List of SOE agents
Appearance
The following is an incomplete list of agents who served in the field for the Special Operations Executive during World War II.
A
[edit]Name | SOE Section | Nationality | Born–Died | Awards | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Alf Aakre [no] | Norway | Norwegian | 1917-1988 | Member of the "Aakre Gang." Participated in Operation Carhampton | |
Elizabeth Lorraine Adie (Lorraine Copeland) |
Middle East |
British |
1916–2013 | Married American OSS agent Miles Copeland, Jr. | |
Francine Agazarian | British |
1913–1998 | FGS, MiD, WM, ST | Courier. Landed in France by aircraft in March 1943. Wife of Jack Agazarian, a Wireless Operator with Prosper circuit. | |
Jack Agazarian | France |
British |
1916–1945 | Killed in concentration camp March 1945. Armenian father and French mother, brother of the RAF fighter ace Noel Agazarian | |
Juliane Aisner | F, Farrier |
French |
1919–1947 | ||
Roland Alexandre | France |
1921–1944 | |||
Elisee Allard | 1916–1944 | ||||
Rehavam Amir | 1916–2013 | ||||
Phillip Amphlett | 1921–1945 | ||||
James Amps | 1908–1945 | Previously a jockey. Had a French wife, after easing out of circuit was implicated in documents found in 1943 when other agents arrested. | |||
France Antelme | France |
Mauritian |
1900–1945 | Captured when landed in France and killed at Gross-Rosen concentration camp | |
Claude Arnault | |||||
Benjamin Aptaker | France |
English |
21.8.1923–2.9.2012 | FGS, MiD, WM, ST CdeG, DM | Section Captain flown into France night parachute in 6.3.1944, posted to Dachau 1945, Judge Advocate General's Branch 1945-46 (Germany) (A/Major), Codename Aleric, Gardener Circuit (w/t operator) Name changed to Roger Forster after his first marriage. Family Originally from Ukraine Immigrants in the early 1900's to UK |
B
[edit]Name | SOE Section | Nationality | Born-Died | Awards | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dorothy Baden-Powell | Scandinavian |
British |
1920–unk | WRNS[1] | |
Claude de Baissac | France |
Mautritian |
1907–1974 | Brother of Lisé de Baissac and husband of Mary Katherine Herbert[2] | |
Lisé de Baissac | France |
Mauritian |
1905–2004 | LdH, CdeG | Sister of SOE Agent Claude de Baissac, Portrayed as Louise Desfontaines in the movie Female Agents (Les Femmes de l'ombre). |
Giliana Balmaceda | The first female SOE agent to be sent to occupied France (sent in May 1941). Instrumental in gathering intelligence and important documents such as rations cards for implementing safe houses, routes, and sustenance for field agents. Married Victor Gerson after the war. | ||||
Madeleine Barclay (Madeleine Victorine Bayard) |
France |
French |
1911–1943 | WRNS, Killed when HMS Fidelity was sunk by U-boat | |
John Barrett | 1916–1944 | arrested in 1944, shot at Buchenwald 5 October 1944 | |||
Eric Barrett | Force 136 GHi(k) | British |
1910–1975 | ||
Yvonne Jeanne de Vibraye Baseden | F, Scholar |
British |
1922–2017 | At age 18, joined WAAF. Wireless Operator. Codename : Odette. Parachuted into SW France near the village of Gabarret in March 1944. Later known as Yvonne Burney. Taken to Ravensbrück concentration camp, survived, taken in by the Swedish Red Cross, then released home by Vera Atkins. | |
Alcide Beauregard | France |
Canadian |
1917–1944 | MiD | Captured by Germans. Killed in Saint-Genis-Laval massacre 20 August 1944 |
Francis Eugène Bec | Section F, Headmaster | British | 1905–1944 | Killed in action when Germans carried out attack on maquis of Charnie 16 June 1944 | |
Stanley Beckinsale | Crete |
British |
1920–2004 | MC | |
Yolande Beekman | F, Musician |
Swiss |
1911–1944 | CdeG, MiD | Wireless Operator, member of Women's Auxiliary Air Force, flown into France in September 1943, Codename : Mariette, Kilt. Killed at Dachau concentration camp with Madeleine Damerment, Noor Inayat Khan, and Eliane Plewman[3] |
Georges Bégué | France |
French |
1911–1993 | Wireless operator; first SOE agent infiltrated into France. | |
Herbert John Bell | Albania/Italy |
British |
1919–2001 | MM | |
Robert Benoist | F, Clergyman |
French |
1895–1944 | arrested June 1944. Executed at Buchenwald concentration camp on 14 September 1944 | |
Kem Bennett | 1919–1986 | ||||
Louis Bertheau | France |
French |
1919–1945 | MiD | KIA[4] |
Gustave "Guy" Biéler | France |
Canadian |
1904–1944 | DSO MBE | |
Emanuel Bierer | 1884–unk | ||||
Helen Bierer | 1885–unk | Full Name: Helen Anna Agate Thormann-Bierer | |||
Andre Bloch | 1914–1942 | KIA | |||
Denise Madeleine Bloch | 1916–1945 | KCBC, LdH, CdeG | Killed at Ravensbrück concentration camp[5] with Lilian Rolfe and Violette Szabo | ||
Marcus Bloom | France |
British |
1907–1944 | MiD | Killed at Mauthausen concentration camp |
Bridget Blundell | unk–1999 | MBE | |||
Nicholas Bodington | France |
British |
1904–1974 | MBE | |
Andrée Borrel | F, Physician |
French |
1919–1944 | CdeG, MR, KCBC | Courier. Codenames : Monique, Denise Urbain. KIA at Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp |
Jean Bouguennec | France |
1912–1944 | KIA | ||
Tony Brooks | France |
British | 1922–2007 | DSO, MC, CdeG, LdH | |
Captain Basil Brown | 1918–1970 | MBE | |||
Carl Johan Bruhn | Denmark |
Danish |
1904-1941 | Died during the first attempt at drop-off with a parachute in Denmark by SOE agents. | |
Joséf Bublik | |||||
Maurice Buckmaster | France |
British |
1902–1992 | MBE, CdeG | F Section Chief |
Christopher Burney | France |
British |
1917–1980 | MBE | |
Norman Burley | Real Name: Noel Fernand Rauol Burdeyron | ||||
Sonya Butt | F, Headmaster |
British |
1924–2014 | MBE, MiD | Courier. Married fellow SOE agent Guy D'Artois |
Muriel Byck | France |
British |
1918–1944 | MiD | Died in service of meningitis at Romorantin Hospital |
Robert Bennett Byerly | 1916–1944 |
C
[edit]Name | SOE Section | Nationality | Born-Died | Awards | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Eric Cauchi | F, Stockbroker | Greek |
1917–1944 | MiD, CdeG, M.R.F. | [citation needed] |
Francis Cammaerts | F, Donkeyman, Jockey | British |
1916–2006 | DSO, LdH, CdeG | |
Maddalena Cerasuolo[6] | 1920–1999 | Bronze Medal of Military Valor (Italy)[7] | Code name: Maria Esposito, C22; sabotage missions, resistant[7][8] | ||
William John Chalk | 1899–unk | ||||
Robert Arthur Chapman | 1901–unk | ||||
Valentine Blanche Charlet | F, Detective |
British |
1898–1985 | MBE | Courier. Served with Women's Transport Service. |
Pierre Chassé | Canadian |
1923–1988 | Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) Distinguished Service Order (DSO) Croix de Guerre avec palmes 1939-45 (France) | ||
Marie-Thérèse Le Chêne | France |
French |
1890-unk | MBE, CdeG | |
Arthur Christie | British |
1921–2003 | |||
Kjeld Toft-Christensen | Denmark |
Danish |
1910–1945 | MC, | Committed suicide on 27 November 1945. |
Oliver Churchill | Italy |
British |
1914–1997 | DSO, MC, Italian Partisan Medal | Brother of Group Captain Walter Churchill and Captain Peter Churchill |
Peter Churchill | France |
British |
1909–1972 | DSO, CdeG | Brother of Group Captain Walter Churchill and Major Oliver Churchill |
Marcel Clech | 1905–1944 | wireless operator. arrested and executed at Mauthausen concentration camp. | |||
George Clement | 1917–1944 | ||||
Jean Coleman | F, Acolyte |
British |
1908–1982 | ||
Adolphus Richard Cooper | 1899–unk | ||||
Ted Coppin | 1915–1943 | ||||
Yvonne Cormeau | F, Wheelwright |
British |
1909–1997 | CdeG, DM, GS, MBE, LdH, War Medal 1939-1945, ST | Joined Women's Auxiliary Air Force. Courier and Wireless Operator. The 2nd female Wireless Operator to be sent to France. Parachuted into St Antoine du Queyret in SW France in August 1943. Evaded arrest by convincing the enemy that her radio was an X-Ray Machine. Codenames : Annette, Fairy, Sarafari. |
Henri Cornioley | France |
British |
1914–2008 | Husband of Pearl Witherington | |
Noël Coward | British |
1899–1972 | |||
Benjamin Cowburn | France |
British |
1909–1994 | MC and Bar, LdH, CdeG | Four successful missions into France |
Jørgen Robert Christensen | Denmark |
Danish |
1921–2004 | Frogman, co-founder of the Danish Frogman Corps and second in command from 1957 to 1970 | |
Andrew Croft | Norway |
British |
1906–1998 | DSO, MBE | |
Mike Cumberlege | Force 133 | British |
1905–1945 | DSO and Bar, RD | after capture and torture by the Germans |
D
[edit]Name | SOE Section | Nationality | Born-Died | Awards | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Madeleine Damerment | F - Bricklayer |
French |
1917–1944 | at Dachau concentration camp with Yolande Beekman, Noor Inayat Khan, and Eliane Plewman | |
Guy D'Artois | France |
Canadian |
1917–1999 | DSO, GM, CdeG | Married fellow SOE agent Sonya Butt |
Jimmy Davies | British |
1913–1940 | DFC, MiD | KIA | |
Marcel Defence | 1920–1944 | [9] | |||
Ange Defendini | 1909–1944 | ||||
George Demand | British |
1921–1944 | George_Demand [fr] | ||
Delmeire Alphonse | France |
Belgian |
1919–1944 | KIA 7 June 1944 in Germany | |
Francois Adolphe Deniset | 1917–1944 | ||||
Henri Dericourt | France |
French |
1909–1962 | Possibly a double agent | |
Freddi Desmet | France |
Dutch |
1912–1946 | Real Name: Christiaan Lindemans | |
Julien Detal | unk–1944 | ||||
Elizabeth Devereux-Rochester | F, Marksman |
British |
1917 – 1983? | LdH, CdeG | Courier. Born to American parents. Codename : Typist, FANY |
Henri Diacono | F, Spiritualist | Wireless Operator. | |||
Douglas Dodds-Parker | British |
1909–2006 | LdH, CdeG, MiD | ||
Derek Dodson | |||||
Leo Donati | Italy |
Italian |
1919–1972 | ||
Hugh Dormer | France |
British |
1919–1944 | DSO | Left SOE in January 1944 (KIA serving with Irish Guards in August 1944).[10] |
Roland Dowlen | 1907–1945 | ||||
Joan Lois Dowson | France |
British |
1924 - 2010 | G.M., CdeG , C.B.E. late of Girton College, Cambridge | |
André Dubois | 1906–1944 | ||||
Emile Duboudin | 1907–1945 | ||||
Gustave Duclos | France |
French |
1916–2002 | MC, CdeG, LdH, EM, MR, Corps Expéditionnaire Français d’Extrême Orient, Croix du Combattant, Croix de Guerre Théâtres d’Opération Extérieurs | |
Phillip Duclos | 1923–1944 | ||||
Alix D'Unienville | France |
Mauritian |
1919–unk | ||
Archie Dunlop-Mackenzie | Baltic |
British |
[11] | ||
Gavan Bernard Duffy | British |
1916–1990 | MC | ||
Lucien Dumais | France |
Canadian |
MC, CdeG, LdH | In charge of Shelburn Line (Shelbourne Line) Operation Bonaparte[12] | |
Pieter Dourlein | Dutch |
Escaped back to England and survived war. |
E
[edit]Name | SOE Section | Nationality | Born-Died | Awards | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Alf Espedal | Norwegian Independent Company 1 | Norwegian | 1914–1969 | Trained in STS 26 at Glen More and other Special Training Schools. In charge of "Operation Osprey" that parachuted in Rogaland county on Dec. 10 1943. | |
Reginald Harold Everson | 1923–1990 | ||||
Francois Michelle William Reeve [citation needed] |
F
[edit]Name | SOE Section | Nationality | Born-Died | Awards | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Albert George Falla | France |
Guernsey | 1918–1997 | Worked for MI6 until retirement | |
Eugene Felangue | 1912–1945 | ||||
Patrick Leigh Fermor | Crete |
British |
1915–2011 | DSO, MBE | |
David Finlayson | 1923–1944 | ||||
Yvonne Fontaine | French |
1913–1996 | MdlRF | ||
Marcel Fox | French |
1910–1945 | CdeG, LdH, MiD, MR | Reg # : 257605. Codename : Georges, Ernest. Deported to and KIA in Flossenbürg | |
Henri Frager | France |
French |
1897–1944 | MiD, MdlRF | KIA |
Louis Francou | Belgian |
also known as Bullfrog |
G
[edit]Name | SOE Section | Nationality | Born-Died | Awards | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Henri Gaillot | France |
Belgian |
1896–1944 | KIA (also known as "Ignace" or "Guillaume") | |
Albrecht Gaiswinkler | France | Austrian | 1905–1979 | ||
Harry Gamwell | Yugoslavia & Italy |
British |
1912–1998 | Syracuse, Bari, Alexandria, Yugoslavia. | |
Emile Garry | 1909–1944 | KIA | |||
P A H Geelen | 1916–1944 | KIA | |||
Ole Geisler | Denmark |
Danish |
1913–1948 | DSO | From 1943 head of SOE's work in Jutland. |
Victor Gerson | France |
British |
1896–? | DSO, LdH | Organised the Vic escape line in France into neutral Spain. Married Giliana Balmaceda after the war |
Alfredo Mechoulam Gerassi | Portugal/Spain/France | France | 1902-1995 | King's Medal for Courage in the Cause of Freedom | |
Paul Goffin | Belgian |
1915–1967 | also known as Gofer | ||
John G. Goldsmith | France |
British |
1909–1972 | DSO, MC, CdeG, LdH | See "Accidental Agent" memoir published 1971. |
Malby E. G. Goodman | British |
Cairo, Yugoslavia, Italy |
1917–2015 | ||
Harry Graham | 1910–1945 | KIA | |||
André Grandclément | France |
French |
1908–1944 | Executed as a double agent | |
Christine Granville (Krystyna Skarbek) | F, Jockey |
Polish |
1908 - 1952 | OBE, GM, Croix de Guerre | Courier. Operated under the name "Madame Pauline" in France. One of the longest serving of Britain's wartime women agents. Parachuted into SE France in July 1944. One of the few SOE female field agents promoted to captain. Killed in 1952 by man who had become obsessed with her. |
Sverre Granlund | Norway |
Norwegian |
1918–1943 | DCM, WCS | |
William Grover-Williams | France |
British |
1903–1945 | Captured and executed at Sachsenhausen | |
Jacques Vaillant de Guélis | France |
British |
1997-1945 | MBE, Military Cross, Croix de Guerre[13] | Died from an automobile accident on 7 August 1945 |
Armel Guerne | 1911–1980 | ||||
René Dumont-Guillemet | F, Spiritualist | Organizer of Spiritualist circuit. |
H
[edit]Name | SOE Section | Nationality | Born-Died | Awards | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Virginia Hall | F, Heckler |
American |
1906–1982 | MBE, DSC | Post war worked for the CIA |
Odette Hallowes | F, Spindle |
British |
1912–1995 | GC, MBE, LdH | Most highly decorated woman in WWII. Also known by the surnames "Sansom"[14] and "Churchill" (By marriage). Codename 'Lise'. Married Peter Churchill after the war. |
John Hamilton | 1907–1944 | ||||
Mogens Hammer | Denmark |
Danish |
1911-1946 | Sent together with Carl Johan Bruhn over Denmark | |
Gordon Harris | Italy / Greece |
British |
1917-1965 | P.A. to Gen. Stawell. Attached to Col Papas Tamitiades, Greek commander in Peloponnese for direct liaison with 3 corps.[15] | |
John Beresford "Jack" Hayes | British |
1904–unk | Organised Mission Helmsman in July–August 44 | ||
Victor Hayes | 1908–1944 | ||||
Mary Hemmings | 1914–unk | ||||
Mary Katherine Herbert | France |
Irish |
1903–1983 | First WAAF Officer to join the SOE | |
Richard Henry Heslop | France |
British |
1907–1973 | DSO, LdH, CdeG | Organiser (leader) of Marksman network. |
Richard Hewitt | British |
1917–1994 | MBE | commanded the Allied No 1 Special Forces in the Italian Campaign | |
Harry Hill | British |
||||
George Hiller | France |
British |
1916–1972 | [16] | |
Wilhelm Holst | France |
Norwegian |
1895–1949 | Croix de Guerre avec palme, Legion d'honneur, 1st Knight of The Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav, Medaille de la Resistance |
Head of Billet circuit, Head of Eduard escape line to Spain |
Marcel Homet | 1897–unk | ||||
Desmond Ellis Hubble | British |
1910–1944 | Le Croix de Chevalier de l'Ordre Royal du Lion, avec Palme, Croix de Guerre, avec Palme. Medal of French Gratitude. Mentioned in despatches. |
Executed at Buchenwald, Germany | |
Bill Hudson | British |
1910-1995 | DSO OBE | According to The Sunday Times, Ian Fleming used Hudson as a model for his character, James Bond. Prior to the SOE, he was in Section D of the British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS). | |
Harry Hudson | British |
1924-2012 | |||
André Hue | France |
Anglo-French |
1923–2005 | DSO | |
Max Hymans | France |
France |
1900–1961 |
I
[edit]Name | SOE Section | Nationality | Born-Died | Awards | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Captain Basil Irwin | Yugoslavia and Italy | MC | Liaison Officer | ||
Jerzy Iwanow-Szajnowicz | Greece |
Polish-Greek |
1911-1943 | Virtuti Militari, Cross of Valour | also known as Nikolaos Tsenoglou. Code name, O33B. Independent. Saboteur in occupied Greece in cooperation with the Greek Resistance |
J
[edit]Name | SOE Section | Nationality | Born-Died | Awards | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ingolf Johannesen [no] | Norwegian |
1915–1998 | Member of the Shetland gang. Crew on board the KNM ''Hitra'' [no] | ||
Peter Johnsen | |||||
Sydney Jones | 1902–1944 | ||||
Ginette Jullian | France |
French |
1917–1962 | ||
Clement Jumeau | 1914–1944 | ||||
Douglas Jung | Force 136 |
Canadian |
1924–2002 | Later become the first Chinese-Canadian MP |
K
[edit]Name | SOE Section | Nationality | Born-Died | Awards | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Noor Inyat Khan | France |
Indian/American |
1914–1944 | GC, CdeG, MiD | Killed at Dachau concentration camp alongside Yolande Beekman, Madeleine Damerment and Eliane Plewman[17] |
Andrzej Kowerski | Polish |
1912–1988 | also known as Andrew Kennedy | ||
Mary Knowles | 1917–2003 | also known as Christine | |||
Marguerite Knight | France |
British |
1920–2004 | MBE | Codename 'Nicole' |
Peter Kemp | Cairo (Balkans), Force 136 |
British |
1913–1993 | Author of books Mine Were of Trouble (1957), No Colours or Crest (1958), Alms for Oblivion (1962), The Thorns of Memory (1990) |
L
[edit]Name | SOE Section | Nationality | Born-Died | Awards | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Paul Emile Labelle | France |
Canadian |
1916–unk | MC | Codename Nartex |
Raymond LaBrosse | France |
Canadian |
1920–1986 | MC, CdeG, LdH | Radio Operator - Shelburn Line (Shelbourne Line) Operation Bonaparte[18] |
Max Lafaye | France |
French |
1912–1986 | French Resistance Medal | Deported to KL Buchenwald (Jan 1944–Jan 45)- Dora (Jan 45–Apr 1945) - Bergen-Belsen (15 Apr. 1945) |
Peter Lake | France |
||||
A R Landsdell | |||||
Maurice Larcher | Mauritian |
1922-1944 | CdeG, LdH, MiD | Registration # : 306766. Codename : Vladimir, Linesman, Sari. Parachuted into France in February 1944. His brother, George Larcher, was also an SOE agent. KIA in July 1944 in Pierrefitte-en-Cinglais, France. Body recovered October 1944. | |
James Larose | |||||
Leif Larsen | Shetland Bus | Norwegian |
1906–1990 | DSO, DSC, CGM, DSM and Bar, 2 x Norwegian War Cross with one sword, St. Olav's Medal With Oak Branch, War Medal with three stars, Defence Medal 1940–1945, Medal of Freedom etc. |
The most highly decorated naval officer of World War II |
Phyllis Latour | France |
British (South African-born) |
1921–2023 | MBE, CdeG | |
Huub Lauwers | Dutch |
1915–2004 | Was captured by the Germans and held at numerous Nazi concentration camps but he survived the war. | ||
Madeleine Lavigne | F, Silversmith |
French |
1912–1945 | FANY, SPRUCE. Courier. Wireless Operator. Codename : Isabelle. Alias : Madeleine Latour . | |
Marcel Leccia | F, Labourer | 1911-1944 | MR | Registration # : 309883. Codename : Baudouin. Alias : Georges Louis. | |
Jacques Paul Henri Ledoux | |||||
Lionel Lee | 1944 | MC, Cr de Guerre | British Jewish agent. Betrayed, murdered at Gross Rosen. | ||
Mike Lees | Yugoslavia, Italy | British | 1922-1993 | Successfully planned and executed Operation Tombola | |
Cecily Lefort | F, Jockey |
British |
1900–1945 | CdeG, MiD | courier, Served in WAAF Aircraft Woman #452845, parachuted into the Loire Valley with SOE agents Diana Rowden and Noor Inayat Khan, Killed at Ravensbrück concentration camp |
Vera Leigh | France |
British |
1903–1944 | King's Commendation for Brave Conduct | Killed at Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp |
M A Lepage | |||||
E Lesout | |||||
Joël Letac | France |
French |
1918–2005 | Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur, Compagnon de la Libération, CdG, Médaille de la Résistance | Detained in Dora and Bergen-Belsen |
Philippe Liewer | France |
French |
1911–1950 | MC, CdeG | |
Ole Lippmann | Denmark |
Danish |
1916–2002 | Replaced Flemming Muus as SOE parachute commander | |
Christopher Lord | T |
British |
unk–1943 | Killed on duty in June 1943 to Tanus (Tarn) in France. | |
Desmond Longe | Britain |
French |
Codenamed, Refraction. Rank, Major. |
M
[edit]Name | SOE Section | Nationality | Born-Died | Awards | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Elaine Madden | T |
British |
1923–2012 | ||
Amédée Maingard | France |
Mauritian | 1918–1981 | DSO, CdeG | |
Stanislaw Makowski | France |
||||
Max Manus | Norwegian Independent Company 1 | Norwegian | 1914–1996 | DSO, MC & Bar, War Cross with two swords, Defence Medal 1940–1945 (with rosette), Medal of Freedom with silver palm etc. |
|
Claude Raymond Malraux [fr] | F, Salesman | French | 1920-1944 | Registration # : 316119. Codename : Cicero. KIA at Gross-Rosen concentration camp | |
Andre Adrian Jules Maugenet | |||||
Comte Jacques-Arthus Marc de Montalembert | |||||
Ernest Miller | |||||
Gavin Maxwell | Instructor | British | 1914–1969 | ||
James Andrew Mayer | Mauritian | ||||
James Francis George Mennesson | |||||
Francois Gerard Michel | |||||
George Millar | F | British | 1910–2005 | DSO MC | |
G B McBain | |||||
John Kenneth Macalister | F | Canadian | 1914–1944 | KIA | |
S Makowski | |||||
R M A Mathieu | |||||
W. Stanley Moss | F133, F136 | British | 1921–1965 | MC | |
Pierre Louis Mulsant | |||||
Flemming Muus | Denmark | Danish | 1907–1982 | DSO | SOE parachute commander from 1943 to 1945 |
Buntie Aurelle Neredah Macklin-Sprake | UK | British | 1919–2010 | Married Arie Van Duyn. Dutch SOE Radio Operator |
N
[edit]Name | SOE Section | Nationality | Born-Died | Awards | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Eileen Mary "Didi" Nearne | F, Wizard |
British | 1921–2010 | CdeG, MBE | Sister of SOE agents Jacqueline & Francis Nearne. Codename : Rose. Wireless Operator. |
Francis Nearne | France |
British | Brother of SOE agents Eileen & Jacqueline Nearne | ||
Jacqueline Nearne | France |
British | 1916–1982 | MBE | Sister of SOE agents Eileen & Francis Nearne. Codename : Josette. |
Isidore Newman | F, Salesman |
British | c.1916–1944 | MBE[19] | Captured, and shot at Mauthausen on 6 September 1944 with 45 other agents.[20] |
Alfred Newton | [21] | ||||
Henry Newton | [21] | ||||
Gilbert Norman | France |
British | 1914–1944 | KIA |
O
[edit]Name | SOE Section | Nationality | Born-Died | Awards | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sonia Olschanezky | F, Juggler/Robin |
French |
1923-1944 |
Member of SOE's Juggler/Robin Circuit, Juggler sub-circuit of Physician/Prosper circuit. Captured in 1944, Interrogated by the Gestapo. Executed at Natzweiler-Struthof Concentration Camp. | |
Maureen Patricia "Paddy" O'Sullivan | F, Fireman |
Irish | 1918 - 1994 |
Member of WAAF. SOE wireless operator. Parachuted into France near Limoges in April 1944. |
P
[edit]Name | SOE Section | Nationality | Born-died | Awards | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Paul Pardi | France | French | 1920-1944 | Resistance Medal | His mother was captured and tortured, but never revealed what she knew. She received the Croix de Guerre. |
George Wyndham Parker | Norwegian Independent Company 1 | British | 1913–1992 | MM, MiD, Norwegian War Cross with two swords | Mission planner |
Alv Kristian Pedersen | Norwegian Independent Company 1 | Norwegian | 1908–1982 | MBE + various Norwegian. | |
Maurice Pertschuk | France | French | 1921–1945 | MBE, Croix de Guerre, Legion of Honor | Killed at Buchenwald on 29 March 1945. |
Peter Pertschuk | France | French | 1923–1995 | Brother of Maurice Pertschuk.
He was not used operationally.[citation needed] | |
Harry Peulevé | France | British | 1916–1963 | DSO, MC | [22] |
Frank Pickersgill | France | Canadian | 1915–1944 | KIA | |
Richard Francis Pinder | France | British | 1913–1981 | Croix de Guerre | FOOTMAN Circuit - survived deportation. |
Eliane Plewman | F, Monk, Monkeypuzzle | British | 1917–1944 | KCBC, CdeG | 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 Yolande Beekman and Madeleine Damerment, killed at Dachau concentration camp. |
Q
[edit]Name | SOE Section | Nationality | Born-Died | Awards | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Anthony Quayle | Albania | British | 1913–1989 | liaison officer with the partisans in Albania |
R
[edit]Name | SOE Section | Nationality | Born-Died | Awards | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Adolphe Rabinovitch | 1918–1944 | Captured and executed at Gross-Rosen concentration camp in 1944 according to Maurice Buckmaster speaking in person in the opening scene of 1950 film Odette. | |||
Herbert Maurice Roe | Force 136 1945 SSRF 1942 2 Commando | British | 1917–2014 | MM & MiD | |
Josette Renee Paule Ronserail | SOE - courier and wireless operator | French | 1919-1990 | Croix de Guerre, the Médaille de la Résistance, and the Legion of Honour | She was arrested by the Gestapo in 1944 and tortured, but she did not reveal any information. She was deported to Ravensbrück concentration camp, where she survived until the liberation in 1945 |
Alex Rabinovich | |||||
Brian Dominic Rafferty | |||||
Denis Rake | France | British | 1901–1976 | MC | [23] |
Charles Rechenmann | |||||
Harry Alfred Rée | F, Stockbroker | British |
1914–1991 | DSO, MBE | Organizer for Stockbroker circuit. Codename : César. |
Haviva Reik | Slovakia | Slovakian | 1914–1944 | KIA | |
Jean Renaut | Belgian | ||||
Jean Renaud-Dandicolle | |||||
Anne Robertson | 1920–unk | ||||
Lilian Rolfe | F, Historian | British | 1914–1945 | MBE, CdeG, MiD | Wireless Operator, KIA at Ravensbrück concentration camp with Violette Szabo and Denise Bloch |
Jasper Rootham | Yugoslavia | British | 1910–1990 | ||
Diana Rowden | F, Acrobat | British | 1915–1944 | MBE, CdeG, MiD | KIA at Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp |
Yvonne Rudelatt | F, Adolph | French | 1897–1945 | CdeG | courier, Died in service of typhus at Bergen-Belsen concentration camp |
Christian Michael Rottbøll | Denmark | Danish | 1917-1942 | KIA |
S
[edit]Name | SOE Section | Nationality | Born-Died | Awards | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Roméo Sabourin | France | Canadian | 1923–1944 | Captured and killed 1944 | |
Anthony P B St.John | Burma | British | 1925–1990 | ||
Paul F M Sarrette | |||||
Alexandre Schwatschko | |||||
Enzo Sereni | Italy | Italian | 1905–1944 | captured and executed in Dachau concentration camp. | |
Henri P. Sevenet | |||||
John B. Selby | Yugoslavia | British | 1915–1991 | DSO, DFC, Partisan Star | |
Jack Andrew Eugene Marcel Sinclair | |||||
Jean Alexandre Robert Simon | |||||
Octave Anne Guillaume Simon | |||||
Krystyna Skarbek | France | Polish | 1915–1952 | GM, MBE, CdeG | Better known by her pseudonym Christine Granville[24] |
Brian Skelly | 1920–2001 | ||||
Charles Skepper | France | British | 1905–c.1944 | ||
Einar Skinnarland | Norway | Norwegian | 1918–2002 | DCM | |
Giovanni Slaviero | Italy | Italian | 1914-1999 | Bronze Medal of Military Valor | CLNAI partisan from 1943, recruited into SOE and SIM February 1945 as head of the Modena area. Participated in Operation SILENTIA and GRATIOT. Captured and tortured in April 1945, by the SS, but gave up nothing. Known associate of Adrian Gallegos and Major Jim Davies.[25] |
Gunnar Sønsteby | Norwegian Independent Company 1 | Norwegian | 1918–2012 | DSO, 1939–45 Star, War Cross with three Swords, Commander of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav, Norwegian Police Cross of Honour, Norwegian Defence Cross of Honour, Defence Medal 1940–1945 with rosette, Haakon VII 70th Anniversary Medal, Medal of Freedom with silver palm etc. | Member of Norwegian resistance movement from 1940. Member of Milorg. Organised sabotage by Oslo Gang in 1944–45. Most highly decorated Norwegian of WWII. |
V. A. Soskice | |||||
Maurice Southgate | France | British | 1913–1990 | DSO | Codename 'Hector'[26] |
James William Spencer | British | 1915–1997 | code name "Marks" | ||
Geoffrey Spencer | Germany | British | 1920–2015 | ||
M J G de St Genies | |||||
Arthur Staggs | |||||
George Reginald Starr | France | British | 1904–1980 | MD, DSO | Brother of John Renshaw Starr |
John Renshaw Starr | France | British | unk–1996 | Brother of George Reginald Starr | |
Arthur Steele | captured and killed 1944 | ||||
Brian Stonehouse | France | British | 1918–1998 | MBE | |
Francis Suttill | France | British | 1910–1945 | DSO | Captured 1943, killed 1945[27] |
Violette Szabo | F, Salesman | British | 1921–1945 | GC, MBE, CdeG | FANY, Codename : Louise, parachuted into France in April 1944, Killed at Ravensbrück concentration camp[28] with Lilian Rolfe and Denise Bloch |
Hannah Szenes | Yugoslavia | Hungarian | 1921–1944 | executed by a firing squad on November 7, 1944, in Budapest |
T
[edit]Name | SOE Section | Nationality | Born-Died | Awards | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Germaine Tambour | F, Prosper, Physician | French | 1903-1945 | Killed at Ravensbrück concentration camp with her sister, Madeleine by gas chamber. | |
Madeleine Tambour | F, Prosper, Physician | French | 1908-1945 | Killed at Ravensbrück concentration camp with her sister, Germaine by gas chamber. | |
Jacques Taschereau | |||||
Paul Raymond Tessier | France | British | 1916–1944 | MiD | |
Paul-Émile Thibeault | |||||
Michael Trotobas | France, Farmer | British | 1914-1943 | Medal of Resistance | Killed in action at Lille, France |
U
[edit]Name | SOE Section | Nationality | Born-Died | Awards | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Paul L Ullman | F, Stockbroker | Wireless Operator. |
V
[edit]Name | SOE Section | Nationality | Born-Died | Awards | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Jacques Vaillant de Guélis | France | 1907–1945 | MBE MC CdeG | Injured in road accident in Germany, May 1945. Died in the UK August 1945. | |
François Vallée | |||||
Philippe de Vomécourt | France | French | 1902-1964 | Head of Ventriloquist Network | |
Pierre de Vomécourt | France | French | 1906-1986 | Head of Autogyro Network | |
Arne Værum | Norwegian | 1919–1942 | KIA in Telavåg, Norway | ||
Arie Van Duyn | Holland | Dutch | OBE | Married Buntie Macklin-Sprake (Radio Operator Trainer) |
W
[edit]Name | SOE Section | Nationality | Born-Died | Awards | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nancy Wake | F, Freelance | New Zealand | 1912–2011 | AC, GM, LdH, CdeG, MR, Medal of Freedom (US) | Codenames : Helene (British), Andree (French), Witch (Ops), Gertie (closest colleagues). Nicknamed 'White Mouse' by the Gestapo as she continued to evade capture by them. |
Winifred Watkins | Intelligence 1939–1946 | British | 1916–unk | Known as 'Betty'[29] | |
Anne-Marie Walters | F, Starr, Wheelwright | British | 1923–1998 | ST, CdeG, DM, FGS, MFG, MBE, WM | WAAF Officer. Codename : Colette. January 1944 parachuted into Armagnac area of SW France. Served as a Courier with Yvonne Cormeau (Wireless Operator for Starr circuit.) |
Peter Wand-Tetley | |||||
David Whytehead Sibrée | |||||
Odette Wilen | France | ||||
Edward M. Wilkinson | F, Privet | American | Captured, executed | ||
John Prentice Wilkinson | No.1 Special Forces | British | 1915–1945 | Killed in action | |
George Alfred "Teddy" Wilkinson | |||||
Jean-Pierre Wimille | France | French | 1908–1949 | ||
Pearl Witherington | F, Wrestler |
British | 1914–2008 | MBE, CBE, CdeG, LdH | [30] |
Jean Worms | |||||
Dagmar Witherspoon | British | 1922–2011 | |||
Christopher Matthew "Colombo" Woods | No. 1 Special Forces | British | CMG, MC | Personal memoir of Captain Wood's work in German-occupied Italy (Po river region, North Italy) is preserved in the archives of London's Imperial War Museum |
Y
[edit]Name | SOE Section | Nationality | Born-Died | Awards | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
F. F. E. Yeo-Thomas | France | British | 1902–1964 | GC, MC*, CdeG, CLdH | Best known by his code name "White Rabbit"[31] |
John Young | France | British | Spoke French with a Newcastle accent according to John Goldsmith. Worked in the Dijon region with Diana Rowden. Captured autumn 1943. | ||
John Cuthbert Young | |||||
William Henry Young | Albania + | British | 1923-1996 | 1939-1945 Star, Africa Star, Defence Medal, Italy Star, War Medal 1939 - 1945, Palestine Police Medal, MiD | Shadow Force - under command of Sir Anthony Quayle, Albania Section plus. Later seconded to Palestine Police and MI6 after war ended |
Z
[edit]Name | SOE Section | Nationality | Born-Died | Awards | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Edward Zeff | France | British | 1903-1973 | MBE, CdeG | Radio operator. Captured by Germans, survived.[32] |
Guido Zembsch-Schreve [fr] | France | Dutch | 1916–2003 | MBE, LdH | Captured by Germans, survived[33] |
Key
[edit]Note | Description | Explanation |
---|---|---|
CBE | Commander of The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire | Commander of the British order of chivalry. |
CdeG | Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 | French military decoration created on September 26, 1939, to honour people who fought with the Allies against the Axis force at any time during World War II |
DM | Defence Medal | Instituted in May 1945. Awarded to British Commonwealth subjects for non-operational military and civilian war service during WWII. |
DSC | Distinguished Service Cross | British gallantry medal awarded during active operations against the enemy |
DSO | Distinguished Service Order | Instituted September 6, 1886. Awarded for meritorious or distinguished service in war. |
EM | Médaille des Évadés | Instituted in 1926. Awarded to individuals who were POW and escaped internment or died as a result of their escape. |
F | France | SOE (Special Operations Executive) F section operations in France |
FANY | First Aid Nursing Yeomanry | British independent all-female unit active in both nursing and intelligence work during the World Wars. |
FGS | France and Germany Star | Instituted May 1945. Awarded to British Commonwealth forces who served between June 6, 1944, and May 8, 1945, in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Germany, and adjacent sea areas. |
GC | George Cross | The highest civil decoration of the United Kingdom. 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. |
GM | George Medal | The second highest civil decoration of the United Kingdom It awards civilian gallantry in the face of enemy action and brave deeds more generally. |
KCBC | King's Commendation for Brave Conduct | 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 |
KIA | Killed in Action | A casualty classification generally used by militaries to describe the deaths of their own forces at the hands of hostile forces. |
LdH | Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur | French order that is the highest decoration in France. |
MBE | Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire | Member of the British order of chivalry. |
MFG | Médaille de la Reconnaissance française | "Médaille de la Reconnaissance française". Created July 13, 1917 to honor civilians who had performed acts of heroism in the face of the enemy during WWI without military obligation. Last award : February 14, 1959. |
MiD | Mentioned in Despatches | An official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which is described the person's gallant or meritorious action in the face of the enemy. |
MR | Médaille de la Résistance | Established February 9, 1943 by General Charles de Gaulle awarded to individuals who participated in actions against the Axis powers on French soil. |
MC | Military Cross | 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…" |
ST | 1939-1945 Star | Instituted July 8, 1943 and awarded for 180 days of operational service or 60 days of operational flying in WWII. |
T | Belgium | SOE (Special Operations Executive) operations in Belgium |
WAAF | Women's Auxiliary Air Force | |
WM | War Medal 1939-1945 | Instituted on August 16, 1945, and issued to subjects of the British Commonwealth who served full-time in the Armed Forces or the Merchant Navy for at least 28 days between September 3, 1939, and September 2, 1945. |
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Baden-Powell, Dorothy (2005). They Also Serve: an SOE agent in the WRNS. London: Robert Hale. ISBN 0753193361.
- ^ "Claude de Baissac - Special Operations Executive (SOE) Agents in France". nigelperrin.com. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
- ^ "Yolande Beekman - Special Operations Executive (SOE) Agents in France". nigelperrin.com. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
- ^ "Special Operations Executive (SOE) Agent Harry Peulevé - AUTHOR Mission". nigelperrin.com. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
- ^ "Denise Bloch - Special Operations Executive (SOE) Agents in France". nigelperrin.com. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
- ^ HS 9/284 - Special Operations Executive personnel files, The National Archives, UK
- ^ a b Days of Naples
- ^ (IT) Maddalena Cerasuolo, l’eroina delle 4 Giornate lavorò per i servizi inglesi, on repubblica.it
- ^ "Marcel Defence - SOE Agents in France". nigelperrin.com. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
- ^ "Hugh Dormer - Special Operations Executive (SOE) Agents in France". nigelperrin.com. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
- ^ Britain, Mihailovic and the Chetniks, 1941-42 - Page 21
- ^ Dumais, Lucien (1974). The Man Who Went Back. Leo Cooper Ltd. ISBN 9780850521696.
- ^ "Jacques Theodore Paul Marie Vaillant de Guelis". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
- ^ "Odette Sansom - Special Operations Executive (SOE) Agents in France". nigelperrin.com. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
- ^ National Archives - Records of Special Operations Executive
- ^ "George Hiller - Special Operations Executive (SOE) Agents in France". nigelperrin.com. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
- ^ "Noor Inayat Khan - Special Operations Executive (SOE) Agents in France". nigelperrin.com. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
- ^ David Twiston Davies, Canada from Afar: The Daily Telegraph Book of Canadian Obituaries, Dundurn, 1996
- ^ "Casualty Details: Newman, Isidore". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
- ^ "Newman, I., Capt., MBE., MiD, CR de GU.,1944". North East War Memorials Project. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
- ^ a b "Alfred and Henry Newton - SOE Agents in France". nigelperrin.com. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
- ^ "Nigel Perrin". nigelperrin.com. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
- ^ "Denis Rake - Special Operations Executive (SOE) Agents in France". nigelperrin.com. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
- ^ "Christine Granville/Krystyna Skarbek - Special Operations Executive (SOE) Agents in France". nigelperrin.com. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
- ^ [Maurizio Parri. Tracce di cingolo: Compendio generale di storia dei Carristi 1917-2009. Associazione Nazionale Carristi d'Italia. 2009. Pg. 151.]
- ^ "Maurice Southgate - SOE Agents in France". nigelperrin.com. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
- ^ "Francis Suttill - Special Operations Executive (SOE) Agents in France". nigelperrin.com. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
- ^ "Violette Szabo - Special Operations Executive (SOE) Agents in France". nigelperrin.com. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
- ^ HS 9/1561/1
- ^ "Pearl Witherington - Special Operations Executive (SOE) Agents in France". nigelperrin.com. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
- ^ "F.F.E. Yeo-Thomas – SOE Agents in France". nigelperrin.com. Archived from the original on 9 January 2014. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
- ^ "Honor for Jewish war hero and camp survivor". My Brighton. Retrieved 1 March 2022.
- ^ "MBE citation". Traces of War.