“In May 1944, at the age of 23, Pippa parachuted into occupied Normandy to gather intelligence on Nazi positions in preparation for D-Day. Over the coming months, she would secretly relay 135 coded messages to the British military before France’s liberation in August.”
National Vice President of the RSA, Rear Admiral (Retired) Jack Steer, MNZM, said the RSA was incredibly saddened to hear of Doyle’s passing.
“She lived through events we could not even imagine, and showed the kind of courage that legends are written about.
“Her efforts as a covert operative in occupied France during World War II were extraordinary, made even more so by the fact that she was relying on her own wits and determination to survive behind enemy lines.
“The RSA extends its deepest condolences to Pippa’s family, friends, and all who had the immense privilege of knowing her.”
Willie Apiata, VC, shares a joke. Photo / Richard Robinson
Doyle had been trained in radio skills, surveillance, sabotage, map-reading and self-defence before she arrived, but used her wit and fluency in Flemish to remain undetected among German soldiers.
She had three codenames (Genevieve, Plus Fours and Lampooner) and bicycled around the rural French countryside appearing friendly and talkative, selling soap to mostly German soldiers.
Doyle would hide her codes on pieces of silk, which she would wrap around a knitting needle and put inside a flat shoelace she used to tie her hair.
This method successfully kept the codes secret even after one occasion in which Doyle was taken to the police station to be questioned and searched.
Doyle eventually settled in New Zealand, bringing her children up in Auckland after living in Kenya, Fiji and Australia after the war.
She was appointed an additional Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1945 for her services during the German occupation of France, and a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour (Knight of the Legion of Honour) by the French government in 2014.
