New biography released in the UK detailing the life of Noreen Riols, one of the last remaining members of the Special Operations Executive (or SOE, also referred to as Churchill's Secret Army or Baker Street Irregulars) intricately involved with the French resistance of WWII. Synopsis below.
"My mother thought I was working for the Ministry of Ag. and Fish..." It was 1943, just before her eighteenth birthday, Noreen received her call-up papers, and was faced with either working in a munitions factory or joining the Wrens [Women's Royal Naval Service -ed.]. A typically fashion-conscious young woman, even in wartime, Noreen opted for the Wrens - they had better hats. But when one of her interviewers realized she spoke fluent French, she was directed to a government building on Baker Street. It was SOE headquarters, where she was immediately recruited into F-Section, led by Colonel Maurice Buckmaster. From then until the end of the war, Noreen worked with Buckmaster and her fellow operatives to support the French Resistance fighting for the Allied cause. Sworn to secrecy, Noreen told no one that she spent her days meeting agents returning from behind enemy lines, acting as a decoy, passing on messages in tea rooms and picking up codes in crossword puzzles.You can read the whole first chapter via AmazonUK.
