After she died alone with apparently no-one to pay for her funeral, it has emerged that SOE heroine Eileen Nearne MBE had struggled with money because her war pension was stopped by the Government.
Following a report in the Sunday Times of 20 Sep 2010, the Daily Mail reported that:
Brave Eileen Nearne MBE - known as 'Didi' - operated as an undercover agent called Rose during WWII and was caught and tortured by the Nazis three times.
The torture left her with a variety of medical problems and in 1946 she was declared 100 per cent disabled as a result of 'exhaustion neurosis' by a secret pensions tribunal.
She was granted the maximum allowable pension of £175-a-year - equivalent to £4,500 today - but twelve months later this was cut to £140 without explanation.
By 1948 Miss Nearne was receiving just £87 and 10 shillings and in 1950 this was cut off entirely when she went to stay in France for a long term visit.
On her return to the UK in 1954 she contacted the Government giving the name of her doctor and asked for the payments to resume - but the request was refused. ...
- Daily Mail: Forgotten WWII spy tortured by the Nazis died penniless after her British pension was halted without explanation
- Herald Express: War heroine Eileen had pension cut off
- Daily Telegraph Special Forces Obituaries: Eileen Nearne
- BBC News: Funeral of WW2 spy Eileen Nearne takes place in Devon
