Odette Sansom, also known as Odette Churchill and Odette Hallowes, code named Lise, was an agent for the United Kingdom's clandestine Special Operations Executive (SOE) in France during the Second World War. The purpose of SOE was to conduct espionage, sabotage, and reconnaissance in occupied Europe against the Axis powers, especially Germany. SOE agents allied themselves with resistance groups and supplied them with weapons and equipment parachuted in from England. Sansom was the first woman to be awarded the George Cross by the United Kingdom and was awarded the Légion d'honneur by France.
Peter Morland Churchill, was a British Special Operations Executive (SOE) officer in France during the Second World War. His wartime operations, which resulted in his capture and imprisonment in German concentration camps, and his subsequent marriage to fellow SOE officer, Odette Sansom, received considerable attention during the war and after, including a 1950 film.
Hugo Bleicher (1899-1982) was a senior non-commissioned officer of Nazi Germany's Abwehr who worked against French Resistance in German-occupied France.
John Ashford Renshaw Starr, code names Emile and Bob, was a British artist and an agent in France of the United Kingdom's clandestine Special Operations Executive (SOE) organization during World War II. He was the organiser (leader) of the Acrobat network which operated in Dijon. The purpose of SOE in occupied France was to conduct espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance. SOE agents allied themselves with French Resistance groups and supplied them with weapons and equipment parachuted in from England.
The SOE F Section timeline lists the significant events in the history of Section F of the Special Operations Executive. The Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a clandestine organization of the United Kingdom during World War II. The purpose of SOE was to conduct espionage, sabotage, and reconnaissance in countries occupied by the Axis powers. SOE agents allied themselves with resistance groups and supplied them with weapons and equipment parachuted in from England. Section F was responsible for many of SOE's activities in France which was occupied by Nazi Germany.
These are the networks, also known as circuits, established in France by F Section of the British Special Operations Executive during World War II. The clandestine networks were "dedicated to encourage and aid resistance" to the German occupation of the country. Activities might include gathering intelligence, organizing and supplying indigenous resistance groups, and sabotaging transportation, communications, and industrial facilities. A typical SOE network had three personnel: (1) Circuit organiser: leader, planner, and recruiter of new members. 2) Wireless Radio Operator: send and receive wireless messages to and from SOE headquarters in London, encode and decode messages, maintain wireless sets. (3) Courier or messenger: travel between organiser, wireless operator, and resistance groups to deliver and receive messages, and, on occasion, deliver explosives and other equipment. Large networks sometimes had more than one courier and wireless operator.
The Carte network or Carte circuit or Carte organization was an early and illusory attempt at organizing French resistance to the occupation of France by Nazi Germany during the Second World War. The creator of Carte, André Girard, claimed to have "plans in hand for preparing first sabotage teams, then larger guerilla groups, and finally a private army some 300,000 strong" to liberate France. Girard's army existed mainly on paper and in the minds of a community of artists, musicians, and students living on the French Riviera. Girard persuaded the United Kingdom's clandestine organization, the Special Operations Executive, (SOE) that his plan merited British help. Carte was eventually suppressed by the Germans and many of its members ended up in concentration camps or were executed.
Francis Charles Albert Cammaerts, DSO, code named Roger, was an agent of the United Kingdom's clandestine Special Operations Executive (SOE) during World War II. The purpose of SOE was to conduct espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance in occupied Europe and Asia against the Axis powers, especially Nazi Germany. In France, SOE agents allied themselves with French Resistance groups and supplied them with weapons and equipment parachuted in from England. Cammaerts was the creator and the organiser (leader) of the Jockey network in southeastern France in 1943 and 1944.
Lise Marie Jeanette de Baissac MBE CdeG, code names Odile and Marguerite, was born in Mauritius of French descent and British nationality. She was an agent of the United Kingdom's clandestine Special Operations Executive (SOE) organization in France during World War II. The purpose of SOE was to conduct espionage, sabotage, and reconnaissance in countries occupied by the Axis powers, especially Nazi Germany. SOE agents allied themselves with resistance groups and supplied them with weapons and equipment parachuted in from England.
During the Second World War, Nicolas Redner Bodington OBE served in the F section of the Special Operations Executive. He took part in four missions to France.
Isidore Newman MBE CdeG MdeR (1916-1944) was a British secret agent in the French section of the Special Operations Executive during the Second World War.
Henri Frager was a member of the French Resistance during World War II. He was in succession, second in command of the CARTE network, then head of the SOE network DONKEYMAN, rising to the rank of major within SOE. He was betrayed to the Germans, deported and executed.
Adolphe Rabinovitch, also known as Alec Rabinovitch, was a Special Operations Executive officer in France during the Second World War. He rose to the rank of captain.
André Marsac was a member of the French resistance organisation known as the CARTE network or circuit, based in Cannes, organised by André Girard. Marsac acted as a courier.
Harry Peulevé LdH CdeG MdeR DSO MC (1916–1963) was a Special Operations Executive agent who undertook two missions in occupied France and escaped from Buchenwald concentration camp.
Francis Basin LdH CdeG MBE, code named Olive, was an agent of the United Kingdom's clandestine Special Operations Executive in France during the Second World War. The purpose of SOE was to conduct espionage, sabotage, and reconnaissance in countries occupied by the Axis powers, especially Nazi Germany. SOE agents allied themselves with resistance groups and supplied them with weapons and equipment parachuted in from England.
Marcel Clech was a French agent in the French section of the Special Operations Executive during the Second World War. He worked as a wireless operator in two different networks before his arrest, and was executed at Mauthausen Concentration Camp.
Roger Bardet was a member of the French resistance organisation known as CARTE, based in Cannes, organised by André Girard. He was betrayed by a fellow agent and became a double agent.
Haim Victor Gerson DSO, LdH, code name Rene, was a Special Operations Executive agent during the Second World War. He organised the Vic escape line in France. Escape lines helped allied soldiers and airmen, SOE agents, and other people in danger to escape from Nazi-occupied Europe, usually by crossing the Pyrenees mountains into neutral Spain.
Odette Victoria Wilen was a member of the UK's Special Operations Executive (SOE) during World War II. She served in occupied France under the code name "Sophie".
