Click a photo to read more. Most are initially unaware that Jewish SOE agents took up arms during the war, including Jewish heroines who fought in France such as Denise Bloch. He was born in Brussels in 1901, the . The Military Cross is the third-level military decoration and is awarded in recognition of "an act or acts of exemplary gallantry during active operations against the enemy on land to all members, of any rank in Our Armed Forces". With her was Diane Rowden, Cecily Lefort and Charles Skeeper. Philippe Liewer. British police photograph of Harold Cole dated 13 February 1939. Skip to content. After failing to make her talk Odette was transferred to a number of prisons. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. It is highest gallantry award for civilians as well as for military personnel in actions which are not in the face of the enemy or for which purely military honours would not normally be granted. Book. I also reject her views based on reent evidence. (3) Courier or messenger: travel between organiser, wireless operator, and resistance groups to deliver and receive messages, and, on occasion, deliver explosives and other equipment. Awarded for meritorious or distinguished service in war. His mother was captured and tortured, but never revealed what she knew. Military Historian and Freelance Defence Journalist. Most agents entered France by parachute or ferried in unarmed Lysander aircraft with the pilot relying on torch lights from members of the resistance to mark the remote landing strip. These SOE agents were later captured by the Gestapo, tortured and executed. On 22 September 1943 Pearl Witherington parachuted at night from a converted RAF Halifax bomber to a drop zone near Chateauroux in southern Loire and joined STATIONER circuit as a courier. SOE in France was first published in 1966, followed by a second impression with amendments in 1968. The incredible heroism of a British agent who parachuted behind enemy lines into France and who took out 30 German trains during the Second World War will be retold in a new book.. Eliane Plewman . Heidi Staben, I suggest you learn about the subject before publicly abusing historical figures with rejected conspiracy theories. At Arisaig they were also taught unarmed combat (Gutter fighting) and silent killing by the legendary William Fairbairn and Eric Anthony Sykes who designed the FS fighting knife. . Instituted July 8, 1943 and awarded for 180 days of operational service or 60 days of operational flying in WWII. Candidates were also encourage to drink alcohol to see if this made them indiscrete. Although no documents are available, it is known that all the resistance fighters from this circuit were scattering across France in the hope of receiving protection from other circuits. In May 1944 the leader of STATIONER, Maurice Southgate, (code name Hector), was sent to Montlucon to meet a member of the resistance. View all posts by Alan Malcher. Madam Szabo gave a magnificent example of courage and steadfastness. With 40 of the 470 SOE agents sent to France being women (approx. Little is known for certain about the childhood of Denis Joseph Rake, who like many secret agents continually embroidered and camouflaged the details of his life. In fact, an agent could leave at any time with no questions asked. Noor has gone down in history as a great heroine because she defied her captors to the end, never cooperating with the Germans in any way. A year after entering the SOE, Odette was captured alongside two other agents in occupied France. The following is an incomplete list of agents who served in the field for the Special Operations Executive during World War II. Reg #: 257605. Codename: Vladimir, Linesman, Sari. He asked Violet whether she would go to Paris to assess the situation and Violet agreed. Yolande Elsa Maria Unternhrer was born in Paris on 7 November 1911 to a Swiss father and an English mother. 2023 will be a year of celebrating the Danish design and architecture heritage. They were pleased to help and said she could stay in one of their spare rooms. Yes, there was some security probems with the Frech but not to the extstent she suggests and I would not describe the CO as incompetent and the other negative descriptions she levelled at him. Wireless Operator. James Langley who also served with MI9 said, Cole was a con man, thief and utter shit who betrayed his country to the highest bidder for money. Cole was arrested several times by the Germans but according to witnesses he was never roughly treated and was quickly released, and because his arrest sometimes coincided with the arrest of those he identified to the Gestapo, led to speculation these were orchestrated in an attempt to prevent raising suspicion among members of his network. Instrumental in gathering intelligence and important documents such as rations cards for implementing safe houses, routes, and sustenance for field agents. Registration #: 306766. After landing, with the help the local Resistance, she made her way north to join the MUSIAN circuit who were operating in the strategically important town of St Quentin. Parachuted into France in February 1944. As the situation was becoming more confused every day and further arrests may have resulted in other circuits being compromised, as Noor was the only wireless operator in Paris she rejected Buckmasters plan for an emergency extraction by Lysander. Formed in 1940, Special Operations Executive was to coordinate Resistance work overseas. Codenames: Monique, Denise Urbain. The . The staff were looking for individuals who could easily communicate and build rapport with people they dont know, stick to their legends (cover stories which were given to them prior to attending) and not to reveal their true identity or other personal information. Her file refer to her as Petite, just under five-feet five tall, but her character was far more robust than her looks suggest. The highest civil decoration of the United Kingdom. After several weeks of investigation the police identified the body and the identity of the other women in the photograph. The organization's greatest presence was in France, where the SOE dispatched 1,800 agents from May 1941 to September 1944. Jacqueline was parachuted into France and joined the SATIONARY Circuit based in central France and maintain contacts with the neighbouring circuit called HEADMASTER, she also made several trips to Paris as a courier. Although no indication was given as to what the job entailed, Noor wanted to do something more interesting and accepted the position. Since these editions were published, other material on SOE has become available. She was also noted for her cockney accent and wild sense of humour. Whilst undergoing training Violette was living with her parents at 18 Burley Road Stockwell London. SOE (Special Operations Executive) operations in Belgium. Alias: Georges Louis. British commendation to acknowledged brave acts by civilians and members of the military in non-warlike circumstances during a time of war or in peacetime where the action would not otherwise be recognised by an existing award. White Eagle Resistance Group in Poland during World WarTwo. arrested and executed at Mauthausen concentration camp. To coordinate the combined resources of both circuits she arranged a meeting with a representative of the FARMER circuit at a safe caf. Her children and the convent believed their mother was working in Scotland and Vera Atkins, using pre-written letters from Odette, continued the pretence. Armenian father and French mother, brother of the RAF fighter ace. Now a number of events, TV programmes and books are marking the sacrifice of the SOE agents alongside their comrades in uniform. To keep these camps apart, RF Section (pro-Gaullists) was mooted in late 1940 and came into being in early 1941. While her circuit concentrated on recruitment the neighbouring circuit, code named FARMER, concentrated on sabotage and killing German forces. The full story of the thirty-nine female SOE agents who went undercover in France"The freshness and honesty of Mission France make it an ideal book for taking a new look at the secret war, at a time when knowledge of these brave women's exploits is fading from living memory."Vin Arthey, The Scotsman Formed in 1940, Special Operations Executive was to coordinate Resistance work overseas. They were then told to make their way to Paris and await orders from London and several days later they received instructions to meet a contact in Lyon but by the time they arrived this contact had been arrested. Autobiography by a former New York Times journalist and one of the first SOE agents to arrive in France. Annoyed with her father, Violette grab her handbag, stumbled and the contents of her bag was scattered across the floor. Operated in northern France from October 1942 to June 1943. Awarded to individuals who were POW and escaped internment or died as a result of their escape. Noor started to use the escape and evasion skills she had been taught at finishing school change your hairstyle, dye your hair, walk differently, alter your mannerism, alter your accent, talk with a lisp, change your style of clothing- be an entirely different person! Determined to erase the humiliation he felt after the fall of France, Harry joined the Special Operations Executive (SOE), a British secret service sending agents behind enemy lines to stir up resistance and "set Europe ablaze". On her arrival at Ravensbruck, on 26 July, the Camp Commandant, Fritz Suhren, had already heard and believed Odette was connected to the British Prime Minister by marriage. In the weeks and months following her arrest, Odette was tortured, beaten, starved almost to death and sentenced to be shot. She was told, Noor distracted herself by writing childrens stories in her cell, and she could often be heard sobbing throughout the night. If Warenghem, as Ghmard states, was serving with SOE she was likely to be a member of DF Section which was an independent subsection within SOE responsible for escape and evasion which worked closely with similar organisations including MI9, and this would account for her connection with the escape line. However the network was later revived by Francis Suttill, organiser of Prosper. She saw every agent off to their operation, she kept in contact with their next of kin and organised coded messaged on the BBC so they could be kept informed about people they had left behind. This part of the training lasted 4 weeks and every day candidates were assessed and could be sent to the cooler at any times. She was returned to her dark, hot cell and still deprived of food and water. Buckmaster had received disturbing information that some of his key agents were on the Gestapo wanted list and wanted posters with rewards for any information were being displayed thought-out Paris. On the night of 16/17 June she boarded a Lysander at RAF Tangmere in Sussex, bound for a landing field near Angers in north-western France. Family Originally from Ukraine Immigrants in the early 1900's to UK, The first female SOE agent to be sent to occupied France (sent in May 1941). Due to conspiracy theories and published accounts which vary considerably the story of Suzanne Warenghem and her treacherous husband Harold Cole is complex and beyond the scope of this short article. After a large number of arrests Cole agreed to work for the Abwehr but was offered more money by the Gestapo and as James Langley said he betrayed his country (and his friends) to the highest bidder and began working for the Gestapo. SOE in France: An Account of the Work of the British Special Operations Executive in France 1940-1944 History of the Second World War. Contains sections on Force 136 and Chindits. Sister of SOE Agent Claude de Baissac. SOE's objectives were to conduct espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance in occupied Europe (and later, also in occupied Southeast Asia) against the Axis powers, and to aid local resistance movements. French. Whilst Didi was sending an urgent message to London she heard German soldiers outside her safe house but continued sending the message. He was captured but escaped from prison and into Spain in 1942. Noor, because of her inferior dark complexion which made her a dangerous prisoner was almost beaten to death by SS officer Friedrich Wilhelm Ruppert, before she was finally shot in the head with her own SOE issue pistol the following day. While Dericourt made his secret arrangements for the landings of SOE F-Section agents, preparations for the insertion of other members of the Prosper network began. Between her capture and July 1944, Sansom was repeatedly tortured for information on her fellow agents, but refused to give anything up. As children, Violette and her four brothers were encouraged to learn French and at an early age they were fluent in the language. By January 1943 the SPINDLE Circuit had been infiltrated by a double agent and the Gestapo knew the names of its members, passive supporters, the locations of their safe houses and mass arrests followed. Though the SOE couldn't 'freely' operate in France without the Gaullist movement, there was a persistent lack of direct co-operation between the Gaulle and the . Instituted in May 1945. Thousands of spies would eventually penetrate every theater of World War II, from Poland to Ethiopia to Burma, with most serving in continental Europe. Yeo-Thomas was captured by the Gestapo on 21 March 1944. FANY, SPRUCE. Also known as Prosper. On 13 January 1944, Gestapo agents arrest SOE agent Yolande Beekman in Saint-Quentin, France. Later seconded to Palestine Police and MI6 after war ended. In June 1940, a new volunteer force - the Special Operations Executive (SOE) - was set up to wage a secret war. The new organization became known as Special Operations Executive (SOE) and the staff were given an office at 64 Baker Street in London. Paperback; After moving to London, Yolande quickly became fluent in English, French, and German. The German Penetration of SOE: France 1941-1944 by Jean Overton Fuller (George Mann Books, 1996) Undercover Operator: An SOE Agent's Experiences in France and the Far East by Sydney Hudson (Pen . On the night of 16/17 June she boarded a Lysander at RAF Tangmere in Sussex, bound for a landing field near Angers in north-western France. Successful candidates were then sent to STS21, Arisaig House, in Inverness Scotland. After France fell in June 1940, her father and two brothers, who served in the French army, were taken prisoner by the Germans. . As far as we can gather, on 12 September Yolande, Plewman and Damerment joined Noor Inayat Khan on a train to Dachau Concentration camp. A casualty classification generally used by militaries to describe the deaths of their own forces at the hands of hostile forces. Killed on duty in June 1943 to Tanus (Tarn) in France. As the Germans were using large numbers of wireless detection vans with skilled technicians the life of an SOE wireless operator was estimated to be six weeks. One of the most difficult roles which members of the SOE undertook was that of wireless operator. 2) Wireless Radio Operator: send and receive wireless messages to and from SOE headquarters in London, encode and decode messages, maintain wireless sets. Registration #: 309883. Marcel Defence. SOE's most important network during that time. He spent most . Lieutenants Philippe and Joseph Rousseau who served with Canadian Airborne Forces during WW2. Violette volunteered for the operation. One of the longest serving of Britain's wartime women agents. Although he survived the war, whilst at the Buchenwald Concentration Camp 16 members of his circuit were hanged. For example, SOE organiser George Reginald Starr was the organiser of the Wheelwright network and known as "Hilaire" to French contacts in the Resistance and to other SOE personnel. The following is an incomplete list of agents who served in the field for the Special Operations Executive during World War II. "Mdaille de la Reconnaissance franaise". Im just an ordinary person who did a job during the war (Telegraph 3 September 2015) Based on similar interviews of other former members of SOE there is no doubt that extreme modesty and humility was a common trait among SOE agents and may be one of the traits the staff looked for at Wanborough Manor. When it comes to understanding the fate of the 118 agents who failed to return from occupied France we must turn to the many years of investigation work conducted by Vera Atkins who has been described as the most powerful and influential women to have served with SOE. As this was her first trip to France Buckmaster felt secure in the knowledge she would not be known to the Gestapo, but she would have to work alone. During the Second World War the SOE sent 470 agents into France including 39 women. So it was that in 1943 this unlikely agentshe seemed incapable of telling a liewas landed by light aircraft in France, to work with the ill-fated PROSPER network in Paris. With her was Diane Rowden, Cecily Lefort and Charles Skeeper. Kate Vigurs interweaves for the first time the stories of all thirty-nine Potential agents received firearms training, learned infantry tactics, escape and evasion, navigating across rough terrain, relentless physical training, the use of explosives, raiding techniques and sabotage. Roger Landes. Claude de Baissac. YeoThomas SOE Agents in France", "Honor for Jewish war hero and camp survivor", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_SOE_agents&oldid=1130435753, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with unsourced statements from February 2020, Articles with unsourced statements from August 2019, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Member of the "Aakre Gang." This included Jack Agazarian, Claude de Baissac, . Based on your comments I believe you are confusing the French Section with the Dutch Section as the Netherlands section was almost wiped out due to the Germans playing back captured radios to London. Sister of SOE agents Jacqueline & Francis Nearne. Now better remembered for his post-war short story 'The Fly'. Macintosh was . Successful candidates were now sent to RAF Ringway (now Manchester Airport) where they received the same parachute training as the Airborne Forces and upon completion were awarded the same parachute wings. Parachuted into SE France in July 1944. This isolated area with unpredictable weather was ideal for extensive military training. (LogOut/ The SOE agents assigned to each network are also listed. Thirty-nine of the 470 SOE agents in France were women . She had been assigned to CLERGYMAN where she would organise resistance across the city of Nantes. The organization's F section sent more than four hundred agents into France, thirty-nine of whom were women. Irrespective of gender all agents underwent the same selection and training. From this cell, Odette later recalled she heard the shots which killed Violet Szabo, Denise Block and Lilian Rolf. Established in 1941 with the aim of supplying Occupied France with a steady stram of highly trained resistance agents, this clandestine Second World War network grew to become a cricual part of the Allied arsenal. . Consequently, the following is an overview of events leading to the deaths of an unknown number of agents and French citizens of which Suzanne Warenghem, who later changed her surname to Warren, was unaware until her husband was exposed by other agents. I agree there was a few probems with the radio checks but the Dutch had the main probem. She received the, courier, Codename: 'Gaby', 'Dean', 'Madame Dupont'/ Agent Monk, parachuted into France on the night of 13/14 August 1943, arrested and tortured by Gestapo in March 1944, transferred to Dachau with, liaison officer with the partisans in Albania. Lieutenants Philippe and Joseph Rousseau who served with Canadian Airborne Forces duringWW2. She worked as a courier with the code name of Adele. Some two days later, without warning Odette was moved to a normal cell with a window and given food and water. During Vera Atkins relentless investigation to discover what had happened to her agents who she considered family, she interviewed an SOE agents who had been incarcerated in a neighbouring cell to Noor. Through her parents activities she had already gained extensive experience working with various Resistance circuits before making her way to England where she was subsequently trained as an SOE agent. After her capture an SOE agent sent a diverted telegram to Buckmaster saying, Madeline had a serious accident and she was now in hospital, meaning, she had been captured and taken to Gestapos Headquarters at Avenue Foch. Is your book on schedule to be released in September, 2021? Most were killed or captured but some were rescued by the escape lines and made it safely back to England. In 2010 the police were called to a small house in Torque and found the body of an 89-year-old female who had been dead for several days. Eventually the mysterious Captain Delobel came to the attention of MI9 in London and they asked MI5 to conduct background checks. Although Noor skilfully avoided capture for four months and during this period kept London advised of the constantly changing situation she was finally betrayed by a collaborator who was given 100,000 francs for the address in which she was staying. This intricate tale concentrates on the work of the 400 hand-picked . The Special Operations Executive in Burma 1941-1945 Burma Star - Website of Burma Star Association. After cycling 50 miles she came across a bridge which was heavily guarded by German soldiers. Much of which continues to be published about the SOE is based on the records made available to Professor Foot and his book, History of the Second World War: SOE in France which was first published by HMSO in 1966. Under the cover of darkness, with her bicycle across her shoulders, she swum across the freezing river, continued her journey and safely delivered the message. Four months after being moved to her new cell the rapid Allied advance resulted in many of the guards and SS officers fleeing the camp to avoid capture. This government information film, Now the Truth Can be Told basically looks at some of the unclassified work they were involved in during their time with the SOE. Codenames: Helene (British), Andree (French), Witch (Ops), Gertie (closest colleagues). These schemes included making contact with an intermediary referred to as a cut-out; trailing someone in a city; losing someone who is following them, a variety of counter-surveillance drills, and making contact with a supposed resistance member. Yvonne Rudellat PHYSICIAN Died Belsen April 1945 following ill treatment. Here they learned a variety of specialist skills such as lock-picking and safe cracking. In Flames, Rita Kramer tries to unravel the knotty tale of the French Section of the SOE (Special Operations Executive) during World War II. Role: Wireless Operator (F Section) Circuit: FREELANCE. Although F Section was commanded by Major (later Colonel) Maurice Buckmaster, known to his agents and the Gestapo as Buck, Vera Atkins has been described as his formidable and brilliant assistant. [1], Each network was given a name and each agent belonging to the network had one or more code names and aliases which he used in France. Potential field agents were sent to Wanborough Manor, an Elizabethan house located on the Hogs Back near Guildford Surrey. After joining the RAF as a wireless operator she came to the attention of the SOE talent spotters and was asked to attend an informal interview at a hotel near Trafalgar Square London, where she was asked whether she would be interested in becoming specially employed. Odette Sanson was awarded the George Cross, MBE, Chevalier de la Legion dhonneur, 1939-45 Star, Defence Medal, War Medal 1939-45, Queens Coronation Medal, Queens Silver Jubilee Medal. This further increased her workload and she was now constantly on the move to avoid detection. During her training she showed a natural talent for receiving and sending Morse code and became one of F Sections wireless operators. Suzanne Warenghem who was now pregnant and feared her husband, travelled to Marseille to join an escape line where some writers say her child was still born, and sometime in March 1943 she was arrested and sent to Castres prison where she met SOE agent Blanche Charlet. After the war Vera became a member of the British War Crimes Commission gathering evidence for the prosecution of war criminals and set about tracing the fate of the 118 agents who failed to return from their operations. Apart from the Germany army and the Gestapo, there were collaborators and the German authorities was paying many thousands of francs for information. She gave evidence against him at the Nuremburg Trials and Suhren was convicted and hung for his crimes. Agents continued to be sent to the Prosper network for some time after it came under control of the Germans in June 1943.[11]. Four days Later Churchill was flown out by Lysander to report the situation directly to Buckmaster; Odette and Armaud remained to monitor the situation. This page was last edited on 30 December 2022, at 04:40. On the night of 2/3 March she was flown by Lysander from a secret airbase, RAF Tempsford in Bedfordshire which was the home of 138 and 161 Special Duties Squadron. This new Special Operations Executive (SEO) was to be responsible for recruiting and training agents who would then be sent behind enemy lines. Codename: Cicero. Through Vera Atkins relentless pursuit for Justice she ensured the treatment and murder of Noor was added to his war crimes, Fredric Wilhelm Ruppert was tried, convicted and executed for war crimes in 1946. The little information we have on Denise Bloch was obtained by Vera Atkins during her extensive investigation into missing agents. . Leaving school at the age of 14, Violette worked as a shop assistant at Woolworths in Brixton London. Ive been reading your work for many years and look forward to reading your new book on SOE. Escaped back to England and survived war. They Fought Alone: The True Story of SOE's Agents in Wartime France: The . One immediate target was the 'Das Reich' 2nd SS Panzer Division, which began to march north through France towards the Normandy beaches. Buy SOE in France: An Account of the Work of the British Special Operations Executive in France 1940-1944 (Government Official History Series) 1 by Foot, M.R.D. Tue 21 Feb 2012 10.39 EST. When it became clear soft interrogation techniques would not work the Gestapo resorted to torture in order to extract information- red-hot pokers were used to burn her back and every time she passed out from the pain buckets of cold water were used to revive her so the torture could continue, Odette refused to talk. . You can watch A Call to Spy's trailer here. See "Accidental Agent" memoir published 1971. Courier. In 1939 he enlisted into the Royal Engineers and shortly after arriving in France as part of the British Expeditionary Force Cole was arrested after it was discovered he had stolen all the money from the officers and Sergeants mess before leaving England. The full story of the thirty-nine female SOE agents who went undercover in France Formed in 1940, Special Operations Executive was to coordinate Resistance work overseas. During their advanced interview potential field agents were told if they were captured they were liable to be tortured and then executed and were given the opportunity to reject special employment. ", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_SOE_F_Section_networks_and_agents&oldid=1122280860, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles needing additional references from January 2020, All articles needing additional references, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Noel Fernand Rauol Burdeyron (real name, Norman F. Burley) agent, single-handedly derailed German supply train by pulling up a rail, Autogiro's only successful attack. Most highly decorated woman in WWII. She was immediately sent to a cell in the basement without windows and Suhren ordered she must remain in darkness and put on a starvation diet. Although PAT was the largest escape line it worked jointly with MI9, DF Section SOE, the Comet Line, Shelburne Escape Line, Overcloud and several others which were established and run by French citizens after Operation Dynamo which was the emergency evacuation of Dunkirk in 1940. The narrative then recounts the adventures of its agents who worked on French soil. July 1, 2012. It was also reported thatYolande was handled roughly before being shot in the back of the neck. + 1 map. There is also an unsubstantiated account of the body of a German agent being placed in a packing case and posted to the Gestapo with a note saying, complements of British Intelligence. Died during the first attempt at drop-off with a parachute in Denmark by SOE agents. Although the details are still not clear, Didi was one of the few people to escape from Ravensbruck and to survive the hostile countryside patrolled by German forces including the SS. 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Figures with rejected conspiracy theories in early 1941 the little information we on. The position for his post-war short story & # x27 ; the Fly & x27. Mother, brother of the 470 SOE agents sent to France being women ( approx the 400.... Was to coordinate Resistance work overseas 7 November 1911 to a Swiss father and English! Violette was living with her father, Violette grab her handbag, stumbled and the German authorities paying. With the code name of Adele CLERGYMAN where she would go to Paris to the. Was paying many thousands of francs for information on her fellow agents, but refused to anything. Following her arrest, Odette was captured alongside two other agents in wartime France an... To avoid detection followed by a former New York Times journalist and one of the lasted... 1945 following ill treatment, but never revealed what she knew recalled she heard German.! Are marking the sacrifice of the Second World War II age of 14, Violette and her four brothers encouraged... Evidence against him at the hands of hostile forces drink alcohol to see if this made them soe agents in france and..