Susan Nona Hibbert (née Heald; 21 May 1924 – 2 February 2009) was one of the secretaries who typed the English versions of the German surrender document at the conclusion of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. After her death, there was believed to be only one surviving witness to the surrender ceremony, Albert Meserlin, who died the following month, on 29 March 2009. Hibbert was born the elder child of the Right Honourable Sir

Lionel Heald Sir Lionel Frederick Heald, QC, PC (7 August 1897 – 8 November 1981) was a British barrister and Conservative Party politician. Early life Heald was born in Parrs Wood, Didsbury, Lancashire. He was educated at Charterhouse, then served ...

(1897–1981) and his first wife, Flavia, Lady Forbes (1902–1959), daughter of Lt.-Col. James Stewart Forbes and

Lady Angela Forbes Lady Angela Selina Bianca Forbes (née St Clair-Erskine; 11 June 1876 – 22 October 1950) was a British socialite and novelist who was known as a forces sweetheart for organising soldiers' canteens in France during the First World War. She rever ...

. Through her maternal grandmother, Hibbert was a great-grandchild of

Robert St Clair-Erskine, 4th Earl of Rosslyn The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

. She was educated at

Godolphin School Godolphin School is an independent boarding and day school for girls in Salisbury, England, which was founded in 1726 and opened in 1784. The school educates girls between the ages of three and eighteen. History Godolphin was founded by Eliz ...

, Salisbury.Obituary
''

Daily Telegraph Daily or The Daily may refer to: Journalism * Daily newspaper, newspaper issued on five to seven day of most weeks * ''The Daily'' (podcast), a podcast by ''The New York Times'' * ''The Daily'' (News Corporation), a defunct US-based iPad new ...

'', 17 February 2009. During the

Heald served as a sergeant in the

Women's Auxiliary Territorial Service The Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS; often pronounced as an acronym) was the women's branch of the British Army during the Second World War. It was formed on 9 September 1938, initially as a women's voluntary service, and existed until 1 Februa ...

. She was assigned to type the English version of the German surrender. Three other secretaries typed the French, German and Russian versions. She and the other typists were present at the signing ceremony. Another assignment she received was to type the message informing the

War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...

in London that the war was over. Later she worked in the

Allied Control Commission Following the termination of hostilities in World War II, the Allies were in control of the defeated Axis countries. Anticipating the defeat of Germany and Japan, they had already set up the European Advisory Commission and a proposed Far Eastern ...

, first in

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

, and then in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

, where she met her husband Basil, a former RAF

fighter pilot A fighter pilot is a military aviator trained to engage in air-to-air combat, air-to-ground combat and sometimes electronic warfare while in the cockpit of a fighter aircraft. Fighter pilots undergo specialized training in aerial warfare and ...

. In 1950, her father

was elected as member of parliament for Chertsey, subsequently serving for two years as

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...

's final administration. Susan became his secretary, and continued to work at Westminster for him and other Conservative members for the next 35 years. Her husband, Basil, a former

RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

pilot, died in 2001; the couple had no children.

References

BBC article
4 May 2005

''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', 18 February 2009
Obituary
''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'', 21 February 2009 *

Sir George Young George Samuel Knatchbull Young, Baron Young of Cookham, (born 16 July 1941), known as Sir George Young, 6th Baronet, from 1960 to 2015, is a British Conservative Party politician who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1974 to 2015, h ...

Article on Susan
an
Funeral tribute
February 2009 {{DEFAULTSORT:Hibbert, Susan 1924 births 2009 deaths Auxiliary Territorial Service soldiers People educated at Godolphin School Place of birth missing Place of death missing