A woman who was honoured for her heroism in rescuing Allied servicemen from the Nazis has died at the age of 86.

Johanna Hill lived in the mountains near Graz in Austria and risked her life by helping numerous servicemen whose planes had been shot down.

She was arrested, imprisoned and tortured by the Gestapo who left her permanently disabled.

At her funeral in St Anthony of Padua Church, Headington, Oxford, Fr Martin Flatman paid tribute to her spirit and bravery.

Mrs Hill, pictured, moved to the Oxford area in 1949 when the Royal Air Forces Escaping Society arranged for her to receive hospital treatment for her injuries.

She met up again with one of the men she had helped to escape, Alfred Hill, and the couple were married. From the 1960s they lived at Main Road, Long Hanborough. Mr Hill died in 1985.

An award commending Mrs Hill for her courageous work was later presented to her by the Royal Air Forces Escaping Society.

She is survived by a daughter who lives in Austria, along with grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Fr Flatman said: "There is no doubt she was a very brave woman, but she did not want to talk about her past.

"By all accounts, she was also a very good cook. I am told that her apple strudel was absolutely brilliant and that hoteliers in Woodstock used to plead with her to supply them."

In her later years, Mrs Hill received help from the Hanborough Community Care Group, providing voluntary shopping and other assistance.

Jeanette Braybrooke-Tucker, one of the organisers, said: "She kept her certificates on the wall of her home, but did not want to say a lot about herself."