Diana Rowden
Encyclopedia
Diana Hope Rowden MBE
(31 January 1915 - 6 July 1944) was a Special Operations Executive
(SOE) member who was executed in a Nazi concentration camp.
, the daughter of British Army Major Aldred Rowden and his wife Muriel Christian (nee Maitland-Makgill). Her parents separated and she moved with her mother and two younger brothers, Maurice Edward Alfred and Cecil William Aldred Rowden, to southern France
when she was still a young girl. She attended schools in Sanremo
and Cannes
on the French Riviera
, but her family soon returned to England, settling at Hadlow Down
, near Mayfield, East Sussex
, where she continued her education at Manor House School in Limpsfield
, Surrey
. In 1933, she returned to France and enrolled at the Sorbonne
, before finding employment as a journalist in Paris
.
and Portugal
.
In September 1941, she joined the Women's Auxiliary Air Force
, working at the Department of the Chief of Air Staff as Assistant Section Officer for Intelligence duties, before being posted in July 1942 to Moreton-in-Marsh
, where she was promoted to Section Officer
.
During a brief hospitalisation in the West Country, Rowden met a convalescing pilot who had been working for the French Section of SOE. She first came to the attention of the Special Operations Executive when Harry Sporborg, a senior SOE staff member, saw her file and requested that she be appointed his secretary. Having already joined the WAAF, she began military training instead. Some months later, she happened to meet Squadron Leader
William Simpson, who worked part-time for SOE and with whom she discussed her desire to return to France and take part in resistance work.
, in the Loire Valley
, in occupied France with fellow-agents Noor Inayat Khan
and Cecily Lefort
, where they were met by Henri Dericourt
, the air movements officer for F section. From there, she made her way to St. Amour where she was assigned to the Acrobat network, led by John Renshaw Starr
.
Her duties included acting as a courier, delivering messages to other agents and members of the underground in Marseille
, Lyon
, and Paris
. She also helped agent Harry Rée
plan the destruction of the Peugeot
factory at Sochaux
, where tank turrets and aircraft engine parts were made. A month after Rowden's arrival, network leader Starr was arrested. Rowden and wireless operator John Young took refuge with a French family at the village of Clairvaux-les-Lacs
, near Lons-le-Saunier
.
, the Paris headquarters of the Sicherheitsdienst
, where she was interrogated for two weeks before being sent to Fresnes prison
.
On 13 May 1944, Diana Rowden, along with arrested SOE agents Sonya Olschanezky
, Andrée Borrel
, Yolande Beekman
, Vera Leigh
, Eliane Plewman
, Odette Sansom-Hallowes
, and Madeleine Damerment
were moved to concentration camps in Germany
. Only Sansom-Hallowes survived the war.
On 6 July 1944, Rowden, Leigh, Borrel, and Olschanezky were shipped to the Natzweiler-Struthof
concentration camp in the Vosges Mountains
of Alsace
(France
), where they are thought to have been injected with phenol
and disposed of in the crematorium. They were meant to disappear without a trace, but their arrival at the concentration camp was witnessed by captured SOE agent Brian Stonehouse
and Albert Guérisse
, a member of the Belgian Resistance.
and Mentioned in Despatches and in France she was appointed a Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur
and awarded the Croix de Guerre 1939-1945. Her name is registered with the Scottish National War Memorial
in Edinburgh Castle
, at the Runnymede Memorial in Surrey
, England
, and on the "Roll of Honour" on the Valençay SOE Memorial
in the town of Valençay
, in the Indre
département of France.
The concentration camp where she died is a now a French government historical site: a plaque to Rowden and the three women who died with her is part of the Deportation Memorial on the site. In 1985, SOE agent and painter Brian Stonehouse
, who saw Rowden and the other female SOE agents at the Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp just before their deaths, painted a watercolour of the four women which now hangs in the Special Forces Club
in London
.
MBE
MBE can stand for:* Mail Boxes Etc.* Management by exception* Master of Bioethics* Master of Bioscience Enterprise* Master of Business Engineering* Master of Business Economics* Mean Biased Error...
(31 January 1915 - 6 July 1944) was a Special Operations Executive
Special Operations Executive
The Special Operations Executive was a World War II organisation of the United Kingdom. It was officially formed by Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton on 22 July 1940, to conduct guerrilla warfare against the Axis powers and to instruct and aid local...
(SOE) member who was executed in a Nazi concentration camp.
Early life
Born in EnglandEngland
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, the daughter of British Army Major Aldred Rowden and his wife Muriel Christian (nee Maitland-Makgill). Her parents separated and she moved with her mother and two younger brothers, Maurice Edward Alfred and Cecil William Aldred Rowden, to southern France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
when she was still a young girl. She attended schools in Sanremo
Sanremo
Sanremo or San Remo is a city with about 57,000 inhabitants on the Mediterranean coast of western Liguria in north-western Italy. Founded in Roman times, the city is best known as a tourist destination on the Italian Riviera. It hosts numerous cultural events, such as the Sanremo Music Festival...
and Cannes
Cannes
Cannes is one of the best-known cities of the French Riviera, a busy tourist destination and host of the annual Cannes Film Festival. It is a Commune of France in the Alpes-Maritimes department....
on the French Riviera
French Riviera
The Côte d'Azur, pronounced , often known in English as the French Riviera , is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France, also including the sovereign state of Monaco...
, but her family soon returned to England, settling at Hadlow Down
Hadlow Down
Hadlow Down is a village and civil parish in the Wealden District of East Sussex, England. It is located on the A272 road three miles north-east of Heathfield. The parish is within the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty...
, near Mayfield, East Sussex
East Sussex
East Sussex is a county in South East England. It is bordered by the counties of Kent, Surrey and West Sussex, and to the south by the English Channel.-History:...
, where she continued her education at Manor House School in Limpsfield
Limpsfield
Limpsfield is a village and parish in the east of the county of Surrey, England near Oxted at the foot of the North Downs. It lies between the A25 to the south and the M25 motorway to the north, near the Clackett Lane service station...
, Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
. In 1933, she returned to France and enrolled at the Sorbonne
University of Paris
The University of Paris was a university located in Paris, France and one of the earliest to be established in Europe. It was founded in the mid 12th century, and officially recognized as a university probably between 1160 and 1250...
, before finding employment as a journalist in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
.
WW2 service
When the Second World War began, she joined the French Red Cross, being assigned to the Anglo-American Ambulance Corps. The Allied collapse in May 1940 prevented her evacuation from France and she remained there until the summer of 1941 when she escaped to England via SpainSpain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
and Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
.
In September 1941, she joined the Women's Auxiliary Air Force
Women's Auxiliary Air Force
The Women's Auxiliary Air Force , whose members were invariably referred to as Waafs , was the female auxiliary of the Royal Air Force during World War II, established in 1939. At its peak strength, in 1943, WAAF numbers exceeded 180,000, with over 2,000 women enlisting per week.A Women's Royal Air...
, working at the Department of the Chief of Air Staff as Assistant Section Officer for Intelligence duties, before being posted in July 1942 to Moreton-in-Marsh
Moreton-in-Marsh
Moreton-in-Marsh is a town and civil parish in northeastern Gloucestershire, England. The town is at the crossroads of the Fosse Way Roman road and the A44. The parish and environs are relatively flat and low-lying compared with the surrounding Cotswold Hills...
, where she was promoted to Section Officer
Section Officer
Section Officer may be:*The equivalent rank to Flying Officer in the British Women's Auxiliary Air Force*The equivalent rank to Sergeant in some British Special ConstabulariesDefinition:...
.
During a brief hospitalisation in the West Country, Rowden met a convalescing pilot who had been working for the French Section of SOE. She first came to the attention of the Special Operations Executive when Harry Sporborg, a senior SOE staff member, saw her file and requested that she be appointed his secretary. Having already joined the WAAF, she began military training instead. Some months later, she happened to meet Squadron Leader
Squadron Leader
Squadron Leader is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is also sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank in countries which have a non-English air force-specific rank structure. In these...
William Simpson, who worked part-time for SOE and with whom she discussed her desire to return to France and take part in resistance work.
SOE work
In early March 1943, she received an invitation to a preliminary interview with an officer of SOE F Section, and on 18 March began her training. On 16 June 1943 she was flown to a location north-east of AngersAngers
Angers is the main city in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France about south-west of Paris. Angers is located in the French region known by its pre-revolutionary, provincial name, Anjou, and its inhabitants are called Angevins....
, in the Loire Valley
Loire Valley
The Loire Valley , spanning , is located in the middle stretch of the Loire River in central France. Its area comprises approximately . It is referred to as the Cradle of the French Language, and the Garden of France due to the abundance of vineyards, fruit orchards, and artichoke, asparagus, and...
, in occupied France with fellow-agents Noor Inayat Khan
Noor Inayat Khan
Assistant Section Officer Noor Inayat Khan / Nora Baker, GC, MBE , usually known as Noor Inayat Khan was of Indian Muslim origin...
and Cecily Lefort
Cecily Lefort
Cecily Lefort was a British SOE agent, during World War II.-Early life:Born as Cecily Margot MacKenzie in London of Scottish ancestry, she lived on the coast of Brittany in France from the age of 24 with her French husband, Dr...
, where they were met by Henri Dericourt
Henri Dericourt
Henri Dericourt was a French agent for Special Operations Executive. There is ambiguity as to whether he became a double agent for the Sicherheitsdienst , or was working under British instructions.-Life and work:...
, the air movements officer for F section. From there, she made her way to St. Amour where she was assigned to the Acrobat network, led by John Renshaw Starr
John Renshaw Starr
John Renshaw Starr , was one of two sons of Alfred Demarest Starr and Ethel Renshaw . He was a grandson of William Robert Renshaw. He was an artist and a soldier during the Second World War. His story is told in a book, The Starr Affair, by Jean Overton Fuller.-Military career:When war broke out...
.
Her duties included acting as a courier, delivering messages to other agents and members of the underground in Marseille
Marseille
Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
, Lyon
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
, and Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. She also helped agent Harry Rée
Harry Rée
Harry Alfred Rée DSO OBE was a British educationist and wartime member of the Special Operations Executive.Harry Rée was born in England, the son of Dr Alfred Rée, a chemist who was descended from an illustrious Danish Jewish family, and Lavinia Dimmick, the American-born great granddaughter of...
plan the destruction of the Peugeot
Peugeot
Peugeot is a major French car brand, part of PSA Peugeot Citroën, the second largest carmaker based in Europe.The family business that precedes the current Peugeot company was founded in 1810, and manufactured coffee mills and bicycles. On 20 November 1858, Emile Peugeot applied for the lion...
factory at Sochaux
Sochaux
Sochaux is a commune in the Doubs department in the Franche-Comté region in eastern France.-Population:Inhabitants are known as Sochaliens.-Economy:...
, where tank turrets and aircraft engine parts were made. A month after Rowden's arrival, network leader Starr was arrested. Rowden and wireless operator John Young took refuge with a French family at the village of Clairvaux-les-Lacs
Clairvaux-les-Lacs
Clairvaux-les-Lacs is a commune in the Jura department in Franche-Comté in eastern France.-World heritage site:It is home to one or more prehistoric pile-dwelling settlements that are part of the Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps UNESCO World Heritage Site.-References:*...
, near Lons-le-Saunier
Lons-le-Saunier
Lons-le-Saunier is a commune and capital of the Jura department in eastern France.-Geography:The town is in the heart of the Revermont region, at the foot of the "premier plateau" of the Jura massif...
.
Capture and death
In mid-November 1943, they were told by wireless from Baker Street to expect the arrival of a new agent. On 18 November, the new arrival appeared, but turned out to be a false agent planted by the Germans. Rowden and Young were arrested that evening and taken to Lons-le-Saunier. The next day Rowden was taken to 84 Avenue Foch84 Avenue Foch
Number 84 Avenue Foch was a building in Paris used by the Gestapo during the German occupation of Paris in World War II.The location is found on Avenue Foch, a wide residential boulevard in the XVIe arrondissement which connects the Arc de Triomphe and the Porte Dauphine.During the German...
, the Paris headquarters of the Sicherheitsdienst
Sicherheitsdienst
Sicherheitsdienst , full title Sicherheitsdienst des Reichsführers-SS, or SD, was the intelligence agency of the SS and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany. The organization was the first Nazi Party intelligence organization to be established and was often considered a "sister organization" with the...
, where she was interrogated for two weeks before being sent to Fresnes prison
Fresnes Prison
Fresnes Prison is the second largest prison in France, located in the town of Fresnes, Val-de-Marne South of Paris...
.
On 13 May 1944, Diana Rowden, along with arrested SOE agents Sonya Olschanezky
Sonya Olschanezky
Sonya Olschanezky was a member of the French Resistance during World War II. The daughter of a Russian Jew, Eli Olschanezky, a chemical engineer who worked as a sales representative for a manufacturer of ladies' stockings, she was seven years old when the family moved to Paris, France and her...
, Andrée Borrel
Andrée Borrel
Andrée Raymonde Borrel was a French heroine of World War II.-Early life:Andrée Borrel was born into a working-class family in Louveciennes, Yvelines in the suburbs of Paris, growing up an active girl who liked hiking and most other outdoor activities...
, Yolande Beekman
Yolande Beekman
Yolande Beekman was a World War II spy.-Early life:...
, Vera Leigh
Vera Leigh
Vera Leigh was a British spy during World War II who assisted the French Resistance. In 1944 she was captured by the Germans and executed.-Early life:...
, Eliane Plewman
Eliane Plewman
Eliane Plewman was a French SOE agent and member of French resistance.Plewman was born Eliane Browne-Bartroli in Marseille. The daughter of an English father and Spanish mother, she was educated in England and in Spain...
, Odette Sansom-Hallowes
Odette Sansom
Odette Sansom Hallowes GC, MBE, Chevalier de la légion d'honneur was an Allied heroine of the Second World War.-Early years:...
, and Madeleine Damerment
Madeleine Damerment
Madeleine Zoe Damerment was a World War II spy.-Biography:...
were moved to concentration camps in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. Only Sansom-Hallowes survived the war.
On 6 July 1944, Rowden, Leigh, Borrel, and Olschanezky were shipped to the Natzweiler-Struthof
Natzweiler-Struthof
Natzweiler-Struthof was a German concentration camp located in the Vosges Mountains close to the Alsatian village of Natzwiller in France, and the town of Schirmeck, about 50 km south west from the city of Strasbourg....
concentration camp in the Vosges Mountains
Vosges mountains
For the department of France of the same name, see Vosges.The Vosges are a range of low mountains in eastern France, near its border with Germany. They extend along the west side of the Rhine valley in a northnortheast direction, mainly from Belfort to Saverne...
of Alsace
Alsace
Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...
(France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
), where they are thought to have been injected with phenol
Phenol
Phenol, also known as carbolic acid, phenic acid, is an organic compound with the chemical formula C6H5OH. It is a white crystalline solid. The molecule consists of a phenyl , bonded to a hydroxyl group. It is produced on a large scale as a precursor to many materials and useful compounds...
and disposed of in the crematorium. They were meant to disappear without a trace, but their arrival at the concentration camp was witnessed by captured SOE agent Brian Stonehouse
Brian Stonehouse
Brian Julian Stonehouse MBE was a British painter and Special Operations Executive agent during World War II.He was born in Torquay, England. When his family moved to France, he went to school in Wimereux, Pas-de-Calais...
and Albert Guérisse
Albert Guérisse
Major-General Comte Albert-Marie Edmond Guérisse, GC, KBE, DSO was a Belgian Resistance member who organized escape routes for downed Allied pilots during World War II under the alias of Patrick Albert "Pat" O'Leary, the name of a Canadian friend...
, a member of the Belgian Resistance.
Posthumous
Posthumously, she was appointed a Member of the Order of the British EmpireOrder of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
and Mentioned in Despatches and in France she was appointed a Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur
Légion d'honneur
The Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...
and awarded the Croix de Guerre 1939-1945. Her name is registered with the Scottish National War Memorial
Scottish National War Memorial
The Scottish National War Memorial is located in Edinburgh Castle, and commemorates Scottish soldiers, and those serving with Scottish regiments, who died in the two world wars and in more recent conflicts. The monument was formally opened in 1927...
in Edinburgh Castle
Edinburgh Castle
Edinburgh Castle is a fortress which dominates the skyline of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, from its position atop the volcanic Castle Rock. Human habitation of the site is dated back as far as the 9th century BC, although the nature of early settlement is unclear...
, at the Runnymede Memorial in Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, and on the "Roll of Honour" on the Valençay SOE Memorial
Valençay SOE Memorial
The Valençay SOE Memorial is a monument to the members of the Special Operations Executive F Section who lost their lives for the liberation of France. The memorial was unveiled in the town of Valençay in the Indre département of France on May 6, 1991, marking the fiftieth anniversary of the...
in the town of Valençay
Valençay
Valençay is a commune in the Indre department in central France.-Geography:Valençay is situated in the Loire Valley on a hillside overlooking the River Nahon.-History:...
, in the Indre
Indre
Indre is a department in the center of France named after the river Indre. The inhabitants of the department are called Indriens.-History:Indre is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
département of France.
The concentration camp where she died is a now a French government historical site: a plaque to Rowden and the three women who died with her is part of the Deportation Memorial on the site. In 1985, SOE agent and painter Brian Stonehouse
Brian Stonehouse
Brian Julian Stonehouse MBE was a British painter and Special Operations Executive agent during World War II.He was born in Torquay, England. When his family moved to France, he went to school in Wimereux, Pas-de-Calais...
, who saw Rowden and the other female SOE agents at the Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp just before their deaths, painted a watercolour of the four women which now hangs in the Special Forces Club
Special Forces Club
The Special Forces Club was founded by surviving members of the Special Operations Executive , in 1946. "The Club", as it is simply known by its members, was established for all secret agents as a home in London....
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.