27/04/2026
Norwich, GB 6 C
Researching and reporting on the lives of some really interesting people (RIP)

JAAK DAEMEN, aged 97

A resistance fighter who joined the Belgian SAS and was involved in the liberation of his home country and The Netherlands and was the first to enter Germany.

FREDDY NOCK, aged 59

A circus performer and tightrope walker who broke many records, performing daring and dangerous feats with no safety precautions -or no fear.

VADIM BAKATIN, aged 84

A Soviet businessman turned politician, he was appointed the last ever head of the KGB, reforming it – and making himself unpopular with the authorities.

ADOLFO KAMINSKY, aged 97

An amateur chemist who narrowly avoided the Holocaust, he became the Resistance’s master forger – the man the Nazis couldn’t catch. He saved thousands of lives.

ALLA OSIPENKO, aged 92

A great ballerina, she challenged the authority of the Soviet Union and was subsequently ostracised. She was a dancing partner of both Nureyev and Baryshnikov.

MARTHE COHN, aged 105

A Jewish nurse who became a French spy in Nazi Germany, putting her life in danger and taking enormous risks – but sending vital information to the Allies.

OLEG GORDIEVSKY, aged 86

A KGB officer, he became a double agent in the Cold War, spying for Britain. His escape from the USSR was audacious – but the Russians kept trying to kill him.

VALERIE ANDRE, aged 102

A trained doctor, she joined the French army and learned to fly helicopters, treating injured soldiers in battle. She was also the first female French general.

MADELEINE RIFFAUD, aged 100

A French resistance fighter who was tortured by the Gestapo, she played a key role in the liberation. She later served as a journalist in various war zones.

GRETA ANDERSEN, aged 95

A swimmer she won a gold medal at the Olympic Games but the nearly drowned. She then became an endurance swimmer holding many records that stand to this day.