Sisters, Secrets and Sacrifice: The True Story of WWII Special Agents Eileen and Jacqueline Nearne. Susan Ottaway

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СКАЧАТЬ and sometimes came through garbled, it enabled those decoding the transmission to sort out what was actually being said by applying their own knowledge of who it was that had sent it and what the general situation in the circuit concerned had been. On the downside the regular broadcast and reception times gave the enemy, who used fairly sophisticated direction-finding equipment, the knowledge of when to expect an operator to be transmitting. This made it far easier for them to locate the place from which the broadcast was being sent. To circumvent this danger, agents were told to ‘constantly move set and/or aerial’. This again seemed sensible until one realized quite how difficult it was to find a safe house from which to transmit. Having several places was an almost unheard of luxury. Didi, who worked hard on her course, was yet to discover the anomalies of the security training she was receiving.

      Having completed the course at the end of January 1944, she was confident that she had done her very best. She felt that she had benefited from the training and she had enjoyed the company of her fellow students. She knew that her ability with Morse code was good, and she was in no doubt that her final report would be fine and that she would soon be leaving for her new life in France. She wondered what part of the country she would be sent to, with whom she would be working and what her new life would be like. But when Colonel Buckmaster received her final report, he was not pleased by what it said.

      The report, dated 26 January 1944, was written by 36-year-old Major John H. Wedgwood (the great-great-great-grandson of Josiah Wedgwood, the master potter), who said:

      She is not very intelligent or practical and is lacking in shrewdness and cunning. She has a bad memory, is inaccurate and scatterbrained. She seems keen but her work was handicapped by lack of the power to concentrate.

      In character she is very ‘feminine’ and immature; she seems to lack all experience of the world and would probably be easily influenced by others.

      She is lively and amusing and has considerable charm and social gifts. She talks a lot and is anxious to draw attention to herself, but was generally liked by the other students.

      It is doubtful whether this student is suitable for employment in any capacity on account of her lack of experience.

      Had any of Didi’s friends been able to read this report, they would have been puzzled. It was simply not a true reflection of the caring friend they knew and loved. Her family would not have recognized what had been written about Didi either. Jacqueline thought of her sister as being the odd one out in the family but not because she was frivolous, attention seeking or unintelligent: quite the opposite. She was sometimes playful and light-hearted but she also had a serious side, she was very intelligent and her whole life was directed by her religious beliefs. The report was so scornful that it was difficult not to think that Major Wedgwood either had a personal dislike of Didi or perhaps had mistaken her for someone else, as unlikely as that seemed. A second reading of the offending document, however, would have revealed that he understood some aspects of her character. He, like Jacqueline and Captain Jepson, who had conducted Didi’s initial interview for the SOE, had recognized her immaturity and her inexperience; those close to her would also have acknowledged that she was lively and amusing. But not only was Wedgwood completely off the mark when he said that she was anxious to draw attention to herself but his opinion that Didi would probably be easily influenced by others was just that – an opinion – and had no real basis in fact. Perhaps the only person who would have been able to influence Didi to any extent was her sister and, despite being in France, Jacqueline would not be working with her.

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