nearne’s file, released after a freedom of information request, sheds new light on her wartime exploits, which were so extraordinary that advancing American forces refused to believe her when she rushed out of a church in Germany and claimed to be an undercover British agent who had escaped from a German concentration camp.

The Americans did not believe her story and kept her in captivity for a month ...

[whathehell]

1. K & R....this is an important story.