Rosemary Wright was born in Massachusetts in the United States in 1915. Her mother was English and so she was educated at a private school in Ascot.

In 1939 Rosemary went to live in Pau, France, after marrying Pierre Maeght. In 1941 she joined the French Resistance and began hiding soldiers and aircrew trying to get back to Britain. She also hid Jewish refugees and tried to help them to get away from German occupied Europe.

Rosemary, along with Jacqueline Cintrat and Etienne Lalou, eventually led the resistance in Pau. Her main task was to arrange for guides to take men across the Pyrenees. By the end of the war she had arranged for 90 people to reach freedom.