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| Mary Herbert |
Mary Herbert
was born 1903 in Ireland. After the
outbreak of World War 2, she went to work in the British Embassy in Warsaw,
before becoming a Civilian Translator for the Air Ministry in London. She spoke many languages including French and
German.
In 1941, she joined the WAAF (Women’s
Auxiliary Air Force) as a general duties and intelligence clerk. Then in 1942, she requested to be released
from the WAAF in order to join the SOE (Special Operations Executive).
After completing her SOE training in
1942, Mary travelled to Bordeaux in France.
Here she acted as a courier for the Scientistcircuit under the codename ‘Claudine’. It was her job to liase with the different
scientist groups and transport messages.
She was also used to seek out ‘safe houses’ and find potential recruits
for the SOE.
In 1944, ‘Claudine’ was arrested by
the Gestapo in Poitiers. She endured
many months in prison under harsh conditions.
She was tortured many times but told the Germans nothing. The whole time she managed to stick to her
story, that she was a French woman from Egypt.
Her knowledge of the French language and a previous trip to Cairo meant
that she was able to pull it off. The Germans
finally released her and she hid in Poitiers until the end of the war.
Later in life, she worked as a
translator and language teacher, but suffered from a deep depression and
committed suicide in 1983 at the age of 79.
She was one of the few women who never received any medals, for the
bravery they showed whilst working for the British resistance during WW2.
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