More partners:

Dream Quest One Poetry & Writing Contest

Lesson plans for Teachers

The Activities of the Special Operations Executive

by RobAtherton

Although it was officially established in July 1940, the SOE (Special Operations Executive) had been created in 1938 with the combination of 3 current, top secret sections just after Germany annexed Austria. Churchill's Secret Army was directed to "Set Europe Ablaze".

SOE agents were sent to many different Nazi occupied territories to simultaneously cause chaos behind German lines and in addition start to locate local resistance groups they might possibly work with the instant the occasion for invasion was here. Theatres of Operation covered France, Belgium, Poland, Germany, Yugoslavia, Greece, Hungary, Albania, Czechoslovakia, Norway, Denmark, Romania, Abyssinia and the Far East.

As operatives operated deep in Nazi held territory and they were recruited from an assortment of social class and background. The key criteria was that the probable agent had exhaustive understanding of the land they would operate in and in a position to pass as a local of that country. For that reason, those with dual nationality were highly desirable.

The renowned plane used by the SOE in France was the Westland Lysander. It was a small aircraft which caused it to be a whole lot more tricky to watch and was robust enough to land on makeshift landing strips. It was used to ferry operatives to and from the United Kingdom together with collecting those who needed to be interviewed in London. Pilots who had been shot down were also frequently brought back to the United Kingdom by Lysander.

Amid the SOE numbers were also female operatives and in the region of 30% of the female operatives sent into France from Section F, did not survive. The sorts of operations in each country were diverse. For instance, in Poland, there was little need to encourage the locals as there was already common hatred of the Nazis. This was in comparison to areas such as Vichy France which collaborated with the occupying forces and the probability of SOE operatives being betrayed was enormously increased.

Throughout World War II, the SOE had used approximately 13,000 people who directly backed or provided somewhere in the region of 1 million operatives.

About the Author: Frank Cole

The SOE played a significant part during World War II mainly in Europe but in other areas of the world too.. This article, The Activities of the Special Operations Executive has free reprint rights.

SEO by Artio

Home

College University

The Activities of the Special Operations Executive