Resistance heroine dies aged 105

Andree Peel, known as Agent Rose, survived a Nazi firing squad and helped a string of British and American pilots flee occupied Europe.

Winston Churchill wrote her a personal letter of congratulation, which had to be destroyed once she had read it for security reasons. She was awarded a second Legion d'Honneur last year in recognition of her bravery.

Born Andree Virot, she moved to England after meeting future husband John Peel.

The pensioner, who died on Friday, had been living at the Lampton House care home in Long Ashton, Bristol.

Manager Sherry Kitchen said today: "She was lovely – an amazing character with such a strong spirit."

At the time of the Nazi invasion, Ms Virot owned a beauty salon in Brest, France. She joined the Resistance and guided Allied planes to makeshift landing strips, using torches. Dozens of airmen were then smuggled on to submarines and gunboats across the coast.

Facing execution at Buchenwald concentration camp, she was spared when the firing squad fled from approaching American forces.0Although her husband died some years ago, she later found companionship with Brian Westaway, a fellow Lampton House resident.