VERA ATKINS

'Vera Atkins' (June 16, 1908 - June 24, 2000) was a British Intelligence Officer during World War II.

Contents

Early life

World War II

After the war

"Into The Dark"

Bibliography

Early life

She was born 'Vera Maria Rosenberg' to a Jewish family in Bucharest, Romania, on 16 June 1908. Her family emigrated to England in 1933 but after a couple of years moved to France. She enrolled at the Sorbonne in Paris to study modern languages before attending finishing school at Lausanne. The surname 'Atkins' was her mother's maiden name which she adopted as her own. She was a cousin of Rudolf Vrba.

World War II

In May 1940 she returned to England and in February 1941 she joined the French section of the Special Operations Executive (SOE). She remained a civilian until August 1944 when she was commissioned a squadron leader in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF). She was officially the section's intelligence officer while serving as assistant to section head Maurice Buckmaster.

After the war

When the allied victory in Europe was accomplished, she went to Germany. Her self-appointed mission was to investigate the fate of the 118 F section agents who had disappeared in enemy territory. She succeeded in every case except one.
In 1987 she was appointed Commandeur of the Légion d'Honneur. She retired to Winchelsea, Sussex and died in a nursing home in Hastings on June 24, 2000, aged 92.
Her gravestone is in Zennor churchyard in Cornwall, with the name Vera May Atkins, Legion D'Honneur Croix de Guerre.

"Into The Dark"

Recorded interviews with Vera Atkins are used in "Into the Dark", a short film directed by Genevieve Simms.

Bibliography

★ A Life in Secrets: The Story of Vera Atkins and the Lost Agents of SOE, Sarah Helm, , , Little, Brown, 2005, 0-316-72497-1

★ Spymistress: The Life of Vera Atkins, the Greatest Female Secret Agent of World War II, William Stevenson, , , Arcade Publishing, 2006, 978-1559707633