Surika Braverman was born in Romania
But
immigrated to Palestine in 1938
And was a member
of Kibbutz Shamir
She was one of the
first female fighters
To serve in
the Palmach striking force
She was one of
thirty-seven
Palestinian
Jewish parachutists
Sent on missions
in Nazi-occupied Europe
For
the Special Operations Executive
She was honoured
with lighting a torch
On Israel's 62nd independence day in 2010
Eileen was English born
And
served as an agent for the SOE
She
was Codenamed “Rose”
In
March 1944 she was flown to France
On
the same Westland Lysander
That
picked up her sister Jaqueline
She
then worked as radio operator
For
the Wizard network in Saint-Valentin
She
was arrested on 25 July 1944
After
her transmitter was detected
And
taken to Gestapo headquarters
In
Rue des Saussaies in Paris
Where
she underwent brutal torture
Before
being sent in mid-August
To
Ravensbrück concentration camp
And
then to a labour camp in Silesia
On
13 April 1945 she escaped
With
two French girls from a work gang
In Leipzig they were hidden by a priest
Until
the arrival of the allied forces
After the war she was awarded an MBE
And a French Croix
de Guerre
She
died alone in Torquay aged 89
Madeleine was born in France
But
served as an agent for the SOE
During
her training in Scotland
Her
cover name was Martine Dussautoy
But afterwards her Codenames
Were
“Solange” and “Dancer”
On
the night of February 29th 1944
A
161 Squadron Halifax landed
In
a field near the city of Chartres
But
the Germans were waiting for them
Damerment was transported to Paris
To Gestapo
headquarters at Avenue Foch
And held for four
months in Karlsruhe prison
Then
without warning she was taken
To
Dachau concentration camp
Along
with three other agents
Yolande
Beekman, Noor Inayat Khan
And Eliane
Plewman, and at dawn
Of
13th September 1944,
They
were shot in the back of the head
Their
bodies then immediately
Burned
in the crematorium.
As
far as the SOE were concerned
They
were only missing
And
she was mentioned in despatches
It
wasn’t until 1949
When
she was posthumously awarded
A
Kings Commendation for Brave Conduct
A
Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur
The
Médaille de la Résistance
And a French Croix de Guerre
She
is commemorated on
The Runnymede
Memorial
As
one of the SOE agents
Who
died for the liberation of France,
Her
name is also recorded
On
the Brookwood Memorial
In
Surrey as one of 3,500
“To
whom war denied a known and honoured grave”
And
on the Valençay SOE Memorial “Roll of Honour”
In
the French town of Valençay.
Cicely was born in England
And served as
an agent for the SOE
Lefort
arrived in France in June 1943
And
was Codenamed “Alice”
Operating
as a courier,
For
the SOE's Jockey network
She was also known as “Teacher”,
And Cecile
Marguerite Legrand
Despite
being shy and frail
She
behaved very courageously
Until
being arrested by the Gestapo
In
September 1943 and deported
To Ravensbrück concentration
camp,
Where
she was later executed
And
her body then immediately
Burned
in the crematorium
She
received a Mentioned in Despatches
For
her courageous services
By
the government of France
With
a Croix de Guerre
Minnie was American born
But served as
an agent for the SOE
Under
the Codenames of
Elizabeth,
and “La Grande”
She
landed in France in October 1943
On
Hudson aircraft in a field
And
operated as a courier,
For
the Marksman network.
She
was arrested in March 1944
And
was held at the Fresnes Prison,
Then
transferred to an Internment Camp,
Where
she stayed until liberation.
After
the war she was awarded
A
Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur
And
a French Croix de Guerre
In
1957 she was diagnosed with MS
She
lived her later years in Brittany
Until
her death on the 19th March 1983
Maddalena was born in Italy
And she worked for the partisans
After
the fall of the fascist regime
With
her alias “Maria Esposito”,
And
her SOE agent number “C22”
Taking
part in many missions
Including
the “Four days of Naples”
After
the war she received
A
bronze medal for military valour
She was Mauritian born
But served as an agent
for the SOE
Under
the codenames Odile,
Irène, Marguerite and Adèle
Lise
was one of the first female
agents
Parachuted into occupied France
For the first time in
September 1942
Operating
as part of the Scientist circuit
She
was in France more often than not
Where
she gathered intelligence
To
be transmitted to the SOE
Until
liberated by the Americans
After
the war she was awarded an MBE
A
Croix de Guerre and was appointed
A Chevalier
de la Légion d'honneur
She died on 29th March 2004
At
her home in Marseille, aged 98
