Elaine Madden

Elaine Marie Madden aka Meeus, aka Iomgen (7 May 1923 – 2012) was a Belgian-born British agent of the Special Operations Executive during the Second World War. She was born in Poperinghe, Belgium, and attended the British Memorial School in Ypres. She died in 2012 in Pont-Saint-Esprit, France.

Early life Elaine was born to a Belgian mother, Caroline Duponselle, and an Australian father, Larry Madden, who was employed by the Imperial War Graves Commission. Elaine was the couple's only child. Her mother was 32 and died of septicaemia after a miscarriage when Elaine was nine or ten.

Her father Larry's drinking, already a problem, was worsened by the loss of his wife. His work ended with the war graves commission in March 1932, although records don't say if he left or was dismissed. Elaine remembers him saying, "I don't want her [Elaine], she looks too much like her mother". Later, after continuing in a spiral of drinking and gambling the Duponselle family paid for Larry to go to Britain where he joined the army and Elaine lost touch with him. Following her father's rejection, Elaine was sent to live with her grandparents in Poperinghe. They owned the Palace Hotel on the Rue d' Ypres in the town. She was initially schooled at the British Memorial School in Ypres but her grandparents sent away to school at a boarding convent. There she had to wear a uniform of thick black stockings and an ankle length tunic. After only a few weeks there Elaine took a pair of scissors to her uniform, cutting the tunic knee length and stockings at the ankles. After this act of rebellion the convent asked her grandparents to remove her from the school and she re-joined the British school at Ypres. In her senior year at the school Elaine was appointed an 'Elder' which was a school prefect.

Elaine became aware that her Belgian family cared for her out of obligation rather than choice. At the age of 16 she was pleased to get out to London where she attended secretarial college. However, on a Christmas visit to Poperinghe a quarrel erupted between her grandmother and Uncle Charles regarding Elaine's education. Upset at this Elaine said she wouldn't go back to college, the family wouldn't have to pay for her any further.

The London Blitz After arriving in Britain Elaine found work as a clerk for the British Relay Wireless Company while lodging at a flat near Fleet Street in London. Her nights were spent with the Women's Voluntary Service (WVS) assisting Air Raid Precautions (ARP) personnel searching bombed out buildings for survivors during the London Blitz. This work led her to study for her Red Cross certificates in Home Nursing and First Aid as she wanted to be of more practical assistance to casualties. Recalling the period Elaine said -