HEROINES OF THE SPECIAL OPERATIONS EXECUTIVE – YVONNE CORMEAU MBE, Croix de Guerre, LdH

Born Beatrice Yvonne Biesterfeld 

In Shanghai China in 1909

She served as an agent for the SOE

And was Codenamed “Annette”

Landing in Southern France by felucca

At the beginning of November 1942

In order to operate as a courier

For the Plane/Spruce network

But was the wireless operator

For the Wheelwright network

From August 1943 until the liberation

Of France in September 1944

She was acclaimed for the quality and quantity

Of her wireless transmissions.

In more than 400 transmissions

She never made a single mistake.

In June 1944, Cormeau was shot in the leg

While escaping from a German attack on Castelnau

But managed to escape with her wireless.

The dress she wore on that occasion

And the bloodstained briefcase she carried

Are on permanent display in London’s

Imperial War Museum along with

Her WAAF officer's uniform

When the liberation happened, she drove

Into Toulouse, with allied flags on the car

After the war she was awarded an MBE

A French Croix de Guerre with palm,

A Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur

She died at the Tall Pines nursing home,

Fleet Hampshire in 1997