Eleanor Rigby

I think the most interesting news story I read today was out of England.  It was the one about the British spy Eileen Nearne who died at age 89 alone in a small house in the south of England.

During World War II she was sent to France because of her excellent linguistic skills, and there she was a radio operator for the French Resistance movement, helping to co-ordinate British weapons deployments.  She was captured three times, tortured, and yet on each occasion escaped.  Her heroism earned her an MBE.

Unfortunately her incredible story was never publicized.  Eileen was never known in her community, she never talked or bragged about her wartime service.  She was quite reclusive and had no relatives to arrange her funeral.  However, when her home was searched by the council, they discovered her identity and turned her belongings over to MI5.

The unusual nature of her story has changed the funeral arrangements from a sad lonely affair, with comparisons to The Beatles Eleanor Rigby song to something a little more special.  Efforts are currently underway to provide some military honor to her passing, which seems only fitting.