Wanborough Manor is an Elizabethan manor house on the Hog's Back in Wanborough in the Borough of Guildford, Surrey. During World War II the manor house was requisitioned by the Special Operations Executive (SOE) to train secret agents and was known as Special Training School 5 (there were six in total across the UK) and later returned to private ownership. [1]
The house dates to the 16th century, but was considerably extended by builders of Thomas Dalmahoy, co-MP for Guildford who died in 1682. Through his marriage to the widowed Duchess of Hamilton, the heiress of the Earl of Dirletoun (note: the Hamilton estates were sequestered and partly passed to her daughters), he owned this manor and the former grand house and private park (now public park) known as The Friary in Guildford.
Sir Algernon West, principal private secretary to prime minister William Gladstone, lived at the house when it was visited by Queen Victoria, who planted a tree in the grounds. Sir Algernon ensured the planning and building of Wanborough railway station took place on the Guildford to Reading line.
The manor was visited by Otto von Bismarck and Gladstone held cabinet meetings here whilst in his second period of Prime Minister. The Liberal H. H. Asquith leased the manor house until he became Prime Minister (1908–1916).
The SOE training establishment STS5 was run by Major Roger de Wesselow, a Coldstream Guards officer. The first intake of SOE trainees occurred in February 1941 and this continued until March 1943 when a new selection procedures were established at Winterfold House, near Cranleigh. Its primary use during the war was to whittle out those not suited to undercover work and begin initial training for those that progressed. [2]
Following initial interviews of potential agents in London, recruits were sent to Wanborough Manor for a three- or four-week period. During this time they were trained in the skills required to work as undercover agents including unarmed combat and the art of silent killing. Successful trainees were also kitted out with the necessary clothes and identity documents. They also received the latest information on what was happening in France and if necessary their French was improved. The Anglo-French author, Noreen Riols — then a teenager — who had been a student at the French School or Lycée was amongst those sent to Wanborough to provide vital training and vetting. [3] For those that successfully passed the four-week training at Wanborough, further training on using arms and explosives would take place at Arisaig House in Inverness-shire. Agents requiring further intensive training (for example, radio operators went on to further training establishments. Lastly, they would receive parachute training.
Peter Churchill recalls in his book Of Their Own Choice his three-part training at Wanborough which included firearm training, undertaking sabotage with explosives, map reading and communicating via Morse code.
SOE's ‘F’ Section (French) drew a large number of agents from this establishment – approximately 400 British agents were sent to France of which 130 were trained at Wanborough, and of these 50 failed to return including 12 women.
Evidence of the secret training sessions remain in the grounds of the manor: A bullet-riddled wall, as well as holes used for testing explosives.
This is an incomplete list:
A plaque in Wanborough Church commemorates those agents trained at Wanborough Manor that lost their lives. Diana Rowden, who trained at Wanborough and who operated in France under the codename Paulette was captured and executed in 1943 after four months under cover. There is a memorial to her at Tilford Church. [6]
Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a British organisation formed in 1940 to conduct espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance in German-occupied Europe and to aid local resistance movements during World War II.
Yolande Elsa Maria Beekman was a British spy in World War II who served in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force and the Special Operations Executive. She was a member of SOE's Musician circuit in occupied France during World War II where she operated as a wireless operator until arrested by the Gestapo. She was subsequently executed at the Dachau concentration camp.
Madeleine Zoe Damerment was a French agent of the United Kingdom's clandestine Special Operations Executive (SOE) organization 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. Damerment was first involved in escape lines helping downed allied airmen escape occupied France. She fled France in March 1942 to avoid arrest. After arriving in Britain, she was recruited by the SOE. Damerment was to be a courier for SOE's Bricklayer circuit but was captured by the Gestapo on 29 February 1944 upon arrival in France. The Gestapo knew she was coming because they had captured SOE radios and were reading SOE radio messages. She was subsequently executed at the Dachau concentration camp on 13 September 1944 along with three other female SOE agents.
Diana Hope Rowden served in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force and was an agent for the United Kingdom's clandestine Special Operations Executive (SOE) during World War II. Rowden was a member of SOE's Acrobat circuit in occupied France where she operated as a courier until she was arrested by the Gestapo. She was subsequently executed at the Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp.
Lieutenant-Colonel George Reginald Starr, code name Hilaire, was a British mining engineer and an agent of the United Kingdom's clandestine Special Operations Executive (SOE) organisation in World War II. He was the organiser (leader) of the Wheelwright network in southwestern France from November 1942 until the liberation of France from Nazi German occupation in September 1944. The purpose of SOE was to conduct espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance in occupied Europe against the Axis powers. SOE agents in France allied themselves with French Resistance groups and supplied them with weapons and equipment parachuted in from England.
Vera Leigh was an agent of the United Kingdom's clandestine Special Operations Executive during World War II.
Noor-un-Nisa Inayat Khan, GC, also known as Nora Inayat-Khan and Nora Baker, was a British resistance agent in France in World War II who served in the Special Operations Executive (SOE). The purpose of SOE was to conduct espionage, sabotage, and reconnaissance in countries occupied by the Axis powers, especially those occupied by Nazi Germany.
Sonia Olschanezky was a member of the French Resistance and the Special Operations Executive during World War II. Olschanezky was a member of the SOE's Juggler circuit in occupied France where she operated as a courier until she was arrested by the Gestapo and was subsequently executed at the Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp.
Éliane Sophie Plewman was a British agent of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) and a member of the French Resistance working as a courier for the "MONK circuit" in occupied France during World War II. SOE's objective was to conduct espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance against the Axis Powers, especially Nazi Germany in occupied Europe and to aid local resistance movements. Plewman was captured by the Gestapo, and later executed by the SS in Dachau.
Normandy is a civil parish of 16.37 square kilometres in the borough of Guildford in Surrey, England and the name of the largest village in that parish. Almost surrounded by its hill ranges, Normandy is in the plain west of Guildford, straddles the A323 'Aldershot Road' and is north of the narrowest part the North Downs known as the Hog's Back which carries a dual carriageway. The parish in 2011 had a population of 2,981 living in 1,310 households, has woods, a public common and four government-operated commons to the north that are an SSSI heath. Normandy has been home to a number of notable residents, including William Cobbett.
Wanborough is a rural village and civil parish in Surrey approximately 4 miles (6 km) west of Guildford on the northern slopes of the Hog's Back. Wanborough lies between Puttenham and Normandy. Wanborough village grew around and to service Wanborough Manor which is on the site of ancient springs.
Yvonne Cormeau, born Beatrice Yvonne Biesterfeld, code name Annette, was an agent of the United Kingdom's clandestine organization, the Special Operations Executive (SOE), in World War II. She was the wireless operator for the Wheelwright network led by George Starr in southwestern France from August 1943 until the liberation of France from Nazi German occupation in September 1944. The purpose of SOE was to conduct espionage, sabotage, and reconnaissance in occupied Europe against the Axis powers. SOE agents allied themselves with French Resistance groups and supplied them with weapons and equipment parachuted in from England.
Yvonne Claire Rudellat, MBE,, code name Jacqueline, was an agent of the United Kingdom's clandestine Special Operations Executive (SOE) organization in World War II. 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.
Wanborough Grange refers to an existing late medieval barn and formerly its surrounding monastic grange in Wanborough, Surrey, England.
Winterfold House is one of the few private country properties to be designed by London architect Edward Blakeway I'Anson, F.R.I.B.A., M.A. Cantab of St Laurence Pountney Hill, E.C. He was the elder son of Edward I'Anson JP, born in London and educated at Cheltenham College and Cambridge University. He followed his father's profession and was architect and surveyor to St Bartholomew's Hospital in London. The Architect’s practice continued by him was one of the oldest established in the country, and many of the finest buildings in the City of London including the new Corn Exchange in Mark Lane, London are of his design. He was Master of the Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors in 1908. In partnership with his father Edward I'Anson they had earlier made a successful major refurbishment to Fetcham Park House Surrey.
Charles Milne Skepper was an economist and socialist intellectual who joined the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) to operate in occupied France during the Second World War carrying out sabotage and spying missions until he was taken prisoner. He was tortured for information and subsequently murdered by the Gestapo.
Arthur Steele was a British soldier who joined Special Operations Executive (SOE) to operate in occupied France during the Second World War as a wireless operator carrying out sabotage and spying missions until he was taken prisoner. He was tortured for information unsuccessfully by the Gestapo and subsequently killed by the SS.
Francis Basin LdH CdeG MBE (1903–1975), 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.