User:Cthirlwall/sandbox

Nicola Pauline Marie Trahan, MBE (1926 – 2024 ) was a teenage Special Operations Executive (SOE) agent during the Second World War. She was later awarded an MBE for her work with Soldiers', Sailors', and Airmen's Families Association (SSAFA).

Early life
Trahan was born in the Pas de Calais in 1926. Her parents were Jeanne Marie Laure (born Bourzes) and André Jean Emile Trahan. Until 1940 she attended an international school but when the German army invaded France then her family moved to Britain. She joined the SOE when she was sixteen, although it has been said later that the youngest agents were 20. She was a courier for three years making three visits to occupied France.

Comparisons
Forty-one female Section F SOE agents served in France, some for more than two years, most for only a few months. Twenty-six of them survived World War II. Twelve were executed including Violet Szabo, one was killed when her ship was sunk, two died of disease while imprisoned, and one died of natural causes.

Awards and honours
The croix de guerre avec étoile de bronze was awarded by the French government in 1949 and the Médaille de la Résistance in 1948. She became a British citizen in 1957.

In 1988 she became an Member of The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the New Years Honours list. The MBE was for her work as a health visitor with the Soldiers', Sailors', and Airmen's Families Association (SSAFA).