The total number of female personnel supporting SOE in the Far East by July 1945 was 723. This page is dedicated to them, for without them, Force 136 would not have been able to do what it did. A great deal of their work was concerned with Burma, as that was where SOE’s largest operational commitment to the war against Japan was focused.
Of the 723 women employed by SOE, 449 belonged to the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry, or FANY; 274 remained civilians.
At 368, just over half of the 723 were employed by the Signals establishment. During 1945, they were responsible for 1,422,356 cipher groups going into and coming out of the field from approximately 183 operational W/T sets across Southeast Asia. There were over 50 W/T sets in Burma alone. Women working as cipherettes often worked 12 hour shifts, ensuring that messages to and from operations were sent and received 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
The remaining 355 women were distributed on clerical and secretarial roles.
Maiden name will be provided where it is given, and ‘(Mrs)’ inserted after surname if already married but no maiden name given. Where there is no ‘nee’ or ‘(Mrs)’, assume it is Miss.
In the wrong file! Which of the following ladies is she?
Adam (Mrs), I, B/B392
Adams, Audrey Beatrice: born 8 August 1925 n Leamington Spa, Audrey was ‘put through the cards’ (PTC) in November 1944. By December she was working as a book-keeper in SOE, awaiting a ship to India.
Audrey attended Leamington College for Girls from 1935 to 1941. She then worked in a clerical role for Warwickshire County Council from 1941-1944.
There is nothing in her file to indicate she actually made it to India!
Ashley, Winifred: born 9 April 1921 in Cardiff, Ashley was a FANY employed from February 1943 as a W/T operator. She left for India in October 1944 and was signed off from SOE in January 1946 after returning to the UK. Prior to SOE, Winifred was employed as a dressmaker and cashier. Her brother was Sapper John Thomas Ashley, who was indicated on her MI5 trace as ‘missing Singapore’. It appears that this was correct as he is listed HERE.
Banks, Elizabeth Amy: born 6 April 1921 in Newcastle-on-Tyne, Elizabeth was employed as a clerk with SOE from 4 June 1945. Her prior employment was with the National Fire Service, where she was ‘trustworthy and conscientious.’ She was registered as a WAAF.
She left for India on 10 July, and worked in Colombo as a clerk. She left for the UK on 17 November, arriving on 12 December 1945.
Barker, Dorothy Louise: born 14 November 1920 in Harrogate, Yorkshire, Dorothy was employed by SOE from 19 January 1945 as a W/T operator at STS 54b. She left the UK for India on 14 July 1945, returning around the 5 January 1946. Before joining SOE she was a Clerk at the Ministry of Labour.
Baroni, Muriel Theresa Anne, B/B395: Anglo-Burmese, born 23 July 1918 in Yamethin, Burma. Muriel was employed as a typist in India from 31 August 1943. Prior to this, she had worked for four years as a teacher in Rangoon after attending Rangoon university. She worked in Delhi, Kandy, and Calcutta, as well as in Rangoon from 12 October 1945 until release from service on 15 December 1945.
Bartlet, Pauline Cecile, B/B734: born 9 August 1917 in Ceylon, Pauline left Ceylon in May 1928 to go to boarding school in Eastbourne. In 1935, her schooling complete, she returned to Ceylon. From October 1940 until December 1943 she worked as a Cipherette in HM Naval Office in Ceylon. She then worked for the Ministry of Economic Warfare in the same role at Meerut in India.
In March 1944 she went to England ‘for personal reasons’, and while in London she joined SOE. What she did between March 1944 and 29 June 1945 when she left for India remains a mystery. Back out east, she was posted to Trincomalee as a Cipherette. The second half of September was spent ill with fever, finally signing off from SOE on 29 November 1945 at the Galle Face Hotel in Colombo.
Bean (Mrs) R.M., B/B161: No personnel file exists for Mrs Bean.
Beck, Muriel Ellen, B/B766: born 3 November 1911 in Sydenham, London, Muriel was employed as a junior secretary in Meerut from 11 December 1943. She was recruited in India, where her father, Major Frederick George Beck, was a Garrison Engineer in Abbottabad. She remained with SOE until 28 February 1946.
Muriel worked from employment until 24 September 1945 with just one week off in June 1944. She ended up as ‘Secretary to D.A.D.M.S.’ (Deputy Assistant Director, Medical services).
Benjamin, S.W.A.C., B/B379: There is no personnel file for Miss Benjamin.
Bentley, Mary Ann, B/B112: Mary was one of the first women to be employed by SOE in the Far East, commencing as a secretary for the Oriental Mission in Singapore from 23 June 1941. She evidently escaped Singapore and was transferred to the India Mission on 6 April 1942 when her codename changed from 0.157 to B/B112.
There is no date of birth recorded for Mary, but she was 45 in 1941, and her nationality is noted as Australian. Prior to SOE, Mary had worked for sixteen years as a private secretry to the manager of Strong & Co. in Kobe, Japan. She was employed by SOE in Delhi and then Poona at EWS(I) from November 1944 as a cashier and book-keeper, and paid Rs.700 p/m. She reported to Australia in May 1946.
Bett, Pleasance Margaret Archdale, B/B925: born 11 June 1915 in Thornham, Norfolk, Pleasance was a VAD before joining SOE in November 1942. She was taken on as a FANY working as a coder at STS 52. Pleasance left for India on 26 March 1944, returning to the UK in late 1945 where she was signed off in December. On her MI5 trace, it shows her brother, Henry Bourdillon Bett, was a POW at Oflag VI B.
In 1984, Pleasance published her autobiography, ‘Mouse to a Tiger‘. She describes why she left the VADs for SOE, and how she felt that her work at STS 53 at Grendon Underwood ‘was the real thing’ and she felt like she was doing her bit for the war. Going out to India in 1944, the conditions on the boat are described in detail, as are her travels in India. She spent all her time in India with Captain Elizabeth Broad, taking every opportunity to explore and see the world ‘at HM Government’s expense.’
In India and Ceylon, Pleasance was responsible mostly for setting up camps for the FANYs who followed her. Describing her W/T work: ‘[t]he coding was dull as the sense of urgency was gone’ compared to working for F Section.
Beyts, Ruby (nee Scott-Elliot), B/B921: born 23 July 1911 in Dumfries, Scotland, Ruby was ‘put through the cards’ in November 1943. Her redacted file shows that her aunt and cousin were being watched by the censor, but ‘why’ is covered up. Employed as a secretary from 31 January 1944, Ruby left for India on 26 March 1944. In India, she was employed in Meerut as a Cipherette; her record shows she resigned on 6 March 1945. Her husband (married 1940) was Brigadier Geoffrey Herbert Bruno Beyts, 3/6 Rajputana Rifles. Beyts was also in Force 136, as Chief of Staff for the commander, Colin Mackenzie.
Her father was Lt.Col. Charles Reginald Scott-Elliot (also Indian Army), and her grandfather was General Charles Scott-Elliot.
Bigg-Wither, Pamela Mary: born 29 August 1921 in Naini Tal, India, Pamela was recruited in the UK on 19 June 1944. She left for India on 18 July 1944, to be employed as a secretary. She worked in Calcutta in the War Office from August 1944. Her references describe her as very discreet for her age, based on her employment in the War Office Room 055 from August 1940 until joining SOE. In November 1945, she signed a form breaking her contract and repatriation to the UK in order to go and work in Singapore for CICB.
Birtwistle, Pamela Helen: born 25 August 1922 in Longho near Blackburn, Pamela was an agricultural worker before joining SOE. Her MI5 trace came back with a possible link to a known Fascist, but the details have been redacted. Once this was ruled out, she was a coder at STS 53C from 4 August 1944 before leaving for India in September. She was signed off after her return to the UK on 17 April 1946.
HS 9/157/2 Note incorrect spelling of ‘Birtwistle’ as ‘Birtwhistle’ on the archive’s catalogue.
Blane, Gwendoline Grace Olive, B/B839: born 3 February 1908 in Sydenham, London, Gwendoline was working for the National Provincial Bank when she was first checked out by SOE in October 1943. She had been educated at the relatively new Providence High School in Wood Green between 1918-1923.
It appears that unless she could get an overseas posting, Gwendoline did not want to leave the bank. Initially earmarked for a November convoy to the Middle East, she started as a secretary on 6 March 1944. On 5 May she left for India and ended up working as a senior secretary in Colombo from 31 July 1944. She returned to the UK in October 1945.
Bolland, Eileen Alice Mary (nee Witchell), B/B790: born 10 December 1919 in Hong Kong, Eileen was employed as a secretary for duties in Colombo in March 1944. A note indicates she might have left SOE in October 1944. Her father, George Bernard Witchell was a Marine Superintendent in Hong Kong.
Bolton, Mae: born in Bryn near Wigan in Lancashire on 15 May 1922, Mae had worked in London as a typist and a clerk before joining SOE in 1943. She was employed at FANY HQ as a coder from November 1943 before being posted to Cairo. There is no date of return from the iddle East, but on Valentine’s Day 1945, Mae left for India. She was signed off from SOE on 10 April 1946.
Bonavia, Olga Camilla Gertrude: born 23 September 1924 in Blackheath, London, Olga had a Russian mother and her father was a Major in the RAMC. She was scouted by SOE on 3 August 1943, and employed a week later as a secretary in India.
Bonavia, Tatiana Mary Gertrude: born 11 July 1926 in the Punjab, Tatiana was the sister of Olga (above). Tatiana was employed from 24 July 1943 as a secretary, just after her 17th birthday.
Corporal Boughton, Joyce Muriel: born 20 November 1924 in London, Joyce was employed as a FANY and worked in Italy. Her PF does not mention going to work for the India Mission as a coder, but her name is on a list of women in a separate file who were due to go. She is recorded as ‘signed off’ in July 1945, which may indicate no service in the Far East.
Boyd-Walker (Mrs), G., B/B156: Mrs Boyd-Walker has no surviving Personnel File.
Box, Irene Mabel: born 18 May 1922 in Cardiff, Irene was ‘put through the cards’ for possible employment as a switchboard operator in September 1944. Her trace being clear, she joined the FANY and worked briefly at London HQ on the switchboard before posting to India on 10 December 1944. Prior to SOE she had worked for the Ministry of Labour and National Service in Cardiff since October 1939. She signed off from SOE on 5 April 1946 after her return to the UK.
Brennand, Angela Katherine: born 10 November 1924 in Thirsk, Yorkshire, and employed as a coder / W/T operator at STS 54 from March 1943. In August 1944, she was posted to Bari, and later put on a list for the Far East. It is unclear whether Angela went to India based on her PF, but it seems unlikley as she was signed off on 23 July 1945.
Brims (Mrs), Sheila Millicent, B/B116: born 10 October 1911 in Calcutta, Sheila was employed by SOE from May 1942 as a secretary. She left SOE on 11 January 1945 due to ‘ill health’.
Captain Broad, Elizabeth Mary, (B/B923): born 14 April 1916 in London, Elizabeth was the daughter of Lt.Gen. Charles Noel Frank Broad. She was employed by SOE in London from January 1944, leaving for India in March. She returned to the UK and was signed off on 6 Decembr 1945.
Before SOE, Elizabeth was a FANY and had been employed as PA to the Commander, Eastern Army (who was her father from 1940-42), and employed in the War Office.
Known to her friends as ‘Betty’, she spent much of her time in India with Pleasance Bett, who described her thus:
‘Our Captain, Betty, was slightly older than all of us and was a handsome girl with a fine head of hair. Her father had been a general in pre-war India and she had acted as his secretary, so she had seen much of India from the red carpet angle and spoke Urdu fluently.’ Pleasance Bett, Mouse to a Tiger, p.55.
Bruce, Beryl Evelyn, B/B846: born 31 July 1913 in Kensington, London, Beryl was a shorthand typist with Twickenham Borough Council when SOE looked into employing her in February 1944. Schooled at Twickenham County School for Girls 1924-29, and the famous Pitman’s College 1930-31, her father is recorded as a ‘Taxicab Proprietor’.
Beryl was taken on in April, she left for India on 5 May 1944. She had explicitly said she would not leave her job unless it was to be posted overseas. She returned from India on 30 November, having served as ‘Int. Secretary to G.III’ in Colombo.
Burchett (Mrs), Helen Maude Verena, B/B785: born in Ceylon in 1910, Helen was employed as a secretary in Colombo from 8 February 1944. Her employment card shows that she was on ‘Bungalow Supervision’ from 23 June 1945, and then on the General Registry from a date in 1945 which is hole-punched into obscurity. She left Ceylon on 31 August 1945, probably to be reunited with her husband, Captain James Howard Burchett, who is recorded as as POW on her employment card. Her UK home was in Mon’s Risborough, Buckinghamshire. Her Colombo address now appears to be a German NGO headquarters.
Note the incorrect DOB on the employment card:
Burn, Mary Angela (nee Reaks), B/B764: born 30 September 1897 in Darjeeling, Mary was employed as a secretary in Meerut from 9 December 1943. She signed off from SOE on 3 January 1946. Her employment card shows that she was working on Ops in Kandy from 23 December 1944, and in Intelligence from 7 April 1945. She fractured her ankle in October 1945 while on annual leave.
Mary’s MI5 trace shows that she was married to Lieutenant ‘Donald McKay Burn (deceased)’, but he is not listed on the CWGC website for either war. This is because he was a keen mountaineer, and he died in a Himmalayan avalanche in 1932. Thanks to Andrew Marshall @consultifi for the link.
Burns, Marion Gertrude, B/B746: born 30 September 1921 in Nainital, India, Marion was employed by SOE in Meerut from 12 October 1943, and signed off on 20 February 1946. At first she was a shipping clerk, looking after the movement of stores by sea and air. From September 1944, she was employed at the Special Forces Development Centre in Poona, and then she was moved to Kandy where she worked from 26 April 1945. By December 1945, she was back where she started in Meerut, looking after Registry.
Burt, Thelma Margaret: born 15 January 1923 in Plymouth, Thelma was a dressmaker before joining SOE as a FANY W/T operator in September 1944. After a spell at STS 54a, she left for India on 24 March 1945. She was signed off from SOE on her return to Britain on 29 December 1945.
Cardon-Noad, P.C., B/B166: No file has so far been located
Carpenter, Gwenda Mary Lant, B/B770: born 3 June 1924 in Calcutta, Gwenda was recruited in Calcutta on 8 November 1943 to be a cipherette. By 1945, she was working in Q Ops Packing at Rs300 p/m. In August 1944 she was sick with Dengue Fever. Between joining SOE and her release in January 1946, Gwenda enjoyed a total of five weeks leave.
Her father worked for Bird & Company, founded in 1864 by Captain Samuel Bird to supply labour for ‘infrastructure projects’ in India.
Carpenter, Letitia Bruce: born 2 April 1921 in Aldershot, Letitia was first ‘put through the cards’ in March 1943, but by May that year was still ‘Not employed.’ She was a typist in the War Office from 1940-43, so perhaps she was finally brough on-board as a FANY late that year, for she sailed for India on 24 March 1944. She was signed off ‘on Compassionate grounds’ on 25 May 1945 after returning to the UK.
Carter (Mrs), Dorothy Joyce., B/B894: born 22 April 1918 in Auckland, New Zealand, Dorothy joined SOE in April 1944. Recruited in India, Dorothy was a secretary in Bombay. She spoke Malay. She left for the UK on 17 June 1945.
Dorothy is recorded as a widower when she joined SOE. Her MI5 trace shows her husband was Captain Reginald Carter of the 1st Battalion the Malay Regiment.
Dorothy Grenier had sailed for Malaya from Southampton onboard the Royal Dutch Mailship C.Huygens in October 1936. At just nineteen years old, she met and fell in love with Reginald Carter, a man nine years her senior. They were married in Malaya, where Reg worked for the Kedah Rubber Company in Selangor.
While Dorothy managed to escape from Malaya to India when war came, it appears that her husband managed to leave Singapore after the surrender onboard the Ban Ho Guan, but the boat was sunk by a Japanese submarine on 28 February or 1 March 1942. Dorothy did not give up trying to find out what happened to her husband:
CARTER – “…If you will refer to your files you will note that I informed you I had reason to believe my husband left Padang bound for Java on the night of the 27th February 1942. I have since ascertained that a ship named the “BHG” left for Java that same night and was sunk by the Japanese on 1st March 1942…. Since the Japanese surrender all my attempts to trace my husband have been in vain. Although there is no positive proof that he was on the “BHG” it seems highly probable that he was…( letter 3 November 1945 from Mrs. Joyce Carter to Casualties Branch, War Office ,London)
This is somewhat verified by a direct record of ‘Reggie’ Carter reaching Padang and boarding
the ‘BHG’ from the memoirs of Donald Bruce –Smith (who had been on the “SS.
Kuala”) who was a friend and had known him in Malaya, “… Joyce and Reggie
Carter were on a rubber estate in the Krian district where I was posted on my
arrival in Malaya. Joyce was the lady’s tennis champion in Malay[a] and Reggie
became a regular army officer with the Malayan Regiment shortly before the
Japanese invasion of Malaya…Reggie Carter escaped from Singapore after the
ceasefire. We had coffee together in Padang one morning and arranged to
repeat this the following morning. However, he did not keep his appointment and
as a result of my enquiries, I found out that he had sailed in a small boat for Java
during the night. There had been no word of him since and we concluded that
he had lost his life. Joyce was always pleased to see me [this was in India in
1942]…as I was her only friend who had seen him before he set off on that fateful
journey…” (the memoirs of Donald Bruce -Smith supplied by Gerald Bruce –
Smith). SOURCE (edited).
After she had finally ascertained that her husband was dead, Dorothy remarried on 13 July 1946 to Douglas Cecil Andrew Fraser, at St. Andrews Church, Kuala Lumpur.
Caston, Daphne Florence: born 3 November 1922 in Southfields, London, Daphne joined SOE as a FANY. Before joining SOE on 27 November 1944 she had been working at the Bank of England as a secretary for two years. After a short spell at STS HQ, she left for India in March 1945. She signed off from SOE on 10 April 1946 after returning to the UK.
Chambers, Aileen Geraldine Olga, (nee Allison) B/B376: born 8 October 1896 in Mullingar County West Meath, Aileen was recruited in India and was employed in Bombay from 11 June 1942 as a secretary. Her record indicates that she was in charge of transport and earned Rs700 p/m. She left SOE in May 1946.
Aileen was married to Brigadier Henry Maurice Chambers of 64 Indian Brigade, later Major General Chambers and commander of 26 Indian Infantry Division. They were divorced in 1947.
Some interesting family tree HERE. Aileen’s mother was Lady Diana Montgomerie. Aileen died in Basingstoke, Hampshire, in 1977.
Cheminant, Dorothy Janet Le, (nee Cameron) B/B387: born 22 May 1909 in Penarth, Wales, Dorothy joined SOE in Bombay in late August or ealy September and went to work as a secretary in Karachi. Her employment card indicates that she was in Bombay, still on secretarial duties, in November 1944.
Chew (Mrs), V.M., B/B377: No file has so far been located
Clack, B/B842: No file has so far been located.
Clark, Sheila Murray, B/B372: born 27 February 1916 in Ceylon, Sheila was employed by SOE from May 1943. Apart from idicating she was a secretary, her file reveals she was married to Lt.Commander Hugh Murray Clark of the Royal Indian Navy.
Clarke (Mrs), Aileen Florence, B/B789: born 16 October 1909 in Calcutta, Aileen worked for SOE from March 1944 as an ‘”I” Secretary’ (presumably intelligence) and then as ‘Q Props’ (stores) from 1 April 1945. Her first recorded annual leave was from 17 September 1945. On her MI5 trace her father is listed as Major W.J.P. Martin and her husband was Lawrence George Edward Clarke.
Clarkson, Kathleen May: born 8 April 1921, in Hackney, East London, Kathleen was employed by SOE on 22 May 1944 as a secretary. She left the UK for India on 22 January 1945, returning to the UK on 10 April 1946. Kathleen was a FANY from 22 December 1944, and after training at STS 46 became a cipher operator which increased her salary from £165.00 to £210.00, presumably per annum.
From October 1941 until joining SOE in 1944, she was a shorthand typist with Balfour Beatty & Co.
In the hobbies section of her documents, she recorded ‘cycling, walking on hostel tours, needlework, canteen, Sunday School, reading and music.’ She is recorded as just 5ft tall and 7 st 6lbs.
Cluff, Nancy Margery: born 22 January 1921 in Hull, East Yorkshire, Nancy was employed as a FANY W/T operator from 15 April 1944. She left for India on 7 December 1944 and was signed of after her return to the UK on 15 February 1946. She worked for Eagle Star Insurance as a clerk and typist before joining SOE. Most of 1944 was spent at STS 54A as a W/T trainee, and at STS 53B preparatory to embarkation for the East.
Cockerill, Carol Wendy (Mrs): born 13 December 1920 in London, SOE ran a trace on Carol on 6 February 1942 to employ her as a secretary at General Headquarters in Delhi. Before this, Carol had worked at the consulate in Basra from June 1940 to May 1941, and at the Army Intelligence School in Karachi from September 1941. It appears that she had a short stay at GHQ Delhi, as she had ‘been discharged vide New Delhi cable dated 12.5.42. No.385.’ That is all there is in the file…
Coldstream, Pamela (nee McGowan), B/B168: born 11 January 1894 in Dehra, India, Pamela joined SOE in December 1942. Previous to SOE, she worked for the officer commanding the Censor Station in Calcutta. For SOE, Pamela worked as a Cipherette in Bombay. She only left SOE on its formal liquidation in May 1946.
Her security check indicates that her husband, Captain William John Anson Coldstream, Indian Medical Service, was deceased. Apparently he was murdered by an Indian woman in July 1932. Bill was in charge of the Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar when he was attacked. The family privately published a book about him, called ‘Bill’.
Coleridge, Eileen Nora (nee Godber), B/B910: born 13 August 1907 in Rangoon, Eileen was recruited by SOE in London in August 1942. She had experience working in the cipher department of the Royal Indian Navy. Her record indicates that by June 1944, Eileen was workingin Calcutta as operational assistant to the Intelligence Officer in the War Room for Air Operations, A Group.
By May 1945, she was working in Colombo for Group B air ops, where it was considered important that she wear uniform so she was given an honorary commission as Assistant Section Officer (ASO) in the WAAF. She resigned from Force 136 and her commission on 1 November 1945 in order to stay in the Far East with her husband.
Her husband was Lt/Cmdr Ronald Hamilton Coleridge RINVR, who had been a tea planter before the war.
Collie, Irene, B/B913: born 16 November 1916 in Bandikui, Rajputana, Irene was recruited by SOE in Delhi on 1 April 1944. She was a secretary, and worked in Delhi and Kandy as a ‘Typist (“I”)’. She left SOE on 15 November 1945, just after a month’s annual leave. Her security trace points out that her parents were Anglo-Indian, and that her father was deceased.
Corder, N.A.G., B/B385: No file has so far been located
Cowan (Mrs), J.I., B/B765: No file has so far been located
Crawford (Mrs), I.A., B/B765: No file has so far been located
Crosbie-Hill (Mrs), Joan Marjorie (nee Meggy), B/B761: born 1 January 1911 in New Barnet, Joan was employed by SOE from November 1943 as a secretary. Her husband is recorded as being captured and interned at Singapore.
Anthony Crosbie-Hill had been a rubber planter and they had lived on the Hibernia Rubber Estate in Malaya. Joan escaped to Bombay with their daughter, Ann, but Anthony is recorded as having been KIA on the Malay Volunteers website. He was serving with 1 Battalion Malay Volunteers.
Joan seems to have terminated her employment with SOE after just four months on 31 March 1944.
Further informarion supplied by Jonathan at the Malay Volunteers website: Joan remarried in 1946. Her new husband was Eric Brratt Holte. Eric was born in Manchester but emigrated to Australia. He served with the AIF at Gallipoli and ended up in Malaya after the Great War. He was imprisoned in Changi after the fall of Singapore. Joan and Eric returned to Malaya in December 1946. Eric died in 1957 aged 61; Joan died in Somerset in 1989.
Croucher, Sonia Miriam (formerly Houlston, Nee Rubenstein): born 23 September 1921 in Pontypridd Wales. She was a WAAF from March 1939 until November 1943 when she left ‘as she was below the medical standard required for further service’.
She joined SOE in April 1945, left for India on 19 May, and was a secretary for Siam Country Section from 19 June. By August, she was working on cyphers, but her record shows a lot of illness between June and November 1945. Letters arranging for her to leave to India also indicate she was ill before she left the UK.
Her husband was Lt. S.C. Croucher, RINVR who was on HMIS ‘Feroze’, the officer training ship based in Bombay. She appears to have got married in India, having travelled as Mrs Houlston. Her first husband, Jack Edward Houlston was in the RAF with the rank of Squadron Leader. He is recorded as deceased 20 December 1942.
Cumming, Elsie Ellis (previously Hume, nee Anderson) B/B769: born 24 February 1915 in London, Elsie was recruited in Calcutta in December 1943 with a view to becoming a Cipherette. She ended up being a secretary for the Indian Field Broadcasting Units (IFBUs), which were part of SOE’s Political Warfare Division. By 6 July 1945 she was secretary to Lt.Col. Grieve, who was in charge of PW Division.
Elsie married Lieutenant Angus MacDonald Cumming, RNVR, in Calcutta on 28 December 1945. She had been married to Flight Lieutenant Hume. Lt. Cumming died in 1982, and Elsie out-lived him until August 2000. Cumming apparently did some work with Force 136 and the Burmese Navy, but prior to joining India Mission he worked for SOE in Madagascar and South Africa. He therefore has a file.
Davey, B/B845 No file has so far been located
Davidson, Bessie (nee Begg), B/B359: born 24 September 1908 in Aberdeen, Bessie was checked for possible employment by SOE in February 1943. The same month, she began work as a secretary in Madras.
By October 1944, Bessie had left SOE because of ill health.
She was married to Lt.Col. John Arthur Davidson.
Davies, (Mrs) G.D., B/B912 No file has so far been located
Davis, (Mrs) L.O., B/B155 No file has so far been located
Dawson, Anne Marie Gonville (nee Bromhead), B/B915: born 13 October 1905 inn aijal, Assam, Anne was approached by SOE inn April 1944 ‘with a view to being employed as an Intelligence Officer – Delhi’. She was taken on and paid Rs.500 p/m, which seems to be a better wage than most of the other women listed here started on.
Unusually, there is a report on Anne. It discloses that she was an Intelligence Officer for China Country Section’s Rear HQ. She was described thus:
‘A most efficient and conscientious officer, easy to work with and of great assistance in maintaining a good espirit de corps.’
‘A thoroughly able and painstaking officer’.
Anne was married to then Colonel Keith Cyril Darlington Dawson.
Anne died on 15 August 1992, 15yrs after her husband, in Victoria, Australia.
From The Peerage:
Brigadier Keith Cyril Darlington Dawson is the son of Peter Dawson.1 He married Annie Marie Gonville Bromhead, daughter of Major Edward Gonville Bromhead and Emily May Hosking, on 20 February 1928.1 He was appointed Officer, Order of the British Empire (O.B.E.)1 He gained the rank of Brigadier in the Indian Army.1
Day, Jean Marion, B/B844: born 26 October 1918in Bromley, Kent, Jean was ‘put through the cards’ in February 1944 with a view to employment as a secretary overseas. She commenced employment with SOE in March and left for India in May, only getting signed off after her return to the UK in February 1946.
Jean was educated at a small private school for girls, the Girdler’s Collegiate School in Herne Bay, Kent, from 1932-35. She then attended secretarial college in London. Her employment card reveals she wored for Walsall Conduits Ltd in West Kensington immediately before joining SOE. Once she arrived in the East, she worked in Kanday and then in Calcutta for Burma Country Section. While in service, she suffered from both tonsillitis and malaria.
In a letter to the ‘Women’s Establishment Officer’, Jean’s mother wrote that Jean ‘seems in fine spirits and delighted with her new experiences’.
De Grey, Lavender Hyacinth: born 14 October 1923 in Putney Heath, Lavender was the daughter of Lord and Lady Walsingham. Her MI5 trace was run in April 1942, and she joined SOE as a FANY from May. On 5 May 1944, she left the UK for Algiers. Her return date is ‘undated’, but she left the UK for India on Valentine’s Day 1945, not returning until early 1946.
The Walsingham estate, shown in 1942 as Lavender’s home address, was requisitioned by the government during the war for troops to train for DDay. The government never allowed the villagers to return, and the lands remain part of the MOD’s training areas.
Denton, (Mrs) Dorothy Alice, B/B755: born 3 August 1920 in Simla, India, Dorothy was employed as a secretary from 19 November 1943. Her husband, identified on the MI5 trace, was ‘S/Conductor Frank Denton’ at GHQ (1).
Divers, E.H.C., B/B914 No file has so far been located
Dodds, Hilary Beaufoy: born 28 August 1926 in Edinburgh, Hilary was a student when SOE looked to employ her just after her 18th birthday. She left for India on 23 October 1944 and was signed off on 20 November 1945 after her return to the UK.
Douglass, Phoebe Mary, (nee Douglas) B/B375: born 28 March 1917 in Brighton, Phoebe was put throughthe cards and recruited for overseas service in May 1943 as a secretary. Her file consists of just two papers, which includes an unusually sparse background trace.
Drew, (Mrs) A.M., B/B363 No file has so far been located
Dunne, Marie, B/B164: born 10 June 1909 in Belfast, Marie was checked and employed by SOE in October/November 1942 in India. Interestingly, her trace has been redacted.
It appears that Marie had been working in Hong Kong for the Colonial Secretariat in 1941, but made it out to India where the Colonial Office relinquished her services to SOE. In January 1944, SOE terminated employment on doctor’s orders. She needed ‘rest for at least three months’. SOE fronted her salary for those months in case the Colonial Office didn’t assist, and thanked her for loyal service.
Durlacher, M.I., B/B321 No file has so far been located
Eagles, N.A.M., B/B356: No file has so far been located
Eardley, Margaret, Mary, B/B305: born 11 April 1913 in Queensland Australia, Margaret was employed by SOE’s Oriental Mission in Singapore from early December 1941. She had been working as a secretary for the firm Jardines from 1935. Her original codename was 0.179, becoming B/B305 when she joined the India Mission in February 1943. It seems she left SOE for a spell from 11 March 1942 until re-employment in China. She worked as a secretary and Cipherette in Kunming, and is recorded as being in Chungking from July 1945.
After a spell of sick leave in September 1945, she was sent to Bombay where she resigned from SOE in November.
Eddy No file has so far been located for Eddy.
Elliott, Ursula Mary Hamilton: born 16 August 1917 in Maidstone, Kent, Ursula joined SOE in November 1944. She worked at London HQ before leaving for India on Valentine’s Day 1945. She was signed off on her return to the UK on 20 May 1946.
Ursula was employed as a confidential secretary and as a FANY ‘has been promoted to the highest rank possible whilst so employed’ (Cadet Ensign):
Evison, (Mrs) Pauline Henriette, B/B378: born 2 December 1902 in Tundia, India. Pauline was employed as a Cypher Clerk from June 1943, working in Calcutta. She had been working for the Ludlow Jute Company Ltd as a secretary.
Her employment card reveals that she was a supervisor, and that she left SOE in March 1946. She was married to Captain Leonard Denzil Evison who was part of Military Intelligence.
The surprise was finding this in her file:
Captain Fenemore-Bell, Mabel Tereza (Nee Macy), B/B897: born 17 May 1917 in Alexandria, Egypt, Mabel was employed by SOE from 24 November 1941 until 4 February 1946.
She was recruited in London and joined as a FANY. Before SOE, she had worked as a naval liaison officer dealing with ciphers in the office of the Rear Admiral in Alexandria (1939-1941). She was described as ‘highly satisfactory’ at her job there.
She was posted to India in January 1944 where she worked at Meerut in India, and later in 1945 – after some home leave – at Kandy in Ceylon.
Mabel’s father, Fred Macy had died at sea during the Great War, and although she was married to Lieutenant Patrick Fenemore Bell, her record describes them as separated.
Ferguson, June Margaret, B/B919: born 20 June 1920 in Kuala Lumpur, June was fluent in Tamil and Malay. She was employed by SOE from 5 May 1944 as a Cipherette in Colombo. Her father is shown as Captain John Ferguson, born Natal, on her MI5 trace. Apparently, June ‘Left for Malaya on own initiative’ on 31 August 1945, and was ‘re-engaged’ at Rs400 in Singapore from 13 September 1945 (Rs25 more than Colombo).
Fleury, Patricia, Jean Madeleine (nee Little), B/B796: born 1 January 1919 in St. Leonards On Sea, Patricia was employed by SOE from December 1943. Patricia was educated at convent schools in Britain, Belgium and Spain up to 1936. From 1937-1940 she worked with Cattermoul Film Service, and then she worked in Room 055 of the War Office (MI5).
She was employed as a Secretary for French Section from December 1943 until she left for India at the end of January 1944, where she continued to work with the French as secretary to the Head of French Mission.
Her husband was Amoret Clear Fleury, born Dublin, but who had British nationality. He was a Captain in the Royal Artillery at HQ 33 Indian Corps. Patricia had not seen her husband for three years due to the war, so she applied for SOE service in India. She appreciated that she would only be able to see him on leave, as he was based in Bombay and she in Meerut, but they evidently met because in November 1944 she wrote asking if she could resign due to ill health and expecting her first child. She therefore signed off from SOE on 8 December 1944:
Forest, Marjorie Dorothea (nee Hammond), B/B396: born in London on 3 May 1901, Marjorie worked in the Naval Cipher Office in Rangoon. She was recruited in Delhi in September 1943 for work as an Intelligence Officer. She was employed in Delhi on Rs500 p/m until she left SOE on 18 December 1944. There is no reason given for her early retirement from SOE.
Francis: no file has been located thus far for Francis.
George, Jean Hilda: born 20 March 1921 in London, Jean was working for the Ministry of Aircraft Production before joining SOE on 3 April 1945. She left for India on 4 May. From 29 May she worked in Kandy, Ceylon, as a shorthand typist. She resigned from Force 136 on 13 November 1945 as she had been given a position at HQ SACSEA in Singapore.
Gillum, Anne Dorothea B/B895: born 25 April 1921 in Bombay, Anne was recruited in the UK in November 1943. She left for India on 22 January 1944. She served for 20 months in India, returning in November 1945. Prior to this she had been at Oxford University 1940-41, and working in Room 055 of the War Office 1941-1943. In the Far East, she was a secretary for the French Indochina Section, and proved able to help out with her French language skills when there was a bit of a crisis.
Gordon Clark, Alice Jocelyn: born 16 May 1925, Jocelyn was enroled in the FANY on 21 October 1943. She was earmarked for W/T training, so Jocelyn was posted to STS54A on 23 October for wireless training. Prior to overseas posting, Jocelyn worked at STS HQ in London, leaving for India on 17 July 1944. Her destination was Meerut, home of SOE Signals in India.
From Meerut, Jocelyn’s next posting was to Colombo from September 1944, where she stayed until March 1945. It was in Colombo at a dance that she met Major John Cox, her future husband (see Men of SOE Burma page).
After a spell in 50 Indian General Hospital and some sick leave, Jocelyn was posted to 805 WSS (SP), the ‘SP’ meaning ‘Special Projects’. This was where the signals for the final offensives against the Japanese were handled. After the Japanese surrender, it was transit camp and embarkation for the UK on 24 October 1945.
Jocelyn died on 6 March 1980, just short of her 55th birthday:
Gurner, Francesca, B/B182: born in Shillong, Assam on 15 August 1922, Franscesca was recruited by SOE at the end of 1942. She was employed as a secretary. Her father, Cyril Salter Gurner, was in the Indian Civil Service.
Hall, Joyce: born 9 May 1920 in South Shields, County Durham, Joyce was a FANY. She was employed as a W/T operator at STS 54 from 21 February 1944, leaving for India on 26 September that year. She signed her termination of employment in India on 23 November 1945. Before joining SOE, Joyce was a nurse for two years and nine months.
Lieutenant Harman, Patricia Lisle, B/B311: born 6 April 1920, Patricia went to Croydon HIgh School until she was seventeen. She then attended secretarial training and worked in Bartholomew’s Hospital from May 1938 until August 1943, latterly as clerk to the governors. Her references describe her as ‘reliable and discreet’ in her role. After joining SOE, Patricia went to work in Chungking as part secretary for the Remorse team from February 1944. She returned t the UK two years later after a spell in hospital having contracted Typhus and jaundice.
Operation Remorse was run by Walter Fletcher, an overweight businessman who had been a rubber trader in the Far East before the war. It is estimated that Remorse, playing the Chinese black market in both currency and commodities, ended up making a profit of around £77m.
Harris, Vera Margaret: born 29 October 1923 in Chelsea, London, Vera was employed by SOE as a secretary from 19 June 1944. She left for India on 29 August. She ended up workig as a Cipherette in Meerut from 27 September 1944, and joined the FANYs on 31 January 1945.
Hay-Jahans, C., B/B351:
Haynes, C.L., B/B749:
Helmsley, (Mrs) M.E., B/B750:
Herbert, Betty, B/B794: born 15 January 1924 in Pontypridd, Wales, Betty was employed by SOE from November 1943. Betty lived in Pennsylvania from 1929 – 1937 due to her father’s employment. Returning to the UK, Betty was emloyed as a comptometer operator from May 1938, first at United Dairies and then with CAV Electrical Engineers.
A Comptometer was the first calculator, invented in 1887. By the Second World War they looked like this:
Betty’s SOE career took her to Meerut where she worked as a ‘Cypherene’ (normally called a ‘cypherette’ unless this is a different role); from Meerut she went to Delhi in June 1944 where she was ‘”P” Record and Filing Clerk’; in March 1945 she based in Kandy, and then back to Delhi by August 1945. She left India for the UK on 4 November 1945.
Her file reveals that in December she was invited to join a post war club, most likely the Special Forces Club.
In April 1946 she was looking for employment at the Control Office for Germany and Austria, for which references were supplied by SOE’s Women’s Establishment Officer.
Hobbs, Joyce, nee Taylor (B/B791): Born in London on 8 February 1917, Joyce attended Glyn Road School in Hackney 1921-28 and then North Hackney Central School from 1929-34. She worked as a secretary from leaving school, and was picked up by SOE from a Solicitors’ firm in late 1943. She expressed a desire to go overseas and so she left for India on 22 January 1944. On her SOE form she is described as 5”8 (actually 5″3) with brown hair and grey eyes, and single. She could ride and cycle, and type 75 words per minute. She worked as a secretary for Burma Country Section (BCS) and was posted to Burma on what looks like 6 July 1945 (the hole punch is on the date!) until 16 July 1945 (just ten days?).
The war found her love, and she married Major Hobbs of Siam Country Section (SCS) on 25 (actually 20) September 1945.
She is recorded as being in Bangkok working for SCS from 26 September 1945. Her husband, Tom, also worked for SOE, in Siam. Here’s his obituary. Joyce returned to the UK in December 1945.
Hobson (Mrs) Gladys Taylor, B/B744: born 9 November 1905 in Middlesborough, Gladys was employed as a secretary from 5 October 1943 in Meerut according to one part of her file. Her blue employment card, however, indicates that she was employed as a cipherette in Calcutta from 20 September 1943. Prior to SOE she had been working in ciphers for Eastern Command in Karachi. Gladys left SOE in February 1945 due to ill health, signing her termination of employment on 4 April 1945. Gladys was the widow of Doctor Lewis John Hobson.
Hook, B/B841:
Hope (Mrs) Beryl Maud, nee Jary B/B354: born 18 November 1899 in Dublin, Beryl was employed in Poona as a secretary from January 1943. She left SOE in December the same year to join her husband in Old Delhi; he was a staff officer with 11 Army Group.
Houghton, I.M.J., B/B916:
Lieutenant Howe, Audrey Madeleine (nee Hungerford-Jackson): born 10 March 1920 in Plymouth, the daughter of Lt.Col. Cecil Hungerford-Jackson, Audrey was employed by SOE from 16 November 1943. She worked as a secretary in Meerut, where she was recruited. She married Robert Douglas Howe of the Indian Civil Service on 16 September 1944. By the 1 January 1945, she was earning Rs600 as a Staff Lieutenant. She resigned from SOE on 21 December 1945.
Hume, (Mrs) E.E., B/B769: no personnel file to date.
Humphreys, Kathleen Mary: born 30 March 1922 in Abergavenny, Kathleen joined SOE in late 1944 and was employed as a FANY W/T operator. She worked at STS 54b and 54a from January to July 1945, when she left for India. She signed off from SOE on 7 December 1945 after returning to the UK.
Humphreys, (Mrs) Lilian Kathleen, B/B109: born 26 August 1913, Lilian’s file is not unusually short, but is unusual for its content:
Hutton, (Mrs) E.W., B/B767:
Jackson, A.M.H., B/B751:
Jennings-Bramly, Josephine Beryl: born 22 March 1924 in Petersfield, Hampshire, Josephine was just eighteen in 1942 when SOE looked to employ her as a ‘Decoder’ in the FANY. By September 1942 she was engaged in that role at STS 52.
Before going to India in March 1945, Josephine spent just short of a year in North Africa. She signed off from SOE in January 1946.
Her home address is given as Terwick Mill House, Rogate, Petersfield.
Johnson, (Mrs) M., B/B777:
Johnson, Margaret Elizabeth Catherine, B/B899: born 10 June 1916, and known as Elizabeth, or Lis. An unusual file in that it has quite a lot of content.
Li attended Malvern Girl’s College from 1930-1935, following which she went to Oxford where she was awarded a degree in French. From Oxford she went to Triangle Secretarial College and then gained a job working as a secretary with Devon Council. Her father was headmaster of The King’s School, Ottery St. Mary, Devon.
From the council, Lis went to MI5 in December 1940, and remainend there until November 1941. She left MI5 on good terms, but due to her work becoming less of what she wanted to do. Going to work for SOE, she remained in London from November 1941 to January 1944 when she sailed for India. From April 1944, Lis worked in Colombo. Some idea of her time out East is revealed in this letter she sent to her friend Dorothy in October 1945:
Other letters in her file reveal how little she wanted to return to Britain, and her disappointment at not getting a posting anywhere overseas, despite trying, in late 1945 after her return to the UK.
Jordan, Isobel Anstis: born 8 August 1923 in Kuala Lumpur, Isobel commenced employment with SOE on her 21st birthday. She had just finished her Maths degree at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. She left for India on 3 November 1944, where she worked in Meerut for most of December before going to Kandy. Her job is recorded as mail clerk and registry, for which she was earning Rs400 by 1 April 1945.
She resigned from SOE on 19 November 1945 to take up a position at HQ ALFSEA in Singapore.
Kennedy, Jane, nee Paton, B/B898: born 13 July 1916 in Ewell, Surrey, Jane (re)joined SOE in February 1943. Jane attended Sutton High School before going to Queen Anne’s in Caversham, Reading 1928-32. From 1937, she was employed as a Saleswoman, but when war came she travelled with her husband who was a Major in the Royal Artillery. She had worked for SOE in Palestine before ‘re-joining’ in Britain once her husband had been re-posted back to the UK.
She described her political views as ‘slightly socialist’ on her SOE form.
Jane went to India in early 1944, where she worked as a cypherette. By April 1945 she was a supervisor, and later in charge of Cypher Supervisors. She left Calcutta for the UK on 4 August 1945. Jane had to come home at this point because her mother was going for an opertion and would therefore be unable to look after her grandson (Jane’s son, Adrian).
Knox, Christian Russell: born in 1918 in Bihar, India, Christian was recruited locally from 10 August 1944. She had seven years secretarial experience working for Dunlop Rubber in India. She remained with SOE until 31 January 1946.
Kyte, (Mrs) Cicely Evelyn, B/B799: born 22 July 1917, Cicely was born in Deal, Kent. Cicely attended Cheltenham Ladies College from 1927-1934. She worked fo the Admiralty before joining SOE in October 1943. She left for India in January 1944 to work as a Cipherette. She was based in Meerut until 2 November 1944, when she resigned because she was pregnant. Her husband was Major E.F. Kyte, Royal Engineers.
Lakeland, (Mrs) P., B/B355:
Lane, Dorothy Jervis, B/B111: born 10 December 1893 in Australia, Dorothy was one of the first women emloyed by SOE in the Far East, commencing with the Oriental Mission on 14 April 1941. She was working for the firm Brunner, Mond & Co. in Japan, from where she was transferred to Singapore.
By 6 April 1942, she was on the staff of the India Mission, having escaped from Singapore. She worked in Delhi and Poona, in the Finance department looking after accounts. She was repatriated to Australia on 7 October 1945.
Lascelles, E.G. (Mrs) B/B758: born 13 November 1911 in India, of the four documents in her file, none reveal her name! Recruited in London, Lascelles worked in Kandy and Calcutta as a secretary for the Political Warfare department, earning Rs425 p/m.
She left for the UK with her husband in June 1945.
Lawrenson, Helen: born 27 February 1917 in Eaglescliffe, Stockton-on-Tees, Helen joined SOE on 18 October 1944. She worked at London HQ until sailing for India on 10 December. She was employed as a FANY shorthand typist. Before joining SOE she had worked as a confidential secretary to the director of a chemical firm. Her interests included playing Bridge and Chess, and discussion groups.
Le Cheminant, (Mrs) D.J., B/B387:
Lee, Joyce Eden (nee Burn): born Cleadon, County Durham 13 May 1920. Joyce was employed as a civilian secretary from 4 June 1945. She left the UK for India on 10 July 1945 and was signed off on her return to the UK on 22 March 1946. She worked for the Siam Country Section (SCS). Joyce appears to have found her husband in India, marrying R.H. Lee of 357 (SD) Squadron on 6 December 1945.
Lemmon, (Mrs) Rebecca Robson, B/B747: born 27 September 1906 in Cawnpore, India, Rebecca wa recruited by SOE in October 1943. She worked as a secretary in Meerut.
Lindop, (Mrs) Elvy Irene, B/B158: born 24 November 1900 in Moulmein, Burma, Elvty was Anglo-Burmese. She was recruited locally in September 1942, and worked in Cyphers and Accounts. She finished working for SOE in March 1946.
Elvy was married to Lt-Comdr G.W. Lindop
Lindsay, A.E., B/B763:
Photo from Find A Grave
Lindsay, Jane Ursula, nee Kenyon-Slaney, B/B788: born 15 January 1920 in London, Jane was first vetted for employment with SOE in February 1942. She was not employed on that occasion, and was vetted again two years later, finally joining SOE in February 1944. She worked in Kandy as a Registrar, returning to the UK on 18 May 1945. During that time, she only had one week’s leave ‘due to the exigiencies of her work’ so she had five weeks paid leave once back in the UK.
Jane’s husband was Major Peter Lindsay, one of the chief organisers of the original Oriental Mission in Burma. She remarried in 1946, and again in 1951.
Her father was Major Robert Orlando Kenyon-Slaney.
Kenyon-Slaney family tree available on The Cambridge University Heraldic and Geneallogical Society
LLoyd, Edith Louise, (nee Stanley) B/B741: born 8 June 1903 in Liverpool, Edith was initially recruited by SOE in India in September 1943. She worked in Poona at the School of Eastern Warfare (EWS(I)) as a secretary to the commanding Officer, Lt.Col. Anthony Balden, until returning to the UK in January 1945 with her husband, who was an Army Chaplain (Cyril Mosley Lloyd).
In February 1945, Lt.Col. Balden expressed a keen interest in re-engaging her, and on 2 May 1945 Edith signed up to go back to India. This time she worked as a secretary for Q Ops (supply) in Calcutta. Her file reveals she managed to get amoebic dysentry at the end of July, but Edith didn’t leave SOE until 8 January 1946, signing off in Rangoon.
Edith has a confidential report from 1944:
Lockey, Irene Kathleen: born 7 December 1918 in London, Irene was employed as a secretry from 13 March 1945, and left for India on 4 May. She had previously worked in Spain for two years as secretary to the head of the wolfram department of UK Commercial Corportation (UKCC), 19 May 1943 – 9 March 1945.
Long, Margaret Ethel, (nee Culshaw) B/B364: born 12 December 1910 in Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, Margaret was employed by SOE from March 1943. She had previously worked at GHQ India in New Delhi.
Margaret was employed as a secretary at SOE’s parachute training school at Chaklala until January 1944 when she was posted to Calcutta where she was ‘Deputy I/C’ Movements. She resigned from SOE in September 1945.
Cadet Ensign Lorry Cowry, E., B/B927:
Lieutenant Loe, J.G., B/B727: no personnel file. ‘(Missing presumed killed)’ on the personnel listing.
Lumsden, Helen Jane: born 16 January 1920 in Cults Aberdeenshire, Helen had been in the WAAF for over two years when SOE picked her up in July 1943 with a view to employing her as a driver. By September 1943, she was a secretary at Station 53B and enroled as a FANY. She left the UK for India on 5 September 1945 and continued with SOE until 7 May 1946, reaching the rank of Corporal.
Luwan, (Mrs) M., B/B369:
Mackenzie, (Mrs) E.C., B/B108:
Mackessack, (Mrs) R.E., B/B374:
Mann, Vera Elsie: born 21 November 1922 in Penang Strait Settlement, Vera was brought to the UK in 1924. She left school at sixteen and attended Pitmans Secretarial School. She was working for the London Aircraft Production Company as a secretary when she was approached by SOE in January 1945. She arrived in Calcutta in March 1945 where she went to work as a shorthand typist for Siam Country Section (SCS).
Vera refused repatriation on signing off from SOE on 13 December 1945 because she went to work for Southeast Asia Command in Singapore. In 1948, the Crown Agents for the Colonies requested a reference for Vera so that she could go and work as a stenographer in Nyasaland (Malawi).
Marder, B.O., B/B740:
Marshall, Yvonne Joan: born 30 September 1920 in London, Yvonne attended the Camden School for Girls (1929-1937) and was working for the Bank of England from 1939. She joined SOE on 23 December 1943 as a FANY, ending up with the rank of Lieutenant by March 1945. Before going to India, she worked for F Section, where she ‘proved extremely capable and reliable and was highly recommended by the officer for whom she worked.’ She was secretary to ‘FT’, and was ‘fully capable of dealing with matters’ when he was away. She left for India on 5 September 1945, and returned in early 1946. It appears that India was not her only overseas assignment, as there is a record of her leaving the UK on 21 October 1944 to go to SHAEF (Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force).
Mason (Mrs) E.W.H., B/B767:
May, B/B847:
McCormack, (Mrs) Mary Ethel: born 9 June 1921 in Ormsby, Yorks, Mary was employed by SOE from September 1942. She left the UK for India in November 1944 and returned in April 1946. In the UK, she had worked as a clerk, in charge of agents’ records. She was described as ‘sound and reliable’, but also ‘poor on time keeping’. In the far East, she worked as a clerk/typist in Delhi and Kandy.
Mary’s husband was Kenneth Basil McCormack. They married in March 1941. He was in the Scots Guards.
McKenzie, (Mrs) D.M., B/B786:
McWhor, Brenda (Nee Lewis): born 7 January 1921 in Amlwch, Wales, Brenda was a WAAF before joining SOE in September 1944. She had been discharged from the WAAF on compassionate grounds in March 1943. Attached to London HQ as a Control Clerk, she left for India on 2 January 1945. She returned to the UK a year later.
Brenda was married to Major Malcolm Ferguson McWhor, 6 Battalion Royal Welch Fusiliers. He died in Normandy on 18 July 1944 and is buried in Hottot-les-Bagues cemetery.
Mellor, E.C.A., B/B909:
Commander Merriman, Violet Grace, B/B922: born 13 September 1911, Violet was the daughter of Lord Frank Boyd Merriman and lady Eva Mary Merriman.
Violet joined the FANY in July 1938 and by April 1939 she had completed her OTC. By October 1942 she had completed a Senior Officers Course as well as an Oxford University course for American, Canadian and British officers.
Violet left for India on 5 May 1944 where she was posted as Officer Commanding FANY Indian Group. She relinquished her staff appointent on 2 May 1946. She died in Brighton in December 2009.
Middleton, J., B/B181:
Mills, (Mrs) P.E.M., B/B151:
Mitchell, I., B/B368:
Modin, (Mrs) J.W., B/B782:
Money, Rosemary: born 20 August 1922 in Langton, Kent, Rosemary was the daughter of Major General Sir Athur Wigram Money and Euphemia Drummond.
Rosemary worked as a secretary to a barrister in London until 1941 when she went to work at the Admiralty. In May 1945, her request for overeas service was facilitated and she joined SOE to go to India in June 1945.
On arrival in India, Rosemary was unwell; she managed half a day at work before being admitted to hospital. She was put on the Dangerously Ill (DI) list, and they did not expect her to survive the malaria and bacillary dysentry. When it was safe to move her, she was transferred from hospital in Ceylon to a hospital in Bangelore where she began a slow road to recovery.
Her record suggests she reacted badly to treatment or had treatment and sealed records were sent to the UK. One paper reveals she was ‘diagnosed as [having] TOXIC PSYCHOSIS’. Her physical condition improved somewhat, but she is described as being ‘mentally confused’ and only ‘occassionally able to answer simple questions coherently but in the main she is unable to do so.’
Rosemary only returned to the UK on 22 February 1946, disembarking from hospital ship SS Dorsetshire in Southampton. By then she was able to write, something she was unable to do in October 1945.
She must have gone on to recover as it appears she married later in life, becoming Mrs Weaver.
Cadet Ensign Moon, V., B/B926:
Morgan, Beryl Doris: born 19 January 1922 in Shepherds Bush, London, Beryl joined SOE in April 1945 and sailed for India in May. She had been working for the National Fire Service prior to SOE. Once in the Far East, Beryl was posted to Colombo, Sri Lanka, where she worked as a clerk for Malayan Country Section (MCS) from 13 June 1945.
Beryl signed off from SOE on 7 November 1945 and returned to the UK by 1 December.
Mossman, (Mrs) K.J.H.F., B/B380:
Murray-Clarke, (Mrs) S., B/B372:
Murray-Smith, (mrs) U.M., B/B759:
Myer, A.B., B/B896:
Neil, (Mrs) Christina Ewing, B/B795: born 2 April 1907 in Glasgow, Christina was emloyed by SOE from November 1943. She left for India in January 1944 to take up a position as bookeper in Meerut, on a salary of Rs400. Her husband, Charle Neil was already in Meerut, and also worked for SOE.
Before leaving for India, Christina had not been well, having had a bervous breakdown. In India, her mental health improved, but her physical health declined and she had to have a major operation in October 1944. When her husband was posted back to the UK in early 1944, it was recommended that Chritina return with him, as the doctors did not think she should stay in India for another warm season. The couple returned to the UK together in February 1945.
Newdick, Sheilah Mary (Nee Doherty): born 10 May 1920 in Tottenham, London, Sheilah was employed as a secretary from 1 May 1944. She left for India on 18 July that year, and worked in Delhi until 30 November 1945 when she resigned breaking her contract. She forfeited any right to repatriation to the UK. Sheilah returned to the UK in March 1946 and applied for a job with Savory & Moore Ltd, for which SOE provided a helpful reference. It seems likely that she forfeited her return passage to stay in India with her husband as her record shows she was Miss Doherty when she left for India, and she appears to have left SOE in November at a natural conclusion to her service.
HS 9/109/2 Note spelling of ‘Sheila’ here, not ‘Sheilah’ as written by her on her forms.
Olsen, N.A.G. (Nee Corder): born 9 March 1921 in Folkestone, Kent. Olsen’s file does not provide her first name(s). She was recruited in Poona, India, on 21 July 1943 and worked at the Eastern Warfare School India (EWSI) in Poona as a Cipherette until she shifted to the Special Forces Development Centre in 1944. From 30 January 1945, she was back at EWSI. It would appear that she got married during her time working with SOE.
Owen, P.F.J., B/B742:
Oxland, Dulcie Vera (Nee Rogers): born 22 April 1921 in Cardiff, Dulcie was a civil servant before joining SOE in September 1944. Since 1938 she had worked for the Ministry of Labour. After joining SOE, she was attached to London HQ as a coder until 2 January 1945 when she left for India. She returned from the Far East in January 1946.
Parker, Maime Betty, B/B797: born 27 October 1917 in Totnes, Devon, Maime was murdered in India short of her 28th birthday.
Click here for the full story: ‘The Unresolved Murder of a Cipherette’
Parsons, Lucy Joyce, B/B389: born 3 September 1887 in Exeter, Lucy was vetted and then employed by SOE in August 1943. She worked as a secretary ‘to “P”‘ in Delhi before going to Madras in December 1944 where she continued with that role.
In January 1946, Lucy received her joining instructions to make her way to Rangoon where she had been appointed as a Junior Civil Assistant in the office of DDST Burma Command. She therefore signed a waiver to leave Force 136 and take up this job.
Pattenden, Jean, G (Nee Strictland) B/B113: born 28 August 1909 (or 18 September?) in Hailsham, Sussex, Jean was originally employed by the Oriental Mission in Singapore from January 1942. Her codenumber was 0.182. Jean escaped Singapore, reaching Batavia where she temporarily left SOE until joining the India Mission as B/B113 from April 1942.
While with India Mission, she worked in Meerut and in Colombo. She seems to have resigned from SOE in October 1945. In a reference request from Miles Aircraft Ltd dated April 1946, it was written:
‘Mrs Pattenden worked as a cipher clerk and also as a stengrapher and typist. She is most painstaking, and also used to work for very long hours under trying circumstances.’ It also indicates that her husband was working in Malaya, and that they had two young children.
Payne, Nancy Barbara: born 26 October 1922 in Neath, Wales, Nancy joined SOE from the National Fire Service where she worked as Mobilising Officer. From November 1944, Nancy worked at London HQ; she left for India on 2 January 1945.
Nancy signed off from SOE on 11 March 1946, by which time she appears to have got married and was now Mrs Nancy Holt. Her file is archived under the name Payne.
Phillip, (Mrs) L., B/B157:
Phillips, Gwendoline Elsie, B/B793: born 5 January 1910 in London, Gwen’s record reveals that she attended Clapham School of Art from 1926-30.
Gwen had been working in censorship of post and telegraph communications before joining SOE. She was vetted in September 1943 and by November was working as a secretary. She left for India in January 1944. She was posted to Kandy where she worked as a Cipherette, and in Jjanuary 1945 she was transferred to the FANY. After she resigned in November 1945, she went to work in Singapore at HQ SACSEA.
Phillips, (Mrs) Leila Marian Aylmer, B/B384: born 14 December 1906 in Dublin, Leila was vetted for possible SOE employment in July 1943. That same month, she started work as a secretary in Meerut, India. Previous to this, Leila worked in Durban as a secretary at naval HQ. She resigned from SOE on 31 December 1945.
Her father was Major General William Richard Blackwell.
Phillips, Peggy Mary: born 3 March 1919 in Bromley, Kent, Peggy was ‘put through the cards’ in February 1945. She left for India in March, working for SOE until 30 November 1945 when she signed off to take a job in Singapore with ALFSEA. Peggy had worked for the French Indochina Section as a secretary as she spoke French.
Peggy attended Sydenham County Secondary School from 1929-1935, and then the Institute Francais du Royaume University in London from 1936-37. She had been working for the firm E.K. Cole Ltd before joining SOE:
Pitt, Sheila May, B/B165: born Shillong, India, 22 January 1913, Sheila was employed by SOE from November 1942. She is recorded as having worked as both a secretary and a ‘Cypherette’.
Prior to SOE, she worked for the Maharaja of Burdwan, and Mount Leverette is mentioned as a place where she worked with the Ministry of Information – but there is no trace of this name online.
It appears she served for three years, six months of which were spent in Chungking, and her final months from July 1945 were spent in Rangoon. She was repatriated to the UK in December 1945.
In January 1945 she was in a car crash and broke her claricle.
Next of kin is noted as her sister. There is no mention of her mother on her MI5 trace, and her father, who worked on the East Bengal Railway, is recorded as deceased.
Pointon, (Mrs) M.G., B/B393:
Corporal Porter, Elizabeth Mary: born 17 September 1922 in Bournemouth, Elizabeth joined SOE as a FANY just after her 21st birthday. She was specifically employed to be a ‘Cipherine’, also called a ‘Cipherette’.
In December 1943, she left for Cairo where she worked as a coder until joining Force 399 from May 1944 as a Cypher Operator. Force 399 was responsible for operations in Albania, Hungary and Yugoslavia.
‘Undated’ is given for her return to the UK, but on 6 March 1945 she is recorded as having left for more service in India. Elizabeth signed of from SOE on 7 February 1946.
Porter, R.L., BB382:
Prentice, (Mrs) C.A., B/B768:
Preston, Nellie Elvira: born on 10 December 1920 in Raynes Park, London, Nellie was employed as an Insurance Clerk before SOE. She was recruited on 8 August 1944 and left for India on 10 December. From 20 January 1945 until the end of the war she was employed in Ceylon at Kandy and latterly Colombo. Nellie was repatriated to the UK on the Duchess of Richmond on 28 October 1945.
Before the war, Nellie had been in school until age 18, which seems to have been quite unusual. She finished at Wimbledon School of Art and went into employment as a fashion artist. She was made redundant due to the war which had prompted a 50% reduction in staff employed in ‘luxury trades’ in 1940.
Puckridge, Effie Molyneux, nee Combe, B/B781: born 3 August 1912 in Nairobi, Effie was the daughter of Sir Ralph Molyneux Combe, a colonial judge in East Africa. She was married to Flight Lieutenent Hugh Victor Puckridge DFC.
Before SOE, Effie had been a VAD in Singapore and then worked in ciphers for the RAF and Navy. When she was employed by SOE from January 1944, she worked in Colombo as secretary to the commanding officer of Group B Force 136 (Malaya, Sumatra, Dutch East Indies), as well as Head of Central Registry.
Effie was allowed three months leave and left with her husband for the UK on 5 April 1945. Lt.Col. Hudson was keen to have her back when leave was over, and since there is a date of a return to the UK in October 1945 when Effie was signed off from SOE, presumably she went back to Colombo.
Purser, (Mrs) M.E., B/B318:
Quigley, (Mrs) R.M., B/B918:
Ensign Rawson, Marie Elsie, B/B685: born 29 June 1897 in London, Marie joined SOE in July 1941. She had secretarial experience working as a personal secretary to Sir James Dunn, of Dunn, Fisher & Co. from 1926 to 32. Her reference from the firm was very positive, as was her reference from her second job, recorded as manageress of a West End factory. Later, her SOE references were also glowing:
‘Miss Rawson is one of the most capable secretaries in the Organisation and has worked continuously at Station XII, where she is a great asset.’
In December 1943, now a FANY, Marie left for India. She returned to the UK in February 1946. There is no hint of what she did in the Far East.
Reid, Fanny Noelle: born 24 December 1920 in Colombo, Ceylon, Fanny was employed as a secretary from 23 January 1945. She left for India on 6 March 1945, and returned just over twelve months later on 28 March 1946. She was assigned to Siam Country Section as a Stenographer and Typist until 15 June when she worked in Q ops (Supplies). This was due to an ‘Adverse report of her work from Lt.Col. Pointon O/C S.C.S.’
Her record shows she had twelve days off work with a lacerated foot in July, as well as Dengue fever in August and Dyspepsia in February 1946.
Before joining SOE, Fanny had attended Mrs Hoster’s Secretarial College and then worked for both the Treasury and the Prime Minister’s Office between 1941 and 1943.
Cadet Ensign Rigby, Joan Marjorie, B/B928: born 7 August 1912 in Northwood, Middlesex, Joan was a teacher before joining SOE. She was ‘put through the cards’ at the end of July 1942 and joined SOE at STS 54 as a FANY administrator in October.
Joan left for India in March 1944 and returned in May 1945. She signed off from SOE and went back to teaching.
Ringham, Ethel, nee Hardman, B/B771: born 18 April 1907 near Newcastle, Ethel was employed with SOE from November 1943. She worked in Karachi as a secretary. Her husband’s name was Harold.
Robertson, (Mrs) Lysbeth Desiree, B/B779: born 5 July 1911 in Colombo, Ceylon, Lysbeth worked as a secretary in Colombo from January 1944. It seems she was going to be employed in London, for which she went to Britain around May 1944, but AG branch did not employ her. She was then ‘put through the cards’ for OSS, but was ‘Not revetted’ – which seems like an odd word to use for not employing.
Cadet Ensign Robertson, M., B/B931:
Robinson, Ailsa Mary, nee Stewart: born 17 June 1914, Ailsa worked as Assistant Food Executive Officer for the Ministry of Food in Henley on Thames from October 1939 to March 1945. From June 1945, she worked as a bookkeeper while her husband, Captain B.W. Robinson worked in Intelligence at HQ 14 Army. She resigned from SOE in January 1946.
Robinson, A.V., B/B754:
Robinson, Frances Nina, nee Gatward, B/B772: born 18 July 1895 in Melbourne, Frances was recruited in India in September 1943. She worked as a bookkeeper and secretary in Madras until she left for the UK in November 1944.
Ronald, Sarah Jennings: born 13 November 1920 in Smallhythe, Kent, Sarah was a FANY who joined SOE relatively late on 29 June 1945. She was employed as a coder, typex and typist, leaving for India on 7 August. She returned to the UK in April 1946, and is reorded as signing off from SOE on 30 April.
Before SOE, Sarah worked at Bletchley Park as a cypher machine operator. She was a stamp collector, dress maker and enjoyed all sports.
Ross, Beatrice Anna: born 18 February 1920 in Allangrange, Scotland, Beatrice joined SOE on 24 April 1944 and left for India on 9 June that year. From 1937-1940 she had been employed as a shorthand typist, and from 1940 to 1944 served inn the WRNS.
On arrival in India, she worked in Meerut until 3 September 1944 when she was employed in Poona at the Special Forces Development Centre. In March 1945, she went to Kandy, Ceylon. Beatrice sailed for the UK on 15 September 1945.
Rost, K.G.H., B/B920:
Ryley, Mavis, nee Dunlop, B/B783: born 22 August 1907 in Trimulgherry, Mavis was employed by SOE to work as a Cipherette in Meerut from January 1944. She had previously done the same job at South Army HQ for seven months. Mavis resigned from SOE on 5 November 1944, apparently as a ‘result of eyestrain’.
Her husband was Major John William Ryley. He was GSO 2 at HQ SOuthern Army.
Sander, (Mrs) V.A., B/B753:
Scott, A.A., B/B778:
Sears, F.M., B/B745:
Selwyn, (Mrs) C.G., B/B399:
Shebbeare, (Mrs) H.M., B/B775:
Sherwood, (Mrs) A.F., B/B153
Shiells, Mary Isabella: born 23 December 1921 in Newtonards, Dumfries, Mary joined SOE in October 1944 as part of the FANY. She was to be a registry clerk with the rank of Volunteer. She left for India on 7 December 1944, only returning to the UK in April 1946, when she signed off from SOE. Before SOE, Mary worked as an Employment Clerk at the Ministry of Labour for five years. She enjoyed walking, cycling, reading and gardening.
Skill, H.Y., B/B773:
Skill, Veda Neave, B/B358: born 9 October 1920 in Bangalore, India, Veda was employed by SOE from 3 March 1943. Before joining SOE, she had worked at the RNI Cipher Office in Bombay. She continued as a cipher clerk in Poona, but her record does not reveal anything more.
Smith, Margaret Ada: born 24 February 1921 in Northampton, Margaret was a VAD (Voluntary Aid Detachment) Nurse at the RAF hospital in Ely, Cambridgeshire before joining SOE as a secretary from 26 June 1944. She apparently left for India on 29 August 1944, but is recorded as working as a clerk in the camp commandant’s office in Colombo from 22 July 1944.
Margaret returned to the UK onboard the Duchess of Richmond from 28 October 1945. She was employed fairly swiftly as a doctor’s secretary on what she thought was a decent salary (£5 p/w) until she ‘found out what the income tax was.’ After the war, she applied to work as a secretary in the Governor’s office in the Gold Coast (Ghana). Whether she got it is not recorded.
She obviously has quite a bit of personality, as she wrote to the SOE office in London, opening with ‘Do you remember me – the Pest!’ Later on, she asks ‘How are all the abandoned females returning from the East?’ She finished her letter with ‘thanks for your help when I returned so forlornly’.
Spalding, (Mrs) F.M.E.D., B/B361:
Stephenson, C., B/B787:
Stephenson, (Mrs) E.H., B/B787:
Story, (Mrs) P.M., B/B381:
Strickland, (Mrs) E.M.G., B/B353:
Studholme-Wilson (Mrs) J.N., B/B752:
Cadet Ensign Suckling, B/B932:
Sully, Myra Stafford: born 8 November 1921 in Neath, Wales, Myra joined SOE in November 1944 as a shorthand typist. After about a month at London HQ, she sailed for India on 10 December 1944. She was enroled as a FANY. She signed off from SOE on 9 January 1946.
Swan, (Mrs) M.C., B/B748:
Tandy, B/B840:
Taylor, Denise Ursula (nee Woodward): born 15 November 1919 in London, Denise was to be employed as a senior secretary from 13 December 1943. She left for India on 22 January 1944. On reporting for duty in India on 10 March, there was a back log of ‘dull’ clerking jobs owing to the expansion of Force 136. This caused Denise to dispute her contract and culminated in her walking out of her job with SOE. The resulting correspondence shows that she refused to be brow-beaten by the threat to have her deported to Britain for breach of contract, and she ended up staying in India and marrying Squadron Leader D.L. Taylor in August 1944 – and working as Forces Radio compere.
Taylor, Margaret Fenella: born 28 August 1922 in Birmingham, Margaret was vetted in September 1944 to see if she was suitable for SOE employment. She joined as a FANY Cadet Ensign in October 1944, working as a shorthand typist at London HQ while awaiting overseas posting.
Margaret left for India on 10 December 1944 and was employed at SOE’s signals base known as ME9 as a typist. She evidently found love in India, as by the time she signed off from SOE in 1946, Maragret Taylor was now Mrs Margaret Pearce.
Taylor, J., B/B791:
Tew, (Mrs) F., B/B371:
Thomas, Helen Harran (nee Gilmour) B/B383: born 2 October 1916 in Greenock, Scotland, Helen had worked for Jardine Matheson & Co. in Shanghai, with whom she had a ‘GOOD RECORD’. Her MI5 trace is dated 5 September 1941, so she joined the original Oriental Mission before the war with Japan started and worked as a secretary in Singapore.
An entry dated 11 March 1942 indicates that Helen left SOE at that date, but by June 1943, she was working in the Political Warfare Division of SOE as a secretary, and by 1944 she was earning Rs700 (the largest wage seen yet).
Thompson, (Mrs) B.R., B/B776:
Thomson, Helen Mary: born 13 April 1921 in Ashford, Kent, Helen was a secretary at the Bank of England before she joined SOE on 23 January 1945. She had attended the City of London Secretarial College in January 1938 after attending Christ’s Hospital from January 1931 to September 1937.
She left for India on 6 March 1945 and was signed of on 26 April 1946 after her return to the UK. While in the Far East, she worked in Colombo, Kandy and Meerut. A medical note from 21 May 1946 shows that she was suffering from Lamblia (small worms in the intestine) which was not considered a serious condition. The treatment was paid for by SOE, a total of £3. & 3 Shillings (about £111.99 in 2017).
Thunder, (Mrs) J., B/B152:
Tidmarsh, B/B312:
Tinney, (Mrs P.G.D., B/B397:
Tippen, Patricia Dorothy (Nee Bridgen): born 13 April 1921 in Clapham Park, Patricia was employed by SOE as a shorthand typist fromOctober 1944. She left for India on 7 December and returned in April 1946. She was a FANY with the rank of Volunteer on joining. In ‘other interests’, Patricia wrote the unusal entry of ‘social work’ besides the usual tennis, reading and cycling.
Tostee, K.M., B/B362:
Townsend, Doreen Marie: born 29 June 1921 in Neasden, London, Doreen was employed as a W/T operator at STS 54 from 24 March 1943. Prior to joining SOE, her occupation is recorded as ‘Student on Singing’.
Doreen left for India on 14 February 1945, returning to the UK in April 1946.
Trigger, Eileen Shirley: born 20 April 1920 in Newcastle, Staffordshire, Eileen was employed as a secretary from 14 November 1944, recruited by FANY HQ. She left for India on Valentine’s Day 1945 after a spell at STS 46, and was signed off on return to the UK on 28 March 1946. Before joining SOE, she worked as a secretary to the director of production in an Engineering Company.
Varney, Marjorie (nee Goodfellow): born 19 April 1917 inn London, Marjorie was a dictaphone typist. She was employed as a secretary by SOE from 19 September 1944, and left for India on 3 November. After a brief spell in Meerut a a typist, she was posted to Kandy where she worked as a cipherette from 23 December to 25 May 1945. She was then back at Meerut until reporting back in the UK inn November 1945. Her English salary was £210 p/a plus a billet allowance of 15/-d per week.
Before SOE she worked as a dictaphone typist for the Dictaphon Company Ltd from November 1941 until SOE recruited her. Between 1935 and 1939, she worked for The General Asphalte Company Ltd., leaving because she got married (5 August 1940). She then worked for Prudential 1939-1941, which she left because of the Ministry for Labour. Her husband was Eric Ernest Varney, born 3 June 1908.
Vivier, (Mrs) J.A. du., B/B743:
Walker, (Mrs) V.E., B/B365:
Walshe, E.H.M., B/B760:
Warwick, Phyllis Elizabeth Frances: born 15 July 1909, in Gosport, Hampshire, Phyllis is unusual in that she was first vetted for SOE in March 1944 but not employed. There is no clue as to why. Presumeably she continued to work as a VAD until vetted a second time in May 1945. This time she joined SOE as a FANY and she left for India on 5 September 1945. She signed her termination papers in India on 20 November 1945.
Wasey, (Mrs) E.S., B/B780:
Watts, Sheila Annie: born 24 August 1921 in Quarry Dene near Woolacombe in Devon, Sheila was a telephonist at the Post Office before joining SOE in November 1944. She was a wireless operator at STS 54a and STS 52a&b before she left for India on 8 June 1945. Employed as a FANY volunteer, she signed off from SOE on 13 February 1946 when she returned to the UK.
Webster, J.B., B/B762:
Welstead, B/B838:
Wemyss, A.L., B/B390:
Whittenbury, (Mrs) M., B/B394:
Captain Will, Bertine Melba (nee Rix): born in Budaun, India, in March 1902, Bertine was educated at the Sherborne School for Girls before studying Medicine and Surgery at St. Mary’s Hospital, London University. Her husband, James Hampton Brown Will is recorded as being imprisoned in Changi, Singapore. From 1933 to 1940, Bertine worked as a GP in Malaya; from 1940-42 she was assistant to Dr Thompson in Somerset. By 1943, she was in India serving in the Royal Army Medical Corps having been granted an Emergency Commissionin July 1943. In January 1945 she joined Force 136 as a Medical Officer for Group A (Burma, Siam, French Indochina) and was based at ME81 in Calcutta. In July, she moved to ME82 in Colombo where she was MO at HQ for Group B.
Wilson, (Mrs) M.L.J., B/B391:
Wolstenholme, (Mrs) I.D., B/B798:
Woodward, D.U., B/B792:
Wright, Angela Mary: born 14 February 1924 in Dublin, Angela was a student at Cheltenham Ladies’ College when SOE looked into employing her in March 1943. From 15 may 1943, she was employed as a FANY W/T operator at STS 54. On 26 September 1944, Angela left for India, and was signed off after her return to the UK on 5 December 1945. Her home address is recorded as Surrenden Road in Brighton.
The Special Operations Executive in Burma 1941-1945 