Eileen Younghusband

During World War II, Eileen le Croissette, later Eileen Younghusband, was an officer in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force. In this time, she encountered aliens.

In 1940, she signed the Official Secrets Act.

In 1942, she was assigned to Gulliver Base to work with the Egg, an aircraft of alien origin, after tracking its movements. There she met Edward Travers, and he recommended her to the Home-Army Fourth Operational Corps. (PROSE: The Flaming Soldier)

She often worked with Travers, but not always. (PROSE: Vampires of the Night)

She knew of Wing Commander Gordon Conall Lethbridge-Stewart, and even met him briefly during her service in the WAAF. (PROSE: The Flaming Soldier)

She married Peter Younghusband and circa 1956 she gave birth to Clive Younghusband.

In 1969, she visited her cousin Derek Younghusband shortly after he began working with Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart. Derek told her about his recent encounter with the Fungusmen. (PROSE: The Last Duty)

Later that year, she encountered Brigadier Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart and helped him repel the same aliens she had previous encountered at Gulliver Base in 1942. She was saddened to learn of Edward Travers' death.

In May 2013, she visited the grave of Major Randall to return his medals, which she'd had in her possession since 1969. (PROSE: The Flaming Soldier)

Behind the scenes
Eileen Younghusband existed in real life and many of the life details given in The Last Duty correspond with real life. She wrote three books for Candy Jar Books, the publishing company responsible for the Lethbridge-Setwart series. With Eileen's permission, the character Derek Younghusband was introduced into the Lethbridge-Stewart series in the short story The Band of Evil as Eileen's fictional cousin.

Eileen died on 2 September 2016, and the Lethbridge-Stewart short story The Last Duty was released shortly afterwards to honour her passing.