Group    From 22/7/1940  To 15/1/1946

Special Operations Executive (SOE)

Categories: Armed Forces, Espionage

Countries: France, Germany

Spies, basically (but see below), working for the UK in WW2. Formed by Churchill and variously known as "Churchill's Secret Army", "The Baker Street Irregulars", the Pythonesque "Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare" or the deliberately dull-sounding "Joint Technical Board" or "Inter-Service Research Bureau". 117 SOE agents did not survive their missions to France. There is a plaque outside St Paul’s Church in Knightsbridge which gives the names of the women SOE agents who died in WW2. Culture 24 gives some detail of the SOE activities around Baker Street.

Parachuted into France the women operatives had a life expectancy of only 6 weeks, due, according to current thinking, to the incompetence of the SOE.

The organisation was officially dissolved on 15 January 1946.

2019: Francis Suttill (who interestingly shares a name with a member of the SOE, 1910 – 1945) contacted us via Facebook to question our use of the word 'spy' to describe members of the SOE rather than 'special agent'. From what he writes he knows much more about this subject than we do so we accept his correction.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Special Operations Executive (SOE)

Commemorated ati

Christine Granville

Christine Granville, born Krystyna Skarbek, 1908 - 1952, SOE agent, lived her...

Read More

Free French plaque

Alamy have a photo of the unveiling.

Read More

Leopold Marks

Jewish cryptographer, Leopold (Leo) Samuel Marks, MBE, lived in flat 410 Park...

Read More

Noor Inayat Khan bust

The Guardian reports: "the first stand-alone memorial to an Asian woman in th...

Read More

Noor Inayat Khan - Taviton Street

Noor Inayat Khan, GC, 1914 - 1944, SOE agent, codename 'Madeleine', stayed he...

Read More

Show all 10

Other Subjects

HMS Victory

HMS Victory

HMS Victory was built in the Old Single Dock in Chatham's Royal Dockyard.  From her website "she would gain renown leading fleets in the American War of Independence, the French Revolutionary War a...

Vehicle, Armed Forces

1 memorial
Patrick Macnee

Patrick Macnee

Actor. Born Daniel Patrick Macnee in Paddington. He served in the Royal Navy in WW2 and started his acting career in Canada. He performed in many supporting roles before being cast as John Steed in...

Person, Armed Forces, Cinema, TV & Radio, Canada, USA

1 memorial
ORP Jastrząb

ORP Jastrząb

Former Submarine in the Polish Navy. ORP stands for Okret Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej (Ship of the Polish Republic).

Vehicle, Armed Forces, Poland

1 memorial
R. Care

R. Care

Employed at the Streatham bus garage. Served and was killed in WW1.

Person, Armed Forces

War dead, WW1
1 memorial
W. G. Edwards

W. G. Edwards

Resident of the West Ward, Hendon who served and died in WW1.

Person, Armed Forces

War dead, WW1
1 memorial

Previously viewed

Esme Percy fountain

Esme Percy fountain

SW7, The Flower Walk, Kensington Gardens, Palace Gate

We'd guess that Percy was fond of dogs and that he lived in Kensington, but we don't know.

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator