Vera May Atkins CBE (15 June 1908 – 24 June 2000) [1] was a Romanian-born British intelligence officer who worked in the France Section of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) from 1941 to 1945 during the Second World War.

From age 7 to 15, which covered the last four years of the Second World War (1941–45), she danced in working men's club circuits for 15 shillings a time as "Baby Eileen". [4] During the war, she performed as well at London 's Stage Door canteen for American troops and sang songs like "Yankee Doodle."

Those that followed in her path included such brave women as Christine Granville, whose Jewish mother had been murdered by the Nazis in Warsaw, Poland and was determined to pay them back; Eileen Nearme, who would suffer a brutal captivity; and Odette Sansom whose undercover activities would inspire the 1950 film "Odette".

British intelligence agent Vera Atkins (1908-2000), as principal assistant in Britain's Special Operations Executive (SOE) secret service, administered some of the most sensitive secret operations carried out by Allied forces during World War II.

20 Jul 2022 · A portrait of world War II British spy Vera Atkins describes her recruitment at the age of twenty-five by the legendary spymaster William Stephenson, code name Intrepid, her work within Winston Churchill's covert intelligence agency and her pivotal work for Allied forces

The following is a list of female agents who served in the field for the Special Operations Executive (SOE) during World War II. SOE's objectives were to conduct espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance in occupied Europe (and later, also in occupied Southeast Asia) against the Axis powers, and to aid local resistance movements.

From age 7 to 15, which covered the last four years of WW2, she danced in local working men’s clubs as "Baby Eileen". Another of our contacts, Sheila Brimmer (nee Frost), went to the same dance school as Eileen in Tottenham and kindly sent …

Let’s dive a little deeper into some inspirational female spies who made a huge difference in World War II. 1. Vera Atkins. Romanian-born Vera Atkins worked in the France Section of the SOE (the Special Operations Executive) in the Second World War.

16 Dec 2011 · It exam­ines the life of Vera Atkins and her work with the Spe­cial Oper­a­tions Exec­u­tive (SOE), a secret British orga­ni­za­tion. The SOE sent 400 resis­tance fight­ers, men and women, into France and oth­er nations occu­pied by Nazis. The tale of their work as spies is often har­row­ing and always well-documented.

In 1941, she joined the Special Operations Executive (SOE), a British intelligence agency tasked with conducting espionage, sabotage, and reconnaissance operations behind enemy lines during World War II. Atkins quickly rose through the ranks and became one of the agency’s most influential members.