Paddy O'Sullivan, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death
TweetPaddy O'Sullivan
member of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) during World War II
Date of Birth: 
Place of Birth: Dublin, Leinster, Ireland
About Paddy O'Sullivan
- Maureen Patricia "Paddy" O'Sullivan (3 January 1918 – 5 March 1994) was a member of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) during World War II and worked as a wireless operator for the French Section. Born in Dublin, Ireland in 1918, the daughter of John Aloysius O'Sullivan (1873–1949), an Irish journalist and a German mother, Johanna Repen (1889–1919), who died when Paddy was only 15 months old, she began her schooling at St Louis Convent in Dublin.
- At the age of seven she was sent to live with an aunt in Belgium.
- There she attended convent school in Coutrai and then the Athenée Royale in Ostend. At the beginning of the war she was a nurse working at Highgate Hospital in London.
- She joined the WAAF on 7 July 1941, as an Aircraft Handler General Duties, and was later promoted to Section officer. After joining the SOE, Paddy parachuted into Limoges on 23 March 1944.
- The weather was extremely foggy and the pilot suggested that they return to England, but Paddy was determined and she jumped.
- Landing heavily, she was temporarily concussed, but always said her life was saved by the 2 million francs strapped to her back.
- Paddy's alias was Micheline Marcelle Simonet and her cover story was that she was a 'dame de compagnie' of a doctor in Paris, where she helped the doctor in the surgery as well as with his children; she was taking one month's leave to look for a lost Belgian parent in the Creuse area. Following successful work with the Fireman network, Paddy returned to England on 5 October 1944.
- After her cover was blown in June 1945 she was posted to Force 136 in Calcutta as a liaison officer to work with the French.
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