Her selfless courage and gritty determination earned her a clutch of medals and status as a national heroine.

But after a life in which she saved more than 100 servicemen, survived a concentration camp and cheated death at least three times, the sun has finally set on the story of remarkable French Resistance agent Andree Peel.

The 105-year-old from Long Ashton died on Friday from pneumonia contracted after a hip operation.

Friends are now organising a memorial service to honour her incredible achievements.

Mrs Peel was known as Agent Rose during World War II, risking her life for the French Resistance by helping British and American pilots escape from occupied Europe.

She later moved to Long Ashton with her husband John Peel, an Englishman she met while in France, and the two were well-loved in their community.

Woodspring MP Liam Fox paid tribute to Mrs Peel.

He said: "Mrs Peel was an iconic figure who showed phenomenal courage in the most difficult circumstances. Her selfless bravery saved many lives and she stands as a monument to the triumph of the human spirit, which will set an example for many generations to come."

As a young woman, Mrs Peel was running her own beauty salon in the Breton port of Brest when the Germans invaded. Inspired by President Charles de Gaulle, she fought the occupying forces with information rather than bullets and bombs.

At first she was involved in distributing clandestine newspapers but soon she was made head of an under-section in the resistance, reporting on troop movements, naval installations and the results of Allied attacks.

Under the code name Agent Rose, she used torches to guide Allied planes to improvised landing strips, and smuggled fugitive airmen on to submarines and gunboats on remote parts of the coast.

Her information gathering prompted the then British Prime Minister Winston Churchill to write her a personal letter of congratulation, although it had to be destroyed immediately after reading.

During her three years with the resistance, her work saved the lives of more than 100 pilots, many of whom were British.

Later she said the hardships she endured and witnessed in two Nazi concentration camps helped her to become a healer and relieve the pain of more than 20,000 people.

Mrs Peel – whose husband died in 2003 – received France's highest award for bravery, the Légion d'Honneur, from her own brother, four-star General Maurice Virot.

Among her other decorations are the War Cross with palm, the War Cross with purple star, the American Medal Freedom – from US President Dwight Eisenhower – and the King's Commendation for Brave Conduct, given to her by King George VI.

Her experiences inspired her autobiography Miracles Do Happen, as well as a film made by north Somerset film maker William Ennals.

Her close friend John Lowe paid tribute to her courage and character and said she would be interred at Long Ashton church next to her husband, to whom she was "utterly devoted".

The epitaph will read: "Two lives devoted to duty".

Mr Lowe said: "She was such a great lady and the most caring person I have ever met.

"She lived her life entirely for others but I think she was aware of what she had done and did demand a sort of respect for it.

"Andree had a remarkable talent as a healer. She could always spot when they were in pain and using various techniques was able to cure them. I saw her do it.

"I think it was that amazing ability that kept her alive so long. She had amazingly strong hands and was still healing people as recently as six years ago."

Mr Lowe said Mrs Peel's memory of her experiences had become more sparse in recent years but she was held in high esteem by the people of Long Ashton.

She had been living at the Lampton House care home in Long Ashton,

Manager of the care home, Sherry Kitchen said: "We are all a bit shell-shocked here. She was lovely – an amazing character with such a strong spirit."

Mrs Peel was in high spirits during her 105th birthday on February 4. Friends, family from France, the Royal British Legion and friend Brian Westaway, 79, all gathered to celebrate her birthday.