Plaque: Spirit of Resistance
Erection date: 20/4/2004
{On the glass, below the relief:}
Spirit of Resistance
This plaque is dedicated to all the men and women who served with the Special Operations Executive (SOE) at home and overseas during the Second World War.
The SOE was a British wartime secret service organisation established to conduct irregular warfare. Its mission was to 'aid and encourage all resistance to the enemy in the occupied territories'.
From 1942 to 1945, SOE Station XVB, known as the Demonstration Room, occupied three sealed galleries in this part of the Natural History Museum. Here, specialised military equipment was displayed for briefing British and Allied staff and SOE field agents.
Their Majesties King George VI and Queen Elizabeth visited the galleries on 1 March 1945.
Unveiled by HRH The Princess Royal on 20 April 2004.
{At the bottom of the relief:}
Spirit of Resistance
{Inscribed in the bottom left corner:}
Harry Greig, 1984
The relief sculpture shows an SOE agent parachuting into occupied territory.
Site: Spirit of Resistance (1 memorial)
SW7, Cromwell Road, Natural History Museum
In our photo the bright light at the end of this ground floor corridor is the Darwin Centre, and the room off to the right is Mammals. The Guardian explains that it was here that, "in the organisation's "toy shop" in the museum, the ancestors of James Bond's fictional colleague Q showed off the astonishing range of kit used by saboteurs behind enemy lines to cut communications, harass the enemy and get information back to Britain."
