These brave women secret agents died defending their countries
10+ minute read
By Ellie Ayton | April 25, 2025
These determined, talented, and unsung heroines gave their lives in pursuit of an Allied victory in WW2. Their stories deserve to be remembered.
Ghosts moving through the French streets and countryside. Coded messages carried with care. Brave souls aiming, with every careful move, to turn the tide of war. Deeds that largely went unnoticed as war raged on.
By day, these women were ghosts in plain sight, hands steady as they passed coded messages in bustling cafés, eyes unreadable beneath the brims of their hats. By night, they became shadows slipping through war-torn streets, the moonlight glinting off wire cutters and radio dials. The hum of a transmitter in a hidden attic was a heartbeat of defiance, each click a whisper of rebellion.
When we think about the heroes of the Second World War, we might think of daring soldiers storming the beaches on D-Day, the courage of those in the Far East, or the tenacity of men in the North African campaign.
Behind all this is another form of warfare: espionage. And because of the nature of this essential work, often dangerous and behind enemy lines, the people at its heart don’t often get the recognition they deserve.
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These secret agents were shadows in the night, silent whispers of resistance, in a world where a single misstep could mean capture, torture, and even death.
Members of the Special Operations Executive in Southern France in 1944. Imperial War Museum, HU 66187.
The daring deeds of those in the early SAS and Small Scale Raiding Force have seen their adventures play out on the big and silver screen in recent years. Everyone should know about these bold, brave, everyday women who were determined to do their bit. They were intelligent, skilled, multilingual people who defied gender expectations. Not all of them made it out of the war alive. Some of them met horrific ends.
What was the Special Operations Executive?
Formed in 1940, the SOE’s remit was espionage, reconnaissance, sabotage, and helping resistance groups in Nazi-occupied Europe during the Second World War. Winston Churchill hoped to turn the tide of the war using more ‘irregular warfare’, particularly after the disastrous Dunkirk evacuation.
The agents were from all walks of life, from aristocrats to the working class. They were recruited for their specialised skills, language ability, and knowledge of the country they would operate in – talented, determined, and courageous.
A memorial to women who died in the Second World War, including ‘thirteen secret agents’, in the Illustrated London News, 22 May 1948.
They weren’t all British either – some were émigrés from Europe. Well-known agents include historians, artists, writers, and people such as racing driver Robert Benoist, playwright Noël Coward, and actor Gordon Harris.
Women of the ATS being trained as wireless operators and learning Morse code at a special training battalion, pictured in the Findmypast Photo Collection.
The agents’ training was intense. They were trained to be wireless operators and how to jump from aircraft with a parachute. They learned how to fire a weapon, handle explosives, cryptography, and how to cope under enemy questioning. Their courage burned brightly, even as the enemy sought to snuff it out.
How many women SOE agents were there in WW2?
It’s thought there were around 41 women SOE agents during the war, most of them in Section F in France. 16 of them did not make it home. 12 were executed by the Nazis. Even in the darkest of times, the spirits of these unbelievably brave women remained unbroken – a final act of defiance.
Most of them were sent to France as part of a network of three people, with the women most often acting as couriers or messengers. Armed with only nerves of steel, their training and minimal weapons, the women would carry out their missions with immense care for fear of being discovered.
Which female SOE agents died in World War 2?
In a horrific twist of fate, eight of these women were imprisoned at the same time following their separate arrests. On 13 May 1944, Andrée Borrel, Sonia Olschanszky, Diana Rowden, and Vera Leigh were moved from Fresnes Prison to the Gestapo’s Paris headquarters, along with Yolande Beekman, Madeleine Damerment, Éliane Plewman and Odette Sansom.
Only one of them would make it home.
From Paris, the eight women were handcuffed together and transported by train to Karlsuhe prison. Two months later, Andrée Borrel, Sonia Olschanszky, Vera Leigh, and Diana Rowden were executed at Natzweiler-Stuthof on 6 July 1944.
Andrée Borrel, codename Monique, was the first female SOE agent to be parachuted into France. She was an expert in explosives, working mainly in Paris as part of the Prosper network. She was captured in May 1944 and executed aged 24. Illustrated London News, 22 May 1948
Sonia Olschanezky, codename Tania, was just 20 when she was killed. A German Jew, she spent time in Paris and in May 1940 was arrested and sent to Drancy deportation camp. Later, Sonia became a member of the Juggler circuit with the SOE. There was some confusion around Sonia’s fate – she was mistaken for Noor Inayat Khan, especially given Noor may have used Sonia’s name as an alias. Wikimedia Commons.
Former milliner Vera Leigh (codenamed Simone and Almoner) used her expertise to her advantage, posing as a milliner to work as a courier in France as a member of the Inventor and Donkeyman circuits. Vera was born in Leeds and abandoned as a baby, later adopted by an American racehorse trainer. She was arrested in November 1943 and later executed by injection aged 40. Illustrated London News, 22 May 1948
Codenamed Paulette, Chaplain and Marcelle, Diana Rowden was born in England but grew up in France. After volunteering as a Red Cross nurse, she became a Section Officer in the WAAF and entered France as part of the SOE’s Acrobat network. After her death, she was awarded the Croix de Guerre and was Mentioned in Despatches. Illustrated London News, 22 May 1948
Four of the women were executed together at Dachau concentration camp on 13 September 1944. They were Yolande Beekman, Madeleine Damerment, Noor Inayat Khan, and Éliane Plewman.
Yolande Beekman (codenamed Mariette, Kilt and Yvonne) had married only a few months before heading to France as a wireless operator with the Musician network. She was known in France for her ‘cheerfulness and courage’. Yolande was 32 when she was executed, and later awarded the Croix de Guerre. Illustrated London News, 22 May 1948
Éliane Plewman (codenamed Gaby, Dean, and Madame Dupont) was parachuted into France in July 1943 as part of the Monk network. Though born in France, she spoke Spanish and Portuguese, and learned English while living in Leicester. She was arrested in April 1944. Éliane spent months in prison before being executed at Dachau aged 26. She was later awarded the Croix de Guerre and the King’s Commendation for Brave Conduct. Illustrated London News, 12 June 1948.
Noor Inayat Khan (codename Madeleine), an Indian Muslim born in Russia, was a wireless operator of the WAAF in the Cinema network. Noor was influenced by her pacifist ideals and was pursuing a career as a writer before the war. Captured and betrayed, she refused to relent during questioning and torture. She was posthumously awarded the George Cross for her bravery. Illustrated London News, 22 May 1948
26 at the time of her death, French-born Madeline Damerment (codenamed Martine, Solange and Dancer) escaped occupied France for England but was parachuted back to France in early 1944 as an SOE agent in the Bricklayer network. She was known to be deeply religious, her ‘calm and courage making a great impression’. Wikimedia Commons.
Three agents met their deaths at Ravensbrück on 5 February 1945 – Denise Bloch, Violette Szabo, and Lilian Rolfe. Cicely Lefort was likely sent to the gas chambers around this time, but perhaps as late as 1 May 1945.
Wireless operator Denise Bloch had served in various French resistance movements by the time she became an SOE agent. She was a Parisian Jew who had managed to evade capture by the Nazis in the summer of 1940. She was captured two months after returning to France as agent Amboise of the Clergyman and Detective networks, and executed aged 29. She was the radio operator for SOE agent Robert Benoist, who was executed at Buchenwald on 11 September 1944. Illustrated London News, 22 May 1948
Violette Bushell was born to an English father and a French mother. At the start of the war she was living in Lambeth, and she would soon go on to join the Women's Land Army. After she married Étienne Szabo, she became a switchboard operator before joining the ATS. She gave birth to their only child before learning Étienne had died in combat. She accepted an offer to join the SOE - the best way of fighting the enemy who killed her husband. She was parachuted into France on her second mission just after D-Day. She reportedly fired her Sten to the last round before being captured. She was 23 when she was killed. Illustrated London News, 22 May 1948
Lilian Rolfe, codenamed Nadine, was born in Paris to an English father and a Russian mother. Her war began in Rio de Janeiro, monitoring the movements of German vessels. She returned to England and joined the WAAF before being recruited by the SOE, training as a wireless operator – she was flown to France as part of the Historian network in Orléans. She was captured in July 1944. Illustrated London News, 22 May 1948
Aged 44 at the time of her death, English-born Cicely Lefort escaped France, trained as a courier, and landed back in France in June 1943 as part of the Jockey network. Her codenames included Alice, Teacher and Cecile. She was arrested in early 1944 and sent to Ravensbrück. There, her health broke down and she was incapable of working. Illustrated London News, 22 May 1948
French-born Yvonne Rudellat, codename Jacqueline, died of typhus at Bergen-Belsen in April 1945, just days after the camp was liberated. She was the first female SOE agent to head to France, working with the Physician/Prosper network. Lincolnshire Echo, 28 October 1989.
Women SOE agents who survived the war
Thankfully, some of the SOE agents based in France made it home to their loved ones.
Yvonne Baseden of the WAAF was born in France in 1922. Though she was captured and sent to Ravensbrück concentration camp, she survived and lived a long life. At one point, she went 72 hours without food or drink during an interrogation.
Eileen Nearne, Odette Sansom and Yvonne Baseden in the Illustrated London News, 22 May 1948.
Eileen Nearne, codenamed Rose, escaped from Ravensbrück in April 1945 – her fellow SOE agent and sister Jacqueline also survived the war. Eileen sadly never regained her physical and psychological health.
Odette Sansom, codenamed Lise, survived Ravensbrück by a clever rouse, claiming her partner, Peter Churchill, was her husband and Winston Churchill’s nephew. She was awarded the George Cross in 1946.
Odette was the only female agent, of the eight sent to Paris in May 1944, to survive. Later, she said in an interview:
"We were starting on this journey together in fear, but all of us hoping for something above all that we would remain together. We had all had a taste already of what things could be like, none of us did expect for anything very much, we all knew that they could put us to death. I was the only one officially condemned to death. The others were not. But there is always a fugitive ray of hope that some miracle will take place."
The grit and courage of these incredible women deserves to be remembered. They are the unsung heroes of a dark period of history. Many of them had already escaped enemy hands and risked everything to return to France by plane or parachute. But they dreamt of a brighter future, and they were determined to be a part of making it.
We can't imagine the horrors they must have faced.
