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.

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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...

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Free French plaque

Alamy have a photo of the unveiling.

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Leopold Marks

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

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Noor Inayat Khan bust

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

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Noor Inayat Khan - Taviton Street

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

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Show all 10

Other Subjects

Fredk. W. Osborne

Fredk. W. Osborne

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

Person, Armed Forces

War dead, WW1
1 memorial
Geo. W. Kean

Geo. W. Kean

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

Person, Armed Forces

War dead, WW1
1 memorial
Private William Caswell

Private William Caswell

William Caswell was born on 26 June 1887 in Kensington, one of the twelve children of George Caswell (1851-1891) and Helenor Caswell née Lorraine (1850-1930). His birth was registered in the 3rd qu...

Person, Armed Forces, France, India

War dead, WW1
1 memorial
Hy. J. Cox

Hy. J. Cox

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

Person, Armed Forces

War dead, WW1
1 memorial
J. B. Mason

J. B. Mason

Resident of Hendon who served and died in WW2.

Person, Armed Forces

War dead, WW2
1 memorial

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R. A. J. Mitchell

R. A. J. Mitchell

Surbiton man killed serving in WW2.

Person

War dead, WW2
1 memorial
Steven Brooks Webster

Steven Brooks Webster

Non-British, killed by the Bali bomb.

Person, Tragedy

1 memorial
R. W. Thornton

R. W. Thornton

Resident of Golders Green killed serving in WW2.

Person

War dead, WW2
1 memorial