Name Lorraine Copeland Years of service 1940–1942 Role Archaeologist | Rank Field agent Awards MBE, DSC Books Deeds of Darkness | |
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Service/branch Special Operations ExecutiveOffice of Strategic Services Relations Miles Copeland, Jr. (husband), Miles Copeland III (son), Ian Copeland (son), Lorraine Copeland (daughter), Stewart Copeland (son) Spouse Miles Copeland Jr. (m. 1942–1991) Children Stewart Copeland, Miles Copeland III, Ian Copeland, Lennie Copeland Grandchildren Scott Copeland, Jordan Copeland Similar People Born 1921 (age 91–92), Edinburgh, Scotland Died 27 April 2013 (aged 91–92) Dordogne, France Allegiance United Kingdom Other work Archaeology | ||
Lorraine Copeland (born Elizabeth Lorraine Adie, 1921, died 27 April 2013) was an archaeologist specialising in the Palaeolithic period of the Near East. She was a secret agent with the Special Operations Executive during World War II. She had four children all of whom went on to prominent positions in their respective industries.
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Early life
Born Elizabeth Lorraine Adie in Scotland, she was the daughter of a prominent Harley Street neurosurgeon. She was privately educated at Wycombe Abbey in Buckinghamshire.
Special Operations Executive
Copeland worked for British Intelligence during the Second World War, in the Special Operations Executive. She met her American husband, Miles Copeland, Jr., during this period, when he was based in the UK undertaking counter-intelligence for the OSS (Office of Strategic Services). They married on 25 September 1942 and soon afterwards Miles' work took them to the Near East, particularly Syria, Lebanon and Egypt, and it was whilst in this area that Copeland first developed her interest in archaeology.
Archaeology
Copeland worked in the field of Palaeolithic archaeology for over fifty years, and was associated with the University College London Institute of Archaeology. She was an adviser to the Stone Age Institute. In 2004 the festschrift "From the River to the Sea: The Palaeolithic and the Neolithic on the Euphrates and in the Northern Levant " was published in her honour.
Family
Copeland married Miles on 25 September 1942 at St Mary's Church, Great Portland Street, London. The couple had four children, all of whom went on to have notable careers; their eldest son Miles Copeland III (born 2 May 1944) as an executive in the entertainment industry, Ian Copeland (born 25 April 1949) as a music promoter and booking agent, Lorraine "Lennie" Copeland as a writer and film producer and Stewart Copeland (born 16 July 1952) as a musician best known as the drummer for the band The Police. Her husband Miles Jr. died in February 1991, and her son Ian predeceased her in May 2006. Lorraine Copeland died at Chateau Marouatte in Dordogne, France, on 27 April 2013.