While it was technically created in July 1940, the SOE (Special Operations Executive) had come together in 1938 with the combination of three current, top secret sections shortly after Germany annexed Austria. Churchill's Secret Army was instructed to "Set Europe Ablaze".
SOE agents were sent to many different Nazi occupied territories to simultaneously cause chaos behind German lines and in addition start to locate local resistance groups they might possibly work with the instant the occasion for invasion was here. Theatres of Operation covered France, Belgium, Poland, Germany, Yugoslavia, Greece, Hungary, Albania, Czechoslovakia, Norway, Denmark, Romania, Abyssinia and the Far East.
As operatives operated deep in Nazi held territory and they were recruited from an assortment of social class and background. The key criteria was that the probable agent had exhaustive understanding of the land they would operate in and in a position to pass as a local of that country. For that reason, those with dual nationality were highly desirable.
The renowned plane utilised by the SOE in France was the Westland Lysander. It was a small airplane which made it a great deal more challenging to observe and was sturdy enough to land on makeshift landing strips. It was used to ferry agents to and from the Britain along with collecting men and women who needed to be interviewed in London. Pilots who had been shot down were also typically brought back to the Britain by Lysander.
Among the Special Operations Executive numbers were also female agents and more or less a third of the female agents delivered into France from Section F, did not come back. The sort of operations in each country differed. For example, in Poland, there was very little need to encourage the local population as there was already prevalent hatred of the Nazis. This was in contrast to regions such as Vichy France which worked with with the Nazis and the danger of SOE operatives being betrayed was greatly increased.
For the period of World War II, the SOE had utilised about 13,000 people who directly helped or provided somewhere in the region of 1 million operatives.
SOE agents were sent to many different Nazi occupied territories to simultaneously cause chaos behind German lines and in addition start to locate local resistance groups they might possibly work with the instant the occasion for invasion was here. Theatres of Operation covered France, Belgium, Poland, Germany, Yugoslavia, Greece, Hungary, Albania, Czechoslovakia, Norway, Denmark, Romania, Abyssinia and the Far East.
As operatives operated deep in Nazi held territory and they were recruited from an assortment of social class and background. The key criteria was that the probable agent had exhaustive understanding of the land they would operate in and in a position to pass as a local of that country. For that reason, those with dual nationality were highly desirable.
The renowned plane utilised by the SOE in France was the Westland Lysander. It was a small airplane which made it a great deal more challenging to observe and was sturdy enough to land on makeshift landing strips. It was used to ferry agents to and from the Britain along with collecting men and women who needed to be interviewed in London. Pilots who had been shot down were also typically brought back to the Britain by Lysander.
Among the Special Operations Executive numbers were also female agents and more or less a third of the female agents delivered into France from Section F, did not come back. The sort of operations in each country differed. For example, in Poland, there was very little need to encourage the local population as there was already prevalent hatred of the Nazis. This was in contrast to regions such as Vichy France which worked with with the Nazis and the danger of SOE operatives being betrayed was greatly increased.
For the period of World War II, the SOE had utilised about 13,000 people who directly helped or provided somewhere in the region of 1 million operatives.
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The SOE performed a major role during World War II mainly in Europe but in other parts of the world too.. Free reprint available from: The Activities of the Special Operations Executive.