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

George Alfred Brown

George Alfred Brown

Group Captain George Alfred Brown, DFC, was born 6 July 1912 in India and our Picture source gives details of his career in the Royal Air Force. This confirms that he was one of the 2,937 airmen wh...

Person, Armed Forces, India

War served, WW2
1 memorial
Private Robert William Baker

Private Robert William Baker

Robert William Baker was born on 24 September 1892 in Westminster, London, the younger son of Frederick George Baker (1861-1943) and Elizabeth Baker née Burton (1860-1916). His birth was registered...

Person, Armed Forces, Belgium

War dead, WW1
1 memorial
Gerald W. Morris

Gerald W. Morris

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

Person, Armed Forces

War dead, WW1
1 memorial
Hy. Gazeley

Hy. Gazeley

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

Person, Armed Forces

War dead, WW1
1 memorial
John H. Barton

John H. Barton

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

Person, Armed Forces

War dead, WW1
1 memorial

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Priscilla Wakefield

Priscilla Wakefield

N15, Colsterworth Road

Our colleague Alan Patient took a photo of this plaque in 2008 and tells us it was in excellent condtion. 9 years later. on our visit, th...

2 subjects commemorated, 1 creator
Rosa Lewis

Rosa Lewis

SW1, Jermyn Street, 81, The Cavendish Hotel

City of Westminster Rosa Lewis, 1867 - 1952, chef de cuisine and hotelier, dramatised as 'The Duchess of Duke Street', ruled the Cavendis...

3 subjects commemorated, 1 creator
Spencer Perceval

Spencer Perceval

Prime Minister - and the only one, so far, to have been assassinated. Born Audley Square (now a car park). Appointed by George III as PM in 1809. Shot in the lobby of the House of Commons, at about...

Person, Politics & Administration, Tragedy

3 memorials
Sir David Attenborough

Sir David Attenborough

Broadcaster and naturalist. Born in Isleworth, West London. He joined the B.B.C. in 1952. His first major natural history series was 'Zoo Quest' in 1954. Appointed controller of BB2 television in 1...

Person, TV & Radio

2 memorials
12th (County of London) Battalion, The London Regiment (The Rangers)

12th (County of London) Battalion, The London Regiment (The Rangers)

The 12th (County of London) Battalion, The London Regiment (The Rangers), was formed on 1 April 1908 by the amalgamation of regiments under the Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907. Their Wikipe...

Group, Armed Forces

2 memorials