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| 16 Nov 2023 | |
| Written by Isabel Miller de Vega | |
| Births, Deaths and Marriages |
Anne Ponsonby, who has died aged 98, was an Old Fish (New Hall alumna). She was the wireless operator with the Special Operations Executive (SOE) who first heard of the D-Day landings in Normandy.
Born in Peshawar, India to a Brigadier in the Indian Army, Anne was sent to England to board at New Hall at age 12, in 1936, under the watchful eye of the Prioress of the English Canonesses of the Holy Sepulchre, Reverend Mother Mary Christina O’Donnell.
In August 1943, after she heard her friend was joining, Anne signed up to the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry, with sponsorship from both her father and Mother Christina O’Donnell, Prioress.
By the time Anne joined the Nursing Yeomanry, young women as agents in the field had become wireless operators, and within a few weeks she had signed the Official Secrets Act and she and her fellow recruits were told about the Special Operations Executive, set up by Winston Churchill. She served from 1943-1945, listening to specific frequencies for wireless transmissions from agents in the field, decoding messages with accuracy, and used Morse code to send and receive messaged from the French Resistance.
Anne in her First Aid Nursing Yeomanry uniform - The Telegraph
Anne was on watch on 6 June 1944 when she heard in plain language “Vive la France, vive l’Angleterre, vive les Allies” repeated. She and her fellow operators realised that it must have been the start of D-Day when the Allies landed in France. They celebrated with warm beer and Spam sandwiches.
After the war, Anne was recruited to MI6, before postings with her husband to Cyprus, Beirut, Indonesia, Nairobi, Rome, and Mongolia.
In 2015-16 she was awarded a belated 1939-1945 war service medal. And in 2019 she was appointed to the Légion d’honneur by the French government – France’s highest honour.
Anne Ponsonby died on Tuesday 3 October 2023 in her nursing home near Winchester. She is survived by her daughters, Belinda, a diplomat’s wife, and Emma, who with her husband Bryn Parry founded Help for Heroes. Both of her daughters also attended New Hall School.
