Soe And The Resistance

Author : Nigel Perrin
Publisher : Pen and Sword
ISBN 13 : 1844684547
Total Pages : 367 pages
Book Rating : 4.40/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Spirit of Resistance written by Nigel Perrin and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2014-12-19 with total page 367 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A biography of a British World War II secret agent who escaped the Buchenwald concentration camp. One of the most determined and courageous secret agents of the Second World War, Harry Peulevé joined the BEF in 1940 before volunteering for F Section of the Special Operations Executive. On his first mission to occupied France to set up the SCIENTIST circuit, he broke his leg on landing and, after numerous close calls, made a heroic crossing of the Pyrenees on sticks in December, 1942. Imprisoned, he escaped and eventually returned to England in May, 1943. He formed a close friendship with Violette Szabo before setting out to train a Maquis group in central France. Despite the Gestapo’s repeated attempts to catch him, he built a secret army of several thousand resistance fighters. Eventually betrayed and captured, he was tortured at Avenue Foch but never broken. By coincidence, he and Violette met while in captivity before Harry was sent to Buchenwald where he not only avoided execution but also managed to escape, reaching American lines in April, 1945. Sadly, Peulevé never fully recovered from his wartime traumas, but nothing can detract from his outstanding courage and contribution.

Author :
Publisher : Frontline Books
ISBN 13 : 1399015079
Total Pages : 208 pages
Book Rating : 4.73/5 ( download)

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Download or read book SOE in Denmark written by and published by Frontline Books. This book was released on 2021-09-30 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From a small number of clandestine activities against the German occupation of Denmark in 1940, a sophisticated resistance movement developed which by 1944, with the support of Special Operations Executive, had become a highly effective intelligence gathering and sabotage organisation. Denmark is composed of a mainland and more than 500 islands, a fifth of which are inhabited, and the countryside is devoid of any inaccessible or mountainous region. Together this made communication between resistance cells difficult and meant that there were no natural bases from which guerrilla operations could be mounted. Nevertheless, thanks to supply drops of explosives, weapons and ammunition arranged by SOE, the Danes harassed the Germans and raised the moral of the Danish people in the latter, and most brutal, stages of the war. This largely forgotten story of SOE and its agents in Denmark, the latter facing extremely hazardous conditions, was written immediately after the war by a SOE staff member and read and validated by the Director of SOE, Major General Colin Gubbins. A very large number of documents were burned at SOE’s London headquarters in Baker Street when the organisation was wound down in 1946 making this history of the Danish Section an invaluable and irreplaceable study. SOE in Denmark was written at a time when SOE was still largely unknown to the general public and its operations a closely guarded secret. It was expected that its activities would never be officially acknowledged and the study of its actions in Denmark was compiled with the aim of provide a lasting record of its achievement. Within its pages we read of the dangers the agents faced, the logistical mountains they had to overcome, and the successes achieved in the face of a ruthless enemy. Completed with unique photographs from the Danish archives, SOE in Denmark is an essential addition to the SOE literature.

Author : Ian Herrington
Publisher : Bloomsbury Academic
ISBN 13 : 1788312627
Total Pages : 391 pages
Book Rating : 4.22/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Special Operations in Norway written by Ian Herrington and published by Bloomsbury Academic. This book was released on 2019-05-16 with total page 391 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Between 1940 and 1945, Britain's Special Operations Executive (SOE) carried out sabotage and organised resistance across occupied Europe. Over 5 years, SOE sent over 500 agents into Norway to carry out a range of operations from sabotage and assassination to attempts to organise an underground guerrilla army. This book is the first multi-archival, international academic analysis of SOE's policy and operations in Norway and the influences that shaped them, challenging previous interpretations of the relationship between this organisation and both the Norwegian authorities and the Milorg resistance movement.

Author : Michael Tillotson
Publisher : A&C Black
ISBN 13 : 1441143564
Total Pages : 305 pages
Book Rating : 4.63/5 ( download)

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Download or read book SOE and The Resistance written by Michael Tillotson and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2011-03-11 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: SOE and The Resistance describes the extraordinary contribution to the allied war effort made by the Special Operations Executive, from its formation in 1940 to the end of the war. Within a broadly chronological framework, the book illustrates how resistance was stimulated among the subjugated populations of Europe and the Far East, leading to the sabotage of industry and communications critical to the Axis cause. Ranging from France, through Scandinavia, the Low Countries , North Africa, the Balkans and the Far East, the story unfolds through the lives of the heroic men and women who served with the SOE in enemy-held territory, as recorded in their obituaries in The Times.

Author : F.E. Keary
Publisher : Frontline Books
ISBN 13 : 1399082760
Total Pages : 102 pages
Book Rating : 4.61/5 ( download)

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Download or read book SOE in Czechoslovakia written by F.E. Keary and published by Frontline Books. This book was released on 2022-09-21 with total page 102 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The majority of the successful SOE operations in Europe took place in countries occupied by the Germans after the outbreak of war in 1939, Hitler’s forces being regarded as foreign invaders. In Czechoslovakia it was different. The country, which had large numbers of ethnic Germans living within its borders, had been occupied since 1938, allowing the Germans to establish a strong hold on the country which limited the opportunities for subversive action by resistance movements. Nevertheless, resist the Czechs did, despite the Germans conducting savage and indiscriminate reprisals. It was against this background that SOE attempted to infiltrate its agents into Czechoslovakia in 1941, their role being to help in co-ordinating and expanding the resistance movement and to establish communications with the Czech authorities in the UK. Successful actions were admittedly few before 1942 when one of the most successful SOE-backed operations resulted in the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, the highest-ranking Nazi to be killed by any resistance group. The huge wave of reprisals against the civilian population which followed severely hampered SOE activities in the immediate aftermath. Another factor which limited SOE’s ability to infiltrate Czechoslovakia and to supply the resistance was the distance and difficulty experienced by the RAF in flying to the region. During the short nights of summer, no flights could be attempted. This changed in September 1943 when sorties were able to be conducted from Italy, and by 1944 the scale of operations increased both in frequency and scale. More than 300 Czechs were trained by SOE and, in conjunction with local resistance groups, those that managed to infiltrate back into their homeland, kept the occupying forces constantly on the alert, ensuring that Germany’s eastern flank was never entirely secure. This is the first full, official account of SOE in Czechoslovakia, compiled by SOE headquarters staff who had direct access to all the organisation’s records, many of which were destroyed after the war.

Author : Kate Vigurs
Publisher : Yale University Press
ISBN 13 : 0300258844
Total Pages : 352 pages
Book Rating : 4.44/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Mission France written by Kate Vigurs and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2021-05-18 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The full story of the thirty-nine female SOE agents who went undercover in France Formed in 1940, Special Operations Executive was to coordinate Resistance work overseas. The organization’s F section sent more than four hundred agents into France, thirty-nine of whom were women. But while some are widely known—Violette Szabo, Odette Sansom, Noor Inayat Khan—others have had their stories largely overlooked. Kate Vigurs interweaves for the first time the stories of all thirty-nine female agents. Tracing their journeys from early recruitment to work undertaken in the field, to evasion from, or capture by, the Gestapo, Vigurs shows just how greatly missions varied. Some agents were more adept at parachuting. Some agents’ missions lasted for years, others’ less than a few hours. Some survived, others were murdered. By placing the women in the context of their work with the SOE and the wider war, this history reveals the true extent of the differences in their abilities and attitudes while underlining how they nonetheless shared a common mission and, ultimately, deserve recognition.

Author : Jonathan Walker
Publisher : The History Press
ISBN 13 : 0752469436
Total Pages : 314 pages
Book Rating : 4.30/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Poland Alone written by Jonathan Walker and published by The History Press. This book was released on 2011-08-26 with total page 314 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Poland was the 'tripwire' that brought Britain into the Second World War, but it was largely the fear of the new Nazi-Soviet Pact rather than the cementing of an old relationship that created the formal alliance. But neither Britain, nor Poland's older ally, France, had the material means to prevent Poland being overrun in 1939. The broadcast, 'Poland is no longer alone' had a distinctly hollow ring. During the next four years the Polish Government in exile and armed forces made a significant contribution to the allied war effort; in return the Polish Home Army received a paltry 600 tons of supplies. Poland Alone focuses on the bloody Warsaw Uprising of 1944, when the Polish Resistance attempted to gain control of their city from the German Army. They expected help from the Allies but received none, and they were left helpless as the Russians moved in. The War ended with over five million Poles dead, three million of whom died in the concentration camps. Jonathan Walker examines whether Britain could have done more to save the Polish people in their crisis year of 1944, dealing with many different aspects such as the actions of the RAF and SOE, the role of Polish Couriers, the failure of British Intelligence and the culpability of the British Press.

Author : Peter Wilkinson
Publisher : Leo Cooper Books
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 284 pages
Book Rating : 4.76/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Gubbins and SOE written by Peter Wilkinson and published by Leo Cooper Books. This book was released on 1997 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the first biography of General Colin Gubbins, the man in charge of SOE during World War Two, who by the nature of his profession was destined to live his life in the shadows.

Author : Squadron Leader Beryl E Escott
Publisher : The History Press
ISBN 13 : 0752462458
Total Pages : 236 pages
Book Rating : 4.55/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Heroines of SOE written by Squadron Leader Beryl E Escott and published by The History Press. This book was released on 2010-12-26 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Britain's war in the shadows of male spies and subterfuge in the heart of occupied France is a story well known, but what of the women who also risked their lives for Britain and the liberation of France? In 1942 a desperate need for new recruits, saw SOE turn to a previously overlooked group – women. These extraordinary women came from different backgrounds, but were joined in their idealistic love of France and a desire to play a part in its liberation. They formed SOE's F Section. From the famous White Mouse, Nancy Wake, to the courageous, Noor Inayat Khan, they all risked their lives for King, Country and the Resistance. Many of them died bravely and painfully, and often those who survived, like Eileen Nearne, never told their stories, yet their secret missions of intelligence-gathering and sabotage undoubtedly helped the Resistance to drive out their occupiers and free France. Here, for the first time is the extraordinary account of all forty SOE F women agents. It is a story that deserves to be read by everyone. 'They were the war's bravest women, devoted to defeating the Nazis yet reluctant ever to reveal their heroic pasts. Now a new book tells their intrepid tales.' Daily Express Squadron Leader BERYL E. ESCOTT served in the RAF and is one of the foremost experts on the women of SOE.

Author : Rick Stroud
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
ISBN 13 : 1471155676
Total Pages : 336 pages
Book Rating : 4.73/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Lonely Courage written by Rick Stroud and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2017-02-23 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ‘A fascinating, superbly researched and revelatory book – told with tremendous pace and excitement’ William Boyd 'This compelling and complete account of the extraordinarily courageous women of SOE is at turns enthralling, edge-of-smart exciting and also heart-breaking. The way in which they were sent into Nazi-occupied Europe and left to face unspeakable danger remains astonishing and Stroud's book is a reminder and fitting testimony to their immense bravery.' James Holland On 18 June 1940 General de Gaulle broadcast from London to his countrymen in France about the catastrophe that had overtaken their nation – the victory of the invading Germans. He declared ‘Is defeat final? No! . . . the flame of French Resistance must not and will not be extinguished’. The Resistance began almost immediately. At first it was made up of small, disorganised groups working in isolation. But by the time of the liberation in 1944 around 400,000 French citizens, nearly 2 per cent of the population, were involved. The Special Operations Executive (SOE) set up by Winston Churchill in 1941 saw its role in France as helping the Resistance by recruiting and organising guerrilla fighters; supplying and training them; and then disrupting the invaders by any means necessary. The basic SOE unit was a team of three: a leader, a wireless operator and a courier. These teams operated in Resistance circuits and the agents were given random codenames. The aim of this work was to prepare for the invasion of Europe by Allied forces and the eventual liberation of France. It was soon decided that women would play a vital role. There were 39 female agents recruited from all walks of life, ranging from a London shop assistant to a Polish aristocrat. What linked them was that they knew France well, were fluent in French and were prepared to sacrifice everything to help defeat the enemy. The women trained alongside the men, learning how to disappear into the background, how to operate a radio transmitter and how to kill a man with their bare hands. Once trained they were infiltrated behind the lines by parachute or tiny aircraft that could land in remote fields. Some of the women went on to lead thousands of Resistance fighters, while others were arrested, brutally interrogated and sent to concentration camps where they endured torment and death. Lonely Couragetells their story and sheds light on what life was really like for these brave women who tumbled from the sky.