Yvonne Cormeau, born Beatrice Yvonne Biesterfeld, code name Annette, was an agent of the United Kingdom's clandestine organization, the Special Operations Executive (SOE), in World War II. She was the wireless operator for the Wheelwright network led by George Starr in southwestern France from August 1943 until the liberation of France from Nazi German occupation in September 1944. The purpose of SOE was to conduct espionage, sabotage, and reconnaissance in occupied Europe against the Axis powers. SOE agents allied themselves with French Resistance groups and supplied them with weapons and equipment parachuted in from England. Cormeau was acclaimed for the quality and quantity of her wireless transmissions. SOE cryptographer Leo Marks said that in more than 400 transmissions Cormeau never made a single mistake. Cormeau also survived an unusually long time for wireless operators who were vulnerable to detection and capture by the German occupiers. She was a recipient of the Order of the British Empire from the United Kingdom and the Legion of Honor and Croix de Guerre from France.
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