VERA LEIGH was one of a small number of brave and courageous young women of the SOE (Special Operations Executive) who gave their lives for this country during the Second World War.

Mrs E Speed (Time running out, Readers' Letters, May 8) reminds us of this Leeds girl who was executed by the Nazis in 1944, and wonders if there is any mention of this bravest of the brave on any plaque.

The answer is yes. On an outside wall of St Paul's Church in Wilton Place, Knightsbridge, London, there is a memorial plaque dedicated to 52 young women of the FANY (First Aid Nursing Yeomanry), and one of the names listed is V I Leigh.

Surprising though it may seem, I found this information in our local parish magazine for Brafferton, Helperby, Myton and Thormanby.

A young lady, Norah Stapylton, born at Myton Hall in 1909, was enlisted into the FANYs in 1938. She died while still serving, of an asthma attack, and her name also appears on the plaque in London.

It was suggested that a plaque to her should be erected in Myton Church, alongside the First World War memorial, and this was done and dedicated on July 10, 2005.

The part Norah played in the FANYs is not known, and her death in hospital in this country was peaceful compared with many of those named on the plaque; of whom 13 were executed by the Gestapo. Vera Leigh was one of the most courageous agents - her code name was Simone - and if her name does not appear on a plaque in her home city of Leeds, then it certainly should.

F David Bottomley,

Austin's Hill,

Brafferton,

Helperby.

Updated: 11:27 Thursday, May 18, 2006