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The role of Hugh Dalton (1887–1962) -

Dalton served in Winston Churchill's wartime coalition cabinet as Minister of Economic Warfare, where, on July 22, 1940, he established the Special Operations Executive (SOE). Its initial purpose was to conduct espionage, sabotage, and reconnaissance in occupied Europe. SOE later operated in occupied-Southeast Asia against the Axis powers, and to aid local resistance movements. The entire SOE staff consisted of about 10,000 men and 3,000 women. Of the 470 agents dropped into Nazi-occupied France, 39 were women, where they operated as couriers or wireless operators. The missions were fraught with danger, with capture meaning almost certain death.

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Giliana Balmaceda (1910–?) -

Born in Chile Giliana Balmaceda, also known as Giliana Gerson, was the first female SOE agent to be sent to Nazi-occupied France. Her responsibilities included compiling a long list of names and addresses of those willing to help the Allies and who she believed could be trusted. Little is known of her her life after the war. Photo taken on January 2, 1940. Author unknown.

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Place or recover -

The Royal Air Force's Westland Lysander's short-field performance enabled clandestine missions using small, improvised airstrips behind enemy lines to place or recover SOE agents, particularly in occupied France with the help of the French Resistance.

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Virginia Hall (1906-1982) -

An American spy whose code names were Maria and Diana, Hall was the first female SOE agent to take up residence in France. She organized French resistance groups, and helped downed airmen and wounded agents escape. Hall was noted for wearing an artificial leg below her left knee, which caused her to limp. The Germans gave her the nickname Artemis, and the Gestapo reportedly considered her "the most dangerous of all Allied spies." Hall managed to flee France in late 1942 and worked for a time in Madrid, Spain.

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Lise de Baissac (1905–2004) -

Lise de Baissac was born in Mauritius, and was also one of the first SOE female agents to be parachuted into occupied France in 1942. De Baissac served as a courier and liaison officer for SOE's Scientist network, operating under the code names Odile and Marguerite. One of her responsibilities was to arm and organize French resistance forces. She survived the war and her exploits were later recalled in the French film 'Les Femmes de l'ombre' (2008).

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Parachute drop -

SOE agents were sometimes flown to France in larger RAF special duties Handley Page Halifax bombers, where they'd be parachuted over enemy territory under cover of darkness.

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Eileen Nearne (1921–2010) -

Eileen Nearne served in occupied France as a wireless operator for SOE's Wizard network under the code name Rose. In 1944, she was arrested and tortured by the Gestapo at its Paris headquarters. After being transferred to a forced labor camp in Silesia, she managed to escape in April 1945 and was reportedly hidden by a priest in Leipzig until the arrival of American troops.

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Odette Hallowes (1912–1995) -

Code-named Lise, Odette Hallowes worked as a courier with the Spindle network of SOE. Arrested in 1943, she endured brutal interrogation and imprisonment, including internment at Ravensbrück concentration camp. She miraculously survived the ordeal to become one of  the SOE's most celebrated agents. Her wartime record was the subject of a 1950 film, 'Odette.'

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Marie-Pierre Kœnig (1898–1970) -

General Marie-Pierre Kœnig of the French Resistance shakes hands with the SOE's French section chief Maurice Buckmaster (1902–1992), watched by Odette Hallowes, at the service to commemorate the 25th anniversary of VE Day.

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Krystyna Skarbek (1908–1952) -

A Polish agent also known as Christine Granville, Skarbek's most celebrated exploit was securing the release of two SOE agents from a German prison hours before they were due to be executed. The longest-serving of all Britain's wartime women agents, Skarbek met an undignified end, stabbed to death in 1952 in London by an obsessed and spurned suitor who was subsequently hanged.

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Nancy Wake (1912–2011) -

New Zealand-born Nancy Wake joined the French Resistance before being recruited by the SOE. She became a courier and a member of the escape network, helping Allied airmen evade capture by the Germans and flee to neutral Spain. She's pictured in 1956 in London with Maurice Buckmaster. Her wartime exploits were the subject of a 1987 Australian television miniseries called 'Nancy Wake.'

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Sue Ryder (1924–2000) -

Sue Ryder was a British volunteer with the SOE, joining the secret organization while still in her teenage years. She was assigned to the Polish section, her role being to drive SOE agents to the airfield where they would take off for their assignments in Europe. She was eventually posted to Tunisia and later Italy. Ryder's postwar years saw her create numerous charitable organizations. She's pictured, second from right, in 1966 with a group of young Polish survivors from Auschwitz.

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Yvonne Cormeau (1909–1997) -

Code-named Annette, SOE operative Yvonne Cormeau was renowned for the quality and quantity of her radio transmissions, over 400 sent from southwestern France. In June 1944, Cormeau was shot in the leg while trying to flee a German attack, but managed to escape with her wireless. The dress she wore on this occasion and the bloodstained briefcase she carried are on permanent display at the Imperial War Museum in London. This photograph of her is from the collections of the Imperial War Museums (collection HU 47367 no. 8402-06). The photographer is unknown.

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Expert forgeries -

Forged documents made for SOE agents included Bulgarian firearms licences, Greek travel permits, and Croatian fishing licences. The expertise required by professional forgers to create false but authentic papers was quite exceptional.

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Doreen Mulot (died in the 1970s) -

Brit Doreen Mulot worked for the Free French in London, which was part of the SOE. Her role included organizing the printing of instruction manuals–telling Resistance workers how to sabotage German facilities–with covers that masked their actual contents. Mulot, a very private individual, died in the 1970s. Among the possessions she left were two prunes that had their cavities removed before being stuffed with miniature maps of Europe and sent out in food parcels to prisoners of war in occupied territories. Incredibly these disguised fruit, along with other espionage equipment, survived 60 years before being auctioned off by Mulot's great-nephew in 2006.

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Agents missing, presumed dead -

Pictured: files of lost SOE agents from the Second World War. A total of 117 agents lost their lives during the course of the war.

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Eliane Plewman (1917–1944) -

Born in Marseilles and a member of the French Resistance, Eliane Plewman also carried out assignments for the SEO. Her cover name was "Eliane Jacqueline Prunier," while her code names were Gaby and Dean. Involved in several highly successful sabotage missions, Plewman was eventually caught by the Gestapo and tortured before being sent to Dachau concentration camp. There she was executed along with fellow SOE operatives Yolande Beekman, Madeleine Damerment, and Noor Inayat Khan. This image comes from the Records of Special Operations Executive (United Kingdom Government), photographer unknown.

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Dachau concentration camp -

Dachau concentration camp near Munich was opened in 1933 and was initially intended to hold political prisoners. The camp was later enlarged to include forced labor, and, eventually, the imprisonment of Jews, Romani, German and Austrian criminals, and finally captured foreign nationals.

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Violette Szabo (1921–1945) -

Violette Szabo was a British-French SOE operative commissioned as a section leader in the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry, a civilian service often used by SOE as a cover for female agents. She was parachuted twice into occupied France, but was captured by the SS during her second mission. Interrogated and tortured by the Gestapo in Paris, Szabo was then transferred to Ravensbrück, where she was murdered. Her heroic story is retold in the film 'Carve Her Name with Pride' (1958). This image of Szabo is sourced from the Imperial War Museum record HU 16541. Photographer unknown.

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Ravensbrück concentration camp -

Ravensbrück concentration camp in northern Germany operated from 1939 to 1945 and was built exclusively for women. Of the some 130,000 female prisoners who passed through the Ravensbrück camp, about 50,000 perished.

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Noor Inayat Khan (1914–1944) -

A Russian-born spy working for the British, Noor Inayat Khan, or Nora Baker, operated under the code name Madeleine and was the first first female wireless operator to be sent from Britain into occupied France to aid the French Resistance. Working out of Paris, Khan was eventually betrayed to the Germans in October 1943. Classified as "highly dangerous" by her captors, Khan was cruelly interrogated at the notorious headquarters of the Sicherheitsdienst, the counter-intelligence branch of the SS, at 84 Avenue Foch, before being sent to Dachau concentration camp. She was executed shortly afterwards. This image of her is held in the collections of the Imperial War Museum and is by an unknown photographer.

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84 Avenue Foch -

An address that sent a wave of terror through any agent unfortunate enough to end up behind its doors, 84 Avenue Foch in Paris was used for the interrogation of allied SOE agents captured in France. Prisoners were regularly brought to the building from Fresnes prison on the outskirts of the city.

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Fresnes prison -

Fresnes prison, constructed between 1895 and 1898, was used by the Germans to house captured British SOE agents and members of the French Resistance. Held in horrific conditions, many of these prisoners were tortured, and some died there. The prison is still in use today.

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Diana Rowden (1915–1944) -

A member of the SOE's Acrobat circuit in occupied France where she operated as a courier, Diana Rowden was code named Paulette. Her work took her as far afield as Marseille, Lyon, Besançon, Montbéliard, and even Paris. She was caught by German police while hiding out in a rural village and handed over to the Gestapo. Rowden was later escorted to Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp where she was executed. This photo is from the Records of Women's Auxiliary Air Force (United Kingdom Government). Photographer unknown.

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Lilian Rolfe (1914–1945) -

Born in Paris, Lilian Rolfe was recruited into the SEO as a wireless operator. In April 1944, she was dropped near the city of Orléans in occupied France. Rolfe  participated in missions with members of the French Resistance until her arrest in July 1944. Transported to Fresnes prison in Paris, she was interrogated repeatedly and tortured until August 1944, when she was shipped to Ravensbrück concentration camp. She died there in February 1945. Her picture here is by an unknown photographer.

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Madeleine Damerment (1917–1944) -

Madeleine Damerment's tenure with the SOE was short lived. Assigned a role as courier for the organization's Bricklayer circuit, Damerment and others were parachuted into France on the night of February 28, 1944, only to be met by the Gestapo, waiting as a result of having captured SOE wireless operators. She was held and tortured for many months before being executed in September at Dachau concentration camp. Her photograph is from the Records of Special Operations Executive. Photographer unknown.

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Denise Bloch (1916–1945) -

Born in Paris into a Jewish family, Denise Bloch was recruited in Lyon to work for the SOE as a radio operator. The arrest of a fellow agent effectively undermined her cover, so she escaped France by walking over the Pyrenees mountains, making her way to Gibraltar and eventually London. In March 1944, she was dropped back into France, but three months later she was captured. Shipped to prison in Germany, Bloch suffered from exposure, cold, and malnutrition before being transferred to Ravensbrück concentration camp where she was executed in early 1945. Her portrait, from the 1930s or 1940s, is by an unknown photographer.

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Valençay SOE Memorial -

The Valençay SOE Memorial in Valençay, France commemorates the members of the Special Operations Executive F Section who lost their lives working to liberate the country during the Second World War.

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London SOE memorial -

This memorial located along the Albert Embankment in London commemorates the heroism of the SOE agents who led covert operations against the Nazis. The bronze bust is of Violette Szabo.

Sources: (Historic UK) (BBC) (Daily Mail) (Encyclopedia) (Special Forces Roll of Honour)

See also: Inspirational women who changed history

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