Diana Rowden
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Diana Hope Rowden served in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force and was an agent for the United Kingdom's clandestine Special Operations Executive (SOE) during World War II. Rowden was a member of SOE's Acrobat circuit in occupied France where she operated as a courier until she was arrested by the Gestapo. She was subsequently executed at the Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp.
In WAAF uniform (circa 1942).
The old harbour in Cannes.
German troops in Paris (1940).
Westland Lysander Mk III (SD), the type used for special missions into occupied France during World War II.
Women's Auxiliary Air Force
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Photos
The Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF), whose members were referred to as WAAFs, was the female auxiliary of the British Royal Air Force during World War II. Established in 1939, WAAF numbers exceeded 181,000 at its peak strength in 1943, with over 2,000 women enlisting per week.
Poster
The first WAAF nursing orderlies selected to fly on air-ambulance duties to France, 1944
WAAF Recruitment poster
The Operations Room at RAF Fighter Command's No. 10 Group Headquarters, Rudloe Manor (RAF Box), Wiltshire, showing WAAF plotters and duty officers at work, 1943