Sue Ryder
| The Right Honourable The Baroness Ryder of Warsaw CMG, OBE |
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|---|---|
| Born |
Margaret Susan Ryder 3 July 1924 Leeds, Yorkshire, England |
| Died | 2 November 2000 (aged 76) Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England |
| Other names | Margaret Susan Cheshire |
| Known for | Sue Ryder Foundation |
| Title | Baroness Ryder of Warsaw (suo jure) Baroness Cheshire |
| Spouse(s) | Leonard Cheshire, Baron Cheshire |
Margaret Susan Cheshire, Baroness Ryder of Warsaw and Baroness Cheshire, CMG, OBE (3 July 1924 – 2 November 2000), best known as Sue Ryder, was a British volunteer with Special Operations Executive in the Second World War, who afterwards led many charitable organisations, notably the charity named in her honour.
Margaret Susan Ryder was born in 1924 in Leeds, and educated at Benenden School. When World War II broke out, she volunteered to the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry, even though she was only 15, and she was soon assigned to the Polish section of the Special Operations Executive. In this role, Ryder's job was to drive SOE agents to the airfield where they would take off for their assignments in Europe. In 1943 she was posted to Tunisia and later to Italy.
"I was born on 3 July 1923" – So Sue Ryder begins her autobiography Child of My Love. This was repeated by The Daily Telegraph in her obituary in November 2000, adding that "Lady Ryder of Warsaw, better known as Sue Ryder, has died aged 77", as well as by the BBC and many other news sources.
Her birth and death certificates both put the date at exactly one year later, on 3 July 1924, as does a plaque unveiled in honour of Sue Ryder and Leonard Cheshire in Cavendish Church in Suffolk. At the beginning of the war, Ryder volunteered to the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry, even though she was only 15. To get in, she lied about her age and seems to have maintained the deception for the rest of her life.
After the war was over, Ryder volunteered to do relief work, including some in Poland. She was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1957. In 1959 Ryder married Group Captain Leonard Cheshire VC (later Lord Cheshire), the founder of the major UK charity Leonard Cheshire Disability. Both Cheshire and Ryder were Roman Catholic converts. They received a joint Variety Club Humanitarian Award in 1975. Ryder was appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in 1976.
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