SOE Agent: Churchill's Secret Warriors

35 Pages·2008·15.05 MB·English

by  Terry Crowdy

Churchill's Secret Warriors
ABOUT THE AUTHOR AND ILLUSTRATOR
TERRY CROWDYhas long beenfascinated bymanyaspectsofmilitary
historyandtakesgreatpleasuredelving intoforgotten historical sourcesand
seeking informationthat haseluded others.Theauthorofanumberofarticles
and books,Terrylivesin Kent, UK.
WARRIOR • 133
STEVENOONwas born in Kent, UK,andattended artcollegein Cornwall.
SOE AGENT
Hehas had alife-long passionforillustration,andsince 1985hasworked asa
professionalartist.Stevehas provided award-winning illustrationsfor
renowned publishers Dorling Kindersley,where hisinterestin historical
Churchill's Secret Warriors
illustration began.
~
TERRY (ROWDY ILLUSTRATED BY STEVE NOON
FirstpublishedinGreatBritainin200BbyOspreyPublishing, ARTIST'S NOTE CONTENTS
MidlandHouse,WestWay,Botley,Oxford,OX2OPH,UK
Readersmaycaretonotethattheoriginalpaintingsfromwhichthecolour
443ParkAvenueSouth,NewYork,NY10016,USA
platesinthisbookwerepreparedareavailableforprivatesale.
E-mail:[email protected]
ThePublishersretainallreproductioncopyrightwhatsoever.Allenquiries
©2008OspreyPublishingLtd. shouldbeaddressedto:
SteveNoon,
Allrightsreserved.Apartfromanyfairdealingforthepurposeofprivate
SOColchesterAvenue, INTRODUCTION
study,research,criticismorreview,aspermittedundertheCopyright, 4
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DesignsandPatentsAct,1988,nopartofthispublicationmaybe
CardiffCF239BP,
reproduced,storedinaretrievalsystem,ortransmittedinanyformorby
anymeans,electronic,electrical,chemical,mechanical,optical, UK CHRONOLOGY - SOE IN EUROPE 6
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FORMATION AND ORGANIZATION
8
ACIPcatalogrecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary
GLOSSARY
ISBN:9781846032769 Abwehr Germanmilitaryintelligenceorganization AGENT SELECTION 11
PagelayoutbyMarkHolt Feldgendarmerie Germanmilitarypolice
Gestapo(Geheimestaatspolizei) Nazisecretstatepoliceforce The Interview
Indexby80bMunro
Kripo(KriminalpoJizei) Nazicriminaldetectiveagency
TypesetinSabonandMyriadPro Milice Frenchfascistparamilitaryforceraisedin1943to
OriginatedbyPDQDigitalMediaSolutionsLtd,Bungay,UK counterresistancegroups
PrintedinChinathroughWorldprint SO(Sicherheitsdienst) SecurityServiceoftheSS THE TRAINING SYSTEM 16
Sipo(Sicherheitspolizei) Nazisecuritypolice;formedoftheGestapoand
08091011 12 109876S4 321 Kripo The Preliminary School. ParamilitaryTraining. CombatTraining. Silent Killing.
SS(Schutzstaffen lit.'protectionsquad';militarywingofNaziParty
FORACATALOGOFALLBOOKSPU8L1SHEDBYOSPREYMILITARYAND Demolition Training
AVIATIONPLEASECONTACT:
NORTHAMERICA
OspreyDirect,c/oRandomHouseDistributionCenter,400HahnRoad, FINISHING SCHOOL AND FIELD SKILLS 30
Westminster,MD211S7
E-mail:[email protected] Clandestine Living. Secret Communications. Industrial Sabotage. Wireless Operator
ALLOTHERREGIONS
OspreyDirect,TheBookServiceLtd,DistributionCentre, THE MISSION
ColchesterRoad,FratingGreen,Colchester,Essex,C077DW,UK 50
Email:[email protected] The Briefing • Departure
OspreyPublishingissupportingtheWoodlandTrust,theUK'sleading
woodlandconservationcharity,byfundingthededicationoftrees.
APPENDICES
www.ospreypublishing.com 61
FURTHER READING
63
INDEX
64
2
3
occupations, Nazi control was like a virus, intent
on infiltrating every level ofhuman existence and
perverting it for its own satisfaction. With their
governmentsscattered and armed forces bested in
the field, the occupied peoples waited in quiet
discontent for a show ofleadership.
Before June 1941, when Hitler invaded the
SOE AGENT - CHURCHILL'S Soviet Union, there was one beacon of hope for
the people of Europe. Hitler had tried to reason
SECRET WARRIORS with the British. He had tried tosmash their cities
from the air and starve them with U-boat
blockade. Somehow he failed. Prime Minister
Winston Churchill had seen the evil inherent in
Nazism and determined to face it down, come
what may. He made it quite clear that even if
invaded, the British would not roll over. They
SOEteaminCrete,June1944, INTRODUCTION
sportingavarietyofstandard would fight for every brick. London, he said, was
SOEweapons,includinga ResistancetoNazioccupationwasinevitablegiventhe brutaland exploitative so large it could swallow a German army if it
'Tommy'gun(left)and
manner with which Germany treated the conquered territories. Whatever dared to attack.
commandoknife(centre).The
figureoftheleftisCorporal claims Nazi propaganda made about a new world order, one of latter-day Galvanizing as Churchill was, the war would
SteveGillespie,thegroup's Teutonicknights savingEuropefrom the evils ofBolshevism,evidenceon the not be won with rhetoric. After the retreat from
radiooperator.Toblendinhe ground told adifferentstory. Innocentcivilianswerepersecuted,rounded up, Dunkirk and the fall of France, there was no
hasadoptedthenativecustom
incarcerated and murderedfor reasons ofrace and creed, regardless ofage or chance of a British army returning to the
ofgrowingabeardand
wearinghishairinplaits.In gender. The wealth ofthe conquered nations was bled: finance, industry and Continent in strength. Nor in 1940 was Bomber
areaswhereGermancontrol manpower wereswallowed bytheNaziwarmachine. Freespeechwasstifled, Command ready to take the war into the German
wasstrongest,itwas political dissent crushed, curfews were imposed, movement restricted, food heartland. Beyond the pinpricks of occasional
imperativethatSOEagents was rationed and with shortages ofevery kind, misery abounded on a scale commando raids, something more was needed.
adaptedthemselvestolocal
not seen in Europe since the days of the Black Death. Unlike previous Britain thought of ways to play on existing anti
costume.(IWMHU66047)
Nazi sentiments to cause uprisings, stirring up
trouble to the point at which Europe would
'"
become ungovernable. To do this the Minister of
Economic Warfare, Hugh Dalton, was convinced
a new organization should be created to go into
occupied Europe and develop movements
comparable to Sinn Fein in Ireland and the
guerrillas that made Spain a nightmare for
Napoleon's armies. The new weapons of war
would beagitation, strikes,random acts ofterror,
propaganda and assassination. In this struggle for democratic survival, it
Whenoperatinginareasonly
really was a case of'no holds barred'. partiallygarrisonedbythe
Assuch, theSpecial OperationsExecutive (SOE) wascreated inJuly 1940. GermanS,manySOEagents
optedtowearbattledress
Outside military control and independent of the Secret Intelligence Service
uniforminorderto'flytheflag'
(SIS), also known as M16, SOE began recruiting and training agents to be
andencouragelocalresistance
sent into occupied Europe. In denting Germany's atom bomb project, groups.HereweseeMajor
assassinating Reinhard Heydrich (a leading architect ofthe Holocaust) and Davidsmileyoperatingin
Albania,sportinglocal
fostering innumerable resistance groups, the deeds of SOE rank among the
headdresSwithhisbattledress
mostimportantofthe war. Beforedescending byparachute,orcomingashore
blouse.Notethepistolholster
ona quiet, moonlit beach, the men and women ofSOEwere putthrough the overtherightthigh.(IWM
most intense training then available. As unorthodox as it was tough, SOE's HU65070)
training course equipped agents with the necessary skills to survive behind
enemylines. Here weexaminethattrainingprogrammeand reveal the key to
the organization's success in the field.
4 5
CHRONOLOGY - SOE IN EUROPE 1942
6March SOEradiooperatorHuub Lauwersarrested inTheHague; hisset
1938 issuccessfullycontrolled by the Germansin Operation North Pole
30September Munich Agreementsigned, Germany occupies partof
Czechoslovakia 27May Heydrich assassinated in Prague
British MI6 sets up D Section (sabotage) 10June Czech town ofLidice isdestroyed in retaliation for Heydrich's
assassination
British General Staffforms research section GS(R) to investigate
possibilities ofguerrilla warfare 18June Heydrich's assassins killed in gun battle with German soldiers in
Praguechurch
1939
EarlyMay GS(R) becomesMilitary Intelligence (Research) orMI(R) June supplydrops to Greece for attacksonshipping;these attacks
disruptsupplies to Germans in North Africa
completion ofFieldServiceRegulations for guerrilla warfare
19October Operation Grouse- team offour SOE-trained Norwegian
1 September Germany invadesPoland commandos begins mission to destroy heavy water plantat
Vemork
3 September Britain and Francedeclare war on Germany
19November Operation Freshman- British gliderscrash while bringing
1940 commando force to aid Grouse team
10May Churchill becomesPrimeMinisterofBritain
25 November Harlinggroup destroys Gorgopotamos bridge in Greece,
16July Churchill invitesHugh Daltonto take control of'special disrupting rail suppliesto Afrika Korps
operations'
1943
1941 16February Operation Gunnerside- six more Norwegiansdropped to aid
23January Operation Rubble- five Norwegian ships loaded with ball Grouse team
bearings taken from Gothenburg
23 February Gunnerside and Grouse teams link up
25 February first signal received from occupied Europe- agent Odd
Starheim transmits from Norway 27/28 February successful attack on Vemork plant
15 March Operation Savanna- unsuccessful SOEplan to attack 21June Gestapoarrest leadingFrenchresister,Jean Moulin, in Lyon;SOE
German Pathfindersquadron KG.l00 in retaliation for the receivesaseriesofsetbacks in Franceas arrestscontinue;
Blitz ARCHDEACONcircuitmembersarrested alongwith codes
their radio issuccessfully'played-back' by the Germans until May
5May first FSectionagent(Georges Begue) parachuted into France 1944
7June successful attackonlarge electricitytransformer station near 18September FitzroyMaclean sentto Yugoslavia to act as Churchill's
Bordeaux byRF Section representative to Marshal Tito
4September first Lysander aircraftpick-up in France near Chateauroux October SOEagents infiltrated into northern Italyand Rome to support
growingItalian partisan movement
7September SOE infiltratesminingengineerCaptain Hudson into 5 November Peugeotsabotages itsownfactory afterSOEarrange forRAF
Yugoslavia by submarine attacks tostop
20 October SOEpenetrates Crete 31November on LakeTinnsjo, Norwegian agentssinkferry carrying remaining
heavywaterstocksto Germany
28December Anthropoidteam lands in Czechoslovakia to assassinate
Reinhard Heydrich
6 7
1944
FORMATION AND
1April Gennansend Operation North Pole- of56agentssentto
Holland, 43 were intercepted on landing ORGANIZATION
26April General Kreipe kidnapped by SOEagents on Crete As it became increasingly clear that
German expansionism was likely to cause
5June activation messages sentout to French resistance on BBC a war, the British Army and MI6 began
independent experiments with the ideas of
6June Allied landings inNormandy- SOE-trained 'Jedburgh' teams sabotage and subversion. Thus came into
parachuteinto France beingMI6's D Section ('D' for destruction)
and the War Office's Military Intelligence
8June 2nd SS PanzerDivision'Das Reich' begins march from Research section, MI(R). Between them
Toulouse to Normandy- faced withconstant resistanceattacks these two organizationscreated specialized
it takes two weeks to travel 450 miles (724km) training schools and drew up plans to
interrupt the supply of vital raw materials
25/26June flight to retrieve V2 rocketplans from Polish resistance to Germany. Economicwarfareexperts had
pinpointed Germany'srelianceon high-gradeSwedishironoreand Romanian Inadditiontocommunication,
1August Warsaw uprising begins- SOE's attempts tosupply the city oil. In the latter case, plans were drawn up to destroy the oil wells or at least oneofSOE'sprincipalroleswas
from Italian airfieldsoffers only limited support;Stalin refuses disrupt barge traffic on the River Danube. tosupplyresistancegroups
withweaponsandequipment.
to letthem useSovietairfields By the end of May 1940, even before the Dunkirk debacle, there was a
Hereweseeamassive
wide-ranging discussion on utilizing anti-Nazi resistance groups in occupied containerdropsomewhere
25 August liberation ofParis Europe. Everyone could see the need for a single organization to make this overoccupiedEurope.Notethe
planan operationalreality, buttherewas littleconsensuson whoshould have largenumberofparachutes
1945 ownershipoftheproject,TheWarOfficeclaimeditwas bestplaced,as did the alreadyontheground.(IWM
HU32842)
7May warends in Europe Foreign Office, which controlled MI6.
There was a third voice in the argument. The Minister for Economic
1946 Warfare,HughDalton,pointed outthatleft-wingorganizationsshould be used
15January SOEclosed down - an undisclosed number ofagents move to to shake off the Nazi yoke, as they were more experienced in the sort of
MI6 agitation and propaganda required. As a left-wing politician himself, Dalton
believed hewas thenaturalchoicetoleadsuchanorganizationand,aftermuch
lobbying, he received the chairmanship. The Special Operations Executive
(SOE) was given its charter on 22July 1940, with Churchill famously telling
Dalton to 'set Europe ablaze'. Although Churchill was at the opposite end of
thepoliticalspectrumtoDalton,and is believedtohavedisliked him, theBritish
primeministerwasanenthusiasticsupporteroftheneworganization.The head
of MI6 was not. Irked that the new organization was not under its control,
MI6 voiced concerns that SOEwas staffed by amateurs who would make life
intolerably difficultfor their agents working in the same areas.
SOEwas based at64BakerStreet,London,and operated under thecover
title 'Inter-Service ResearchBureau'. In terms ofsize, atitspeak SOEwas the
equivalent of a weak army division, with a little over 13,000 personnel, a
quarterofwhomwere women. In terms ofthenumberofagents produced by
SOE, that question is more difficult to assess. The official history of SOE
records thatapproximately 6,800studentswere putthrough trainingcourses
by the organization. Only 480 of these students were British and 760
belonged to the Americanequivalent ofSOE, the Office ofStrategicServices
(OSS). In his history of resistance in Europe, French historian Henri Michel
Cetnikpartisansexamine
parachutecontainersof gives the figure of 7,000 agents dropped into Europe. Given that not every
suppliesdroppedtothemby Britishagentactuallypassed throughSOE'sschoolsystem,thisfigure may be
Alliedaircraft.Noticehowthe closeto the truth. Unfortunately no centralrecord ofagents was maintained;
'TypeH'containersbreakdown
some agents were actually regular soldiers belonging to the armed forces of
intoaseriesofdrumsforeasier
handling.(IWM:HUS7247) various governments-in-exile and went into Europe wearing commando
8 9
uniforms. At the same time, an enormous throughout the Far East. Each individual
number of resisters were recruited by SOE countrywas allocated a sectionresponsible
in the field and never actually set foot in for recruiting agents who might be used in
Britain. their area of responsibility. These sections
SOEisequallyhard topindown interms were staffed by officers with an excellent
of structure. It was a fluid organization, knowledge of the country, its peoples and
adapting to the demands of the war in language. They were responsible for
different theatres. At the outset SOE was finding, recruiting, briefing,and controlling
divided into three branches: SOl, S02 and agents,as well as gatheringintelligence and
S03.Thefirst branchwasan amalgamation planning operations.
of various propaganda organizations, The country sections were further
including a section of the Foreign Office grouped by theatre or other logical chunks
known as 'EH', after its base at Electra to form a number of groups looking after
House in London. In time SOl became an the various theatres of the war. The
organization inits own right, known as the London Group covered France, Belgium,
~ Political Warfare Executive (PWE) and Holland, Scandinavia and Germany. The
therefore passes from the scope of this Mediterranean theatre was split into two
SOErequisitionedanumberof account. S03 was theoretically a planning branch, but it never materialized groups: one in London that included the western Mediterranean, Italy, the AnothersetofStationIX
workshopswhereitproduced intoanythingworthyofnoteand cansimilarlybediscounted here. AsforS02, Balkans and Central Europe, and more locally the Cairo Group, or Special inventions:theWelbike- a
anarrayofsecretgadgetryand thiswasformed byamalgamatingMI(R) andDSection.Itwasthis branch that Operations Mediterranean (SOM). The latter was divided in April 1944 as collapsiblemotorcyclethat
equipment.Picturedhereisthe couldbefittedintoastandard
became the mainstay ofSOE. Force266 (Yugoslavia,Albania) and Force 139 (Poland,Czechoslovakia).Two
interioroftheBontexKnitting parachutecontainer- anda
WorksatWembley,otherwise Like any branch ofthe Civil Service, SOE was divided up into a number othergroupscovered the Far Eastand the Indian subcontinent respectively. generatorforchargingthe
knownasStationVila(wireless of directorates and sections. At its height, these directorates included In more detail, France was split into five sections, each of which formed batteriesofawirelesssetin
section).Otherimportant Intelligence, Signals, Finance and Supplies, under which came numerous numerous 'circuits' or networks inside France. These varied in size quite thefield.(IWMHU56740)
establishmentsincluded
research and production establishments. These research stations developed wildly from a short-lived one-man show (TUTOR circuit), to enormous
StationIX(researchand
development)atTheFrythe and provided the gadgets used by agents in the fjeld, including everything networks with thousands ofmembers. Thefirst was FSection (Ffor France),
estatenearWelwynGarden from forged passports, silent pistols and wireless transmitters up to apoliticalJy neutral organization capable ofactingwithany groupdetermined
City;StationXIV(forgery)at submersible vessels. The sharp end of the organization was the operational to fight Germans. RF Section (Republique Franf:aise) represented the
Briggens,Essex;andStationXV
branch under the control of Major-General Colin Gubbins, formerly of provisional government of General de Gaulle. On a smaller scale, EU/P
(camouflage)atTheThatched
MI(R). As the previous Ospreytitle French ResistanceFighter (Warrior 117) Section (European Poles) dealtwith the large numberofPoleslivinginFrance
BarninBorehamwood.(IWM
HU56749) showed, SOEis mostfamous for supplyingthe Maquis inFranceand waging at the time of the Nazi invasion. OF Section was responsible for running
a sabotage campaign in support of the Normandy landings, but SOE had escape networks outofFrance and afifth section known as AMFcatered for
agents at work in Denmark, Norway, Holland, Italy, Greece and Crete, the supporters of de Gaulle's rival, General Giraud. This section was based
Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, North Africa and inAlgiers and conducted operations in thesouth ofFrance. Also, in 1944the
'Jedburgh' teams were created to act as uniformed liaison with resistance
groups in France. The project was a joint one between SOE, OSS and de
Gaulle's military intelligence agency, the Bureau Central de Renseignements
etd'Action (Intelligence and Operations Central Bureau; BCRA). Each team
had an American or British officer, a French officer and a radio operator.
AGENT SELECTION
TheWeimanone-man The first problem facing SOE was finding recruits. SOE was a secret
submarine,developedin organization and it could not put up posters on a London bus asking for
1942atStationIXasa
volunteers. Beforethewar began,MI(R) beganbuildingup aregisterofsoldiers
reconnaissancecraft.Typical
and civilianswiththe necessaryqualificationsforclandestinework.Thesystem
ofSOE'sinventivespirit,the
prototypewassaidtocontain worked onpersonaland indirectrecommendation. Manyofthosechosencame
aseatfromanAustin7motor from the City: businessmen whose backgrounds afforded them cover and
car,thejoystickofacrashed
excusesto work abroad. Otherswere miningengineers, or journalists,all men
Spitfireandthemotorfrom
whohad worked abroad and had detailed knowledgeofplaces like theBalkans
aLondontrolleybus.
(IWMHU56768) or France. Some were serving soldiers with a second language - either from
10 11
SecretariatstaffatoneofSOE's
secretresearchstations.Atits
heightSOEhadabout13,000
members,notcounting
contractworkersandlocal
agentsinthefield.Ofthis
number,somewhereinthe
regionof3,200werewomen
employedinvariousroles,from
secretaries,driversandcoders
toactualagentsinthefield.
Around1,200ofthesewere
civilians,1,SOOfromtheFirst
AidNursingYeomanry(FANY).
4S0AirTrainingService(ATS)
and60Women'sAuxiliaryAir
Force(WAAF)members.
Around400womenheld
officerstatus.(IWMHU67316)
There was more luck with German prisoners or deserters who were
recruited and sent back to Germany as agents. Thefirst ofthese was an anti
Nazi named Kuehnel, who was captured on a meteorological ship in June
SOEagentJacquelineNearne, schooling or by dint ofa foreign parent. When SOE came into being, MI(R) 1941.ArrivinginGermany, heunfortunatelyvanished withouttraceand was
seenherelearningevasion handed over an indexcard system naming 1,000 potential recruits. never heard ofagain. The second attempt was only slightly more successful.
techniquesintheinformation
filmNowIteonBeTold.In1944 SOE also trawled through the records identifying those people with dual In November 1942, deserter Kurt Koenig was recruited in Spain and trained
theRAFFilmProductionUnit nationality - an English father and a French mother, say. Although by by SOE. Parachuted onto the Dutch-German border on the night of 16
begandocumentingthe preferenceSOEwould havepreferredtorecruitonlyBritishnationals,itquickly February 1943, he unfortunately overshot the drop zone and landed on the
activitiesofSOEusingNearne recognized the importance of recruiting locals. During the war there was no roofofafarmhouse whereaweddingreceptionwas inprogress. Claiminghe
andfellowSOEagentCaptain
lackofforeign refugees andservicemeninBritain.Allforeign nationalscoming was an airman, he gave the wedding guests the slip and fled back to Spain.
HarryRee.WithbothhaVing
recentlyreturnedfrom into Britain had to pass through a reception centre in Wandsworth. Here Towards the later stages ofthe war, 54 German prisoners were recruited
occupiedFrance,thisfilm everyone coming out of occupied Europe was vetted by the Security Service before being posted as POWs. Given overto X Section (Germany) they were
formsthemostrealistic (MIS) toidentifyNaziagentstryingtoentertheUKdisguisedasrefugees. These nicknamed 'Bonzos'. Between November 1944 and April 1945, 19 Bonzos
pictorialdemonstrationof
arrivals formed a useful pool ofpotential recruits, but SOEcame into conflict weresentinto Germany on a varietyofmissions. Although nonemanaged to
SOEagentsintraining.
(IWMMH24434) with the various governments-in-exile. who believed they had first claim over establish radio communications, most of them survived and by their own
their countrymen's services. This was particularly so with de Gaulle's Free accounts were not completely unsuccessful.
French. SOE was effectively barred from recruiting anyone arriving in the Perhaps the most marked difference betweenrecruitmentin SOE and the
United Kingdom from France or from a French colony. These went to de armed forces was that SOE was willing to send women to the frontline.
Gaulle's Free French forces in London. Those with dual Anglo-French (Although the 'he' pronoun is commonly used throughout this book, this is
nationality or British passports were a different matter. A number ofFrench purelyfor grammaticalreasons.) Trueenough,the majorityofwomeninSOE
Canadians joined SOE, as did citizens from Mauritius, Madagascar, the wereemployed asclerks, drivers, telephonistsandwireless operators, butthe
Seychelles and Indo-China. There was also an unofficial recognition that records show that 49 women were sent into France, 12 of whom met their
Frenchmenrecruited bySOEin Francewere also given up byde Gaulle. end in Nazi concentrationcamps. Although female agents rarely carried out
Someattemptwas made torecruitPOWs. InApril 1941 theso-called 'Yak sabotage, they were vital as wireless operators and especially couriers. With
Mission' left England to recruit anti-fascist Italians from among the POWs most youngmen inoccupied territories either held as POWs orenrolled into
taken by GeneralWavell inEgypt. Headed by CaptainPeterFleming(brother forced labour, youngwomen did notattract the samelevel ofattention when
of'James Bond' author, Ian), Yak'sgoal was to recruit a thousand men for a moving about town. Female agents were told the hazardous nature of what
'Garibaldilegion' tospearheadan invasionofItaly. Despitevisitingnumerous was being asked of them and what they might expect if captured, but they
POWcages around Cairo, not a single Italian volunteered. were encouraged to volunteer all the same.
12
13
,
~
.f The Interview
Once identified, potential agents were invited to an interview by the country
r:
, section concerned. This would beconducted fairly informallyand was a cat
r
and-mouse routine in which the interviewer tried to entice the interviewee
~ into volunteering without actually giving away the job details. Using the
t example of F Section, the interview took place in what was described as a
'grimy' third-floor back bedroom ofthe Northumberland Hotel. Here SOE
".1 had commandeered room 321 and furnished it simply with a trestle table
i
covered in green baize cloth and two rickety fold-away chairs. The
interviewer, Selwyn Jepson, would switch the conversation from English to
French. The key to the agent's survival in the field would be their ability to
1 speak the local language fluently. It was not enough for an agent to say he
spoke French - it was important he could speak the local dialect perfectly
otherwise his accent would mark him as an outsider.
While testing the candidates' linguistic skills, Jepson would probe their
character and form an opinion on their suitability. The characteristics of a
saboteL1l~ an organizer ofpartisans, or a clandestine radio operator were not
the same as those ofa regular soldier. This is not to say professional soldiers
made badstudentsofsecretwarfare, butinmanycasestheirtalentswere better
suitedelsewhere. Soldieringisin themostpartateamgame. Soldiersaretaught
to rely on their comrades and to place trust in their officers' instructions.
Almost the exact reverse applied to the average SOE agent. Working behind
enemy lines they werecautioned to trust no one and become self-reliant.
Soldiers are legitimized by their wearing of a uniform, which under
international law gave them certain expectations if captured by the enemy.
Agents withouta uniformhad no legalcombatantstatus and wereliableto be
executed as spies, often after prolonged interrogation and torture. They were
isolated,and constantlyonestepawayfrom capture. Once behindenemylines
there was no safety valve of a spell of leave, and in the same way that long
periods of boredom can affect soldiers' morale, the constantfear ofcapture,
and the duplicityofliving under an assumed identity,werepowerfulstressors
thatplayed onthe nervesand exhausted eventhe best.Theirvulnerabilitywas
highlighted by their inability to communicate with home. Agents could not
tell their families what they were doing and had little prospect ofsending or
receiving news whenonamission. With thesefactors in mind, SOEhad to be
verycareful that the agents they sentinto action were capable ofovercoming
these psychological hazards.
Although therewas nospecificmould,SOEwanted discreet,level-headed
candidateswith thecapacityto think and actaggressively. Theydid notwant
II ~
THEINTERVIEW
Asasecretorganization,SOEcouldnotopenlyrecruit.Insteaditreliedonhoursofresearch,
lookingfortherighttypeofindividual,orfollowinguppersonalrecommendationsanddelving
intobackgroundchecks.Atthefirstinterviewtheemphasiswasonassessingthecandidate's
languageskills.Lateron,whenthelargepartisangroupswereformedandagentsdidnothave
toliveintowns,thelanguagestipulationwasperhapslessstringent.Inaddition,moreriskswere
takenwithradiooperatorssimplybecausetherewerenotenoughofthemtogoaround.Inmost
cases,thecandidateswentawayfromtheirfirstinterviewwithonlyvagueideasofwhatthey
weregettingdrawninto,althoughsometimesothersweretoldtherisksupfrontandgivena
blunt'takeitorleaveit'proposal.Thegutfeelingoftheinterviewerwaswhatmatteredmost.
EvenifanegativereportcamefromthescientificappraisalbytheStudentAssessmentBoard,this
wasoftenignoredinfavouroftherecommendationoftherecruitingofficer.
14
jilted, neurotic or psychopathic individuals There would normally be a mixture of nationalities on each course and
with a chip on their shoulders. In the most ideally there would have been enough resources to supply adequate
part they should be young and fit, able to translators. Each country section would provide a conducting officer to help
look after themselves in a fight and theirstudents pass through the course. Some ofthe conducting officers were
withstand the rigours of sleep deprivation agents themselves, either recuperatingfrom a mission or havingretired from
and inclement weather. The head of F active operations. They shared the discomforts of the training course with
Section, Major Maurice Buckmaster, theirchargesand offered adviceand encouragementwhere needed.Theyalso
described successful recruits as having 'a observed the student closely and reported any deficiencies in character that
rugged honesty and singleness of purpose' might not have beenrevealed at the interview stage.
aboutthem. Physiquewas lessimportantas Althoughmanyguessed whattheywere beingtrainedfOt; thestudentswere
recruits could be knocked into shapeonthe not told what they had volunteered for until they reached the Group Bstage.
trainingcourses, butwhatthey needed was Mostofthetraining beforethatpointwasdone undertheguiseofcommando
'guts' and the bravery to conquer fear. training. As an additional securiry precaution, students who dropped out or
If deemed suitable by the interviewer, failed to meet SOE's vigorous needs were not sent back to their regiments or
thecandidatewould betold togoaway and civilian life immediately. Although there was no stigma or accusations of
think about things for a week or so and cowardicefor dropping out- some people were justnotsuited to clandestine
come back for a second interview. At this life - SOE maintained a series of workshops at Inverlair where ex-students
Thisphotographcapturesthe pointheorshewould betold somethingmore aboutthetaskinstore.He was weredetained for aperiod. Nicknamed 'theCooler',the ex-studentswould be
adventurousspiritofSOE told hehad onlya50150 chance ofcoming back, butthat thesacrificewould assigned tasksin the workshops, keepingthem busy until itwasfelt that what
officersontheirmissions be worth it. In fact, the casualtyrate among agents proved lower than feared they had learned ofSOEwould no longercompromisesecurity. In total, there
overseas.HereColonelBill
and three-quarters survived. On balance, an SOE agent had a better chance were about 50 training schools dotted throughout the British Isles, mostly
Hudsonmakesahorseback
reconnaissanceofbridges ofsurvival than ifhe had gone into Bomber Command. contained in isolated country houses. This choice of venue led to claims that
selectedfordestructionin After a third interview, the candidate would be formally accepted if all the initials S.O.E. stood for 'Stately 'omes ofEngland'.
Yugoslavia.Noticetherifle went well. To maintain his cover he would be enrolled in the armed forces. The three-tier training programme was developed by former MI(R) man
armedscoutcrouchingonthe
Candidates who were notalreadyservingofficerswereimmediatelygiven the Colonel 'Tommy' Davies, who used a syllabus largely based on a set ofpre
hillbelowhim.(IWMHU450B3)
rank ofsecond lieutenant and put on the army's General List or enrolled as war manuals on guerrilla warfare. These manuals had been developed by
officers in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF). All candidates were Colin Gubbins and had been issued as a Field Service Regulation in May
now ready for one ofthe toughest training programmes ofWorld War II. 1939. Gubbins studied the history books for examples of guerrilla fighting
and was inspired bytheSpanishresistanceagainstNapoleon, theexampleof
Lawrence ofArabia, and his Germancontemporary,WilhelmWassmuss, who
THE TRAINING SYSTEM
Prospective agents were put through a rigorous training and assessment
programmeto gauge theirsuitabilityfor field operations. Beforeagents were
passedfit, theywould have to completethree tiersofschooling,eachdesigned
to push them to the limits and prepare them for the dangerous work ahead.
In outline, the students (prospective agents were always called students)
would spend three to four weeks at a preliminary school before passing on
to 'Group N, or 'paramilitary schools'. There the students would undergo a ...
~'.
gruelling 3-5-week syllabus of physical exercise, fieldcraft and combat , ,
training. The students would then have an opportunity to gain their
parachute wings at RAF Ringway before being sent on to 'Gr<'>UP B', or
'finishingschools' located around Lord Montagu's Beaulieu estatein theNew
Forest,Hampshire.Thetraining becamemore psychologicallydemandingas
thestudentsweretrained inspycraft,learningeverythingfrom using disguises
to safe-breaking. When the Germans learned of this unorthodox syllabus
throughcaptured agents, theynicknamed Beaulieu 'thegangsterschool'.With
the formal training complete, the agents might then be sent to a specialist
schoolto receive additional one-to-onelessons. The mostcommonspecialist AstillfromtheRAFfilm
schools taught industrial sabotage or wireless operation. Once training was showingatypicalcommando
typeobstaclecourseusedin
complete,thestudentswould be handed back totheircountrysection, which
thefitnesstrainingofSOE
would take care ofthe agents before they were sent overseas.
students.(IWMMH24432)
16 17