In 1985, Wake published her autobiography, The White Mouse, the nickname given to her by the Gestapo for her elusiveness. She was one of the most decorated women who fought against the Nazis in WW2. She died August 7, 2011, at the age of 98. (7/7)
#FFI #Maquis #WW2 #SOE #FSection
Aug 30, 1912: Nancy Wake was born on this date in Wellington, New Zealand. A nurse & journalist, she was horrified by the treatment of Czech Jews following the Anschluss. She became emboldened to resist the Nazis. (1/7)
#WW2 #SOE #antifa #FSection #NewZealand
www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNXK...
Aug 12/13, 1944: On this date Jedburgh team Aubrey parachuted into the Seine-et-Marne region east of Paris to assist the SPIRITUALIST network. The team consisted of 2 Brits, Captain Godfrey Marchant & Sgt Ivor Hooker, & 1 Frenchman, Captain J Chaigneau.
#WW2 #SOE #OSS #FSection #France #Jedburgh
𝐎𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐃𝐚𝐲, 𝟐𝟓 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐠𝐨...🕯️
𝘐𝘯 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘮 Vera #Atkins [°June 15, 1908 – June 24, 2000]🫡🌹😔
#SOE #SpecialOperationsExecutive #FSection #Englandspiel #MauriceBuckmaster #LeoMarks #GilbertNorman #JacquesWeil #SoniaOlschanezky #RudolfVrba #WalterRosenberg #VeraMayRosenberg #VeraMayAtkins #VeraAtkins
Photo of a Special Operations Executive suitcase radio.
Georges Begue (AKA Bombproof) was the first Special Operations Executive agent parachuted into Nazi occupied France. On this date (May 6, 1941), he sent the 1st radio message to London.
#WW2 #SOE #FSection
Hat Tip: @claremulley.bsky.social
Sansom survived imprisonment & was awarded the George Cross in 1946. She was the first woman ever to receive the award, and the only woman who has been awarded it while still alive. She died March 13, 1995, aged 82. (3/3)
#WW2 #SOE #FSection
Sansom was arrested April 16, 1943 by the Abwehr, tortured, & imprisoned at Ravensbrück until the end of the War. (2/3)
#WW2 #SOE #FSection
April 28, 1912: On this date, Odette Sansom (AKA Odette Hallowes; Code name Lise) was born. A Special Operations Executive agent, she became a courier in the SPINDLE circuit in France in WW2. (1/3)
#WW2 #SOE #FSection
April 16, 1943: On this date Special Operations Executive agents Odette Hallowes & Peter Churchill (head of the SPINDLE circuit) arrested by Abwehr counterintelligence officer Hugo Bleicher. Both survived the war. #WW2 #SOE #FSection #France #UK
April 7, 1915: On this date, Gilbert Norman was born. He was a British Army officer who served in the F Section of the Special Operations Executive. Nov 1942, he was sent into France to join the newly formed PROSPER circuit. Arrested June 1943; he was executed Sep 6, 1944. #WW2 #SOE #FSection
In 1957 Virginia Hall married a fellow OSS operative, Paul Goillot. She died at the age of 76 on July 8, 1982.
Much, much more could be said of her career. (4/4)
#WW2 #SOE #OSS #FSection #France #Shero
Hall subsequently joined the OSS, returned to France, & helped train three battalions of resistance forces to wage guerrilla warfare behind German lines. She survived the war and continued to work in intelligence in the post war period. (3/x)
#WW2 #SOE #OSS #FSection
As the result of a hunting accident, Hall had only one foot & used a prosthesis, giving her a limp, leading to her nickname as "the Limping Lady." Despite this, she evaded the Nazis & organized the French Underground in occupied France. (2/x)
#WW2 #SOE #OSS #FSection
Virginia Hall was born April 6, 1906. Hall worked for both the British Special Operations Executive & later with the American Office of Strategic Services & was considered the most dangerous of all Allied spies by the Gestapo. (1/x)
#OSS #SOE #FSection #France #Shero
April 5, 1944: On this date, Special Operations Executive agent Lilian Rolfe dropped near the city of Orléans in occupied France, where she was deployed to work with the HISTORIAN circuit run by George Wilkinson.
#SOE #WW2 #FSection #France
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lilian_...
April 5, 1944: On this date, Special Operations Executive agents Violette Szabo (courier) & Philippe Liewer (organizer) of the SALESMAN circuit were flown by Westland Lysander into German-occupied France in the Loire Valley.
#SOE #WW2 #FSection
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violett...
For more on Robert Benoist, see military historian Alan Malcher’s post here: (4/4)
#WW2 #SOE #France #FSection
alanmalcher.com/2021/01/30/r...
Black and white photo of Robert Benoist at the wheel of his Grand Prix race car.
Grover-Williams & Benoist joined the PROSPER circuit. The circuit was penetrated by the Gestapo in June, 1943. Benoist’s home was raided and Grover-Williams arrested (and he was later executed at Sachsenhausen). (2/4)
#WW2 #SOE #France #FSection #GrandPrix
Mar 20, 1895: On this date Robert Benoist was born. French auto racing driver & WW2 war hero. He & fellow race car drivers Jean-Pierre Wimille & William Grover-Williams, fled to Britain after France was invaded. All 3 joined the Special Operations Executive. (1/4)
#WW2 #SOE #France #FSection
Image of Benjamin Cowburn's book, No Cloak, No Dagger. The frayed book cover has a road map in bluish background tint, with a red swastica flag flying from a city center.
Cowburn was the longest serving F-Section SOE agent & was never captured. He wrote a book about his work with the Special Operations Executive titled “No Cloak, No Dagger: Allied Spycraft in Occupied France.” (2/2) #WW2 #SOE #FSection
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjami...
Mar 13, 1909: On this date, Benjamin Cowburn was born. MRD Foot (official historian of the Special Operations Executive), named Cowburn as one of SOE's half-dozen "best men." (1/2)
#SOE #WW2 #FSection
alanmalcher.com/2022/09/03/b...
In a 2nd mission Antelme established the PHONO circuit. Despite ominous indications PHONO was compromised, he, along with operatives Lionel Lee & Madaleine Dermement, parachuted into France & were captured by the Gestapo. He died at the Gross-Rosen concentration camp. (2/2)
#WW2 #SOE #FSection
Read more about SOE agent Éliane Plewman here: (4/4)
#WW2 #SOE #France #FSection #antifa #Shero
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...
Special Operations Executive agent Éliane Plewman was captured by the Germans March, 1944. At age 26, she was executed by the SS at the Dachau concentration camp September 13, 1944. (3/4)
#SOE #WW2 #France #FSection #antifa #Shero
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eliane_...
Feb 25, 1943: On this date Éliane Plewman was accepted in the Special Operations Executive for training as an “agent in the field.” She parachuted into France on the night of Aug 13, 1943 from a Halifax bomber. She aided the French Resistance working in the MONK circuit. #SOE #FSection #WW2 (1/4)
Feb 24: On this date in 2008, British Special Operations Executive agent Pearl Witherington died. She led the WRESTLER network & up to 3,500 French Maquis resistors. She was the only woman to lead a network in WW2.
#Maquis #SOE #WW2 #France #Resistance #FSection
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pearl_W...
Headshot of Aisner with her head cocked slightly to the right, chin down and her gaze looking upwards.
Feb 15: On this date in 1947 Special Operations Executive agent Julienne Aisner died in Paris from breast cancer at age 47. Code name Clair, she landed by Lysander SE of Tours May '44 & survived working as a courier in the FARRIER circuit.
#WW2 #SOE #FSection #France
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julienn...
Feb 6, 1912: On this date future Special Operations Executive agent Madeleine Lavigne was born. She initially worked in the French Resistance producing false papers in Lyon. Later served in the SOE as a radio operator in SILVERSMITH circuit.
#WW2 #SOE #FSection
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madelei...
Jan 31, 1915: On this date, future SOE hero Diana Rowden born. Codename Paulette. Worked with ACROBAT network as a courier. Arrested by the Gestapo & subsequently executed at the Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp on July 6, 1944 (aged 29).
#WW2
#SOE
#FSection
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diana_R...
