List of SOE F Section networks and agents facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

This article lists the clandestine networks, also known as circuits, (réseaux in French) established in France by F Section of the British Special Operations Executive during World War II. The SOE agents assigned to each network are also listed. SOE agents, with a few exceptions, were trained in the United Kingdom before being infiltrated into France. Some agents served in more than one network and are listed more than once.

The clandestine networks and agents were "dedicated to encourage and aid resistance" to the German occupation of the country. Activities included gathering intelligence, organizing and supplying indigenous resistance groups, and sabotaging transportation, communications, and industrial facilities. A typical SOE network had three agents: 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.

Each network was given a name and each agent belonging to the network had one or more code names and aliases which he used in France. For example, SOE organiser George Reginald Starr was the organiser of the Wheelwright network and known as "Hilaire" to French contacts in the Resistance and to other SOE personnel.

Nearly 50 SOE networks were operating in France when the country was liberated from German control in 1944. Forty-three circuits were no longer existent at that time of which 31 had been destroyed by the Germans.

Networks and personnel
Map of networks as of June 1943
Operations
- Asymptote
See also

Approximately 470 SOE agents served in France during World War II. The Valençay SOE Memorial in Valençay, France lists the names of 91 men and 13 women who were killed, executed, or died in prison while serving as SOE agents.

Networks and personnel

All names of networks and dates for the operations of individual networks are from M. R. D. Foot's SOE in France (2004), pages 466-467. Dates of network operations are inclusive; some networks had lengthy periods of inactivity within the dates cited. Individual agents may have served in more than one network or during only part of the time the network was operational.

Acrobat (September 1942 to May 1944)

John Renshaw Starr, organiser
George Donovan Jones, wireless operator
Harry Rée
Diana Rowden (1915-1944), courier, code name "Paulette"
John Cuthbert Young (1907-1944), wireless operator, code name "Gabriel"

Author/Digger (September 1943 to August 1944)

Harry Peulevé, wireless operator, organizer
Louis Bertheau, (1919-1944), wireless operator

Autogiro (March 1941 to August 1942)

Pierre de Vomécourt – organiser, code name "Lucas."
Georges Bégué, wireless operator; the first SOE agent to be sent to France, arriving by parachute the night of 5/6 May 1941.
André Bloch (1914-1942), wireless operator
Noel Fernand Rauol Burdeyron (real name, Norman F. Burley), agent
Christopher Burney, assistant
Marcel Clech (1905-1944), wireless operator. code name "Bastien"
Roger Cottin - assistant
Raymond Henry Flower

Bricklayer (November 1942 to February 1944)

France Antelme (1900-1944), organiser, Code name "Dumontet"
Madeleine Damerment, courier, code name "Solange"

Butler (August 1942 to August 1944)

Jean Bouguennec (1912-1944), organiser, code name "Max"
Marcel Rousset, wireless operator, code name "Leopold"
Marcel Fox, courier, code name "Ernest"

Carte (September 1941 to May 1943)

Andée Girard, organiser

Chancellor (June to September 1944)

George Millar, organiser

Chestnut (May 1942 to August 1943)

William Grover-Williams (1903-1945), organiser, code name "Sebastien"
Robert Benoist (1904-1944), code name "Lionel"
Jean-Pierre Wimille (1908-1949)
Robert Dowlen (1907-1945), wireless operator, code name "Richard"

Cinema/Photo (January 1943 to February 1944)

Emile Garry (1909-1944), organiser
Noor Inayat Khan, wireless operator, code name "Madeleine"

Clergyman (October 1943 to August 1944)

Denise Bloch (1916-1945), courier, wireless operator, code name 'Ambroise"

Detective (July 1942 to August 1944)

Henri Sevenet (1914-1944), organiser
Brian Stonehouse (1918-1998), wireless operator, code name "Celestine"

Digger

Jacques Poirier – organiser

Donkeyman (July 1942 to August 1944)

Marguerite Knight, courier, code name, "Nicole"
Odette Sansom, courier

Farmer (November 1942 to September 1944)

Michael Trotobas (1914-1943), organiser

Farrier (December 1942 to May 1944)

Henri Dericourt, air operations officer, code name "Gilbert"
Juliane Aisner, courier, code name Clair
Rene Clement, assistant

Fireman (March 1944 to September 1944)

Patricia O'Sullivan, wireless operator, code name "Simonet"

Footman (January to September 1944)

George Hiller — organiser

Freelance (April 1944 to September 1944)

Nancy Wake, courier, code name Helene

Headmaster (September 1942 to August 1944)

Charles Sydney "Soapy" Hudson, organiser
Francisque Eugene Bec (1905-1944), instructor
Sonya Butt, courier, code name "Blanche"
Pierre-Raimond Glaesner, instructor
George Jones, wireless operator
Brian Dominic Rafferty (1919-1945), courier, organiser, code name "Dominique"

Heckler/Saint (September 1941 to August 1944)

Virginia Hall, courier, code names "Marie" and "Diane"

Historian (April 1944 to August 1944)

Lilian Rolfe, courier, code name "Nadine"

Inventor (September 1942 to December 1943)

Vera Leigh, courier, code name "Simone"
Marcel Clech (1905-1944), wireless operator, code name="Bastien"*

Jockey (March 1943 to September 1944)

Francis Cammaerts, organiser, code name "Roger"
Christine Granville, courier, code name "Pauline"
Cecily Lefort, courier, code name "Alice."

Juggler (July 1942 to August 1944)

Sonia Olschanezky, courier, code name "Tania"

Labourer (April to June 1944)

Elisée Allard (1906-1944, courier, code name "Baudouin"
Odette Wilen, courier, code name "Sophie"

Marksman (July 1942 to September 1944)

Elizabeth Devereux-Rochester, courier, code name "Elizabeth"

Minister (March to September 1944)

Dennis John Barrett (1916-1944), wireless operator, code name "Honore"
Yvonne Fontaine, courier, code name "Mimi"

Monk (June 1943 to March 1944)

Eliane Plewman, courier, code name "Gaby"

Monkeypuzzle (July 1942 to August 1943)

Marcel Clech (1905-1944), wireless operator, code name "Bastien"

Musician (November 1942 to August 1944)

Gustave Biéler (1904-1944), organiser, code name "Guy"
Yolande Beekman, courier, code name "Yvonne"

Parson (June 1943 to February 1944)

François Vallée (1912-1944), organiser,
George Clement (1917-1944), wireless operator, code name "Edouard"
Henri Gaillot (1896-1944), code name "Ignace"

Permit (July to September 1944)

Robert Bruhl – assistant
Gerard Dedieu – organiser
Ginette Jullian, wireless operator, code name "Adele"
Charles Ronald Shearn. Arrived in France 8 August 1944. Killed in Burma, 1945.

Physician/Prosper (June 1942 to August 1943

Also known as Prosper. SOE's most important network in 1942-1943. Agents continued to be sent to the Prosper network for some time after it came under control of the Germans in June 1943.

Francis Suttill (1910-1945), organiser, code name "Prosper"
Francine Agazarian, courier, code name "Marguerite"
Jack Agazarian – wireless operator
James Frederick Amps (1908-1945), deputy, code name "Tomas"
Andrée Borrel (1919–1944), courier, code name "Denise"
Jacques Bureau – radio technician
George William Darling – group leader
Henri Dericourt, air operations officer
Noor Inayat Khan, wireless operator. Captured, executed 13 Sep 1944 at Dachau.
Gilbert Norman – wireless operator
Yvonne Rudelatt, courier, code name "Jacqueline"
Madeleine Tambour
Germaine Tambour

Pimento (July 1942 to August 1944)

Anthony Brooks, organiser
Lise de Baissac, courier

Plane (April 1942 to August 1943)

Marie-Thérèse Le Chêne, courier, code name "Adele"

Privet (July 1942 to June 1943)

Edward (Teddy) Montfort Wilkinson, organiser, code name "Alexandre."

Prunus (April 1942 to April 1943)

Maurice Pertschuk, organiser
Marcus Bloom (1907-1944), wireless operator, code name "Urbain"
Philippe de Gunzbourg, courier

Salesman (April 1943 to August 1944)

Violette Szabo, courier, code name "Louise"

Scholar (May 1944 to July 1944

Yvonne Baseden, courier, code name "Odette"

Scientist (July 1942 to August 1944

Claude de Baissac, organiser
Lise de Baissac, courier. code name "Marguerite"
Mary Katherine Herbert, courier, code name "Claudine"
Roger Landes, wireless operator
Phyllis Latour, wireless operator, code name "Genevieve"

Scullion (April to September 1943)

Phillip John Amphlett (1921-1945), saboteur

Shipwright (May 1944 to September 1944)

Amédée Maingard, organiser

Silversmith (May to September 1944)

Henri Borosh - organiser.
Madeleine Lavigne, wireless operator, code name "Isabelle"

Spindle (January 1942 to July 1943)

Peter Churchill, organiser
Adolphe Rabinovitch, wireless operator
Odette Sansom, courier, code name "Lise"

Stationer (January 1943 to April 1944)

Maurice Southgate, organiser
Amédée Maingard, wireless operator
Jacqueline Nearne, courier, code name "Jacqueline"
Pearl Witherington, courier, code names "Marie" and "Pauline"

Stockbroker/Judge (April 43 to September 1944)

Éric Cauchi (1917-1944), arms instructor, code name "Pedro"

Ventriloquist (May 1941 to November 1942)

Philippe de Vomécourt, organiser
Muriel Byck (1918-1944), wireless operator, code name "Violette"
Blanche Charlet, courier, code name "Christiane"
Henri Sevenet
Brian Stonehouse, organiser

Wheelwright (November 1942 to September 1944)

George Reginald Starr, organiser
Claude Arnault, saboteur, code name "Néron."
Denise Bloch, courier, code name 'Ambroise"
Yvonne Cormeau, wireless operator, code name "Annette"
Philippe de Gunzbourg
Charles Ducharlard, saboteur
Dennis Parsons, wireless operator
Anne-Marie Walters, courier, code name "Colette"

Wizard (March 1944 to July 1944)

Eileen Nearne, wireless operator, code name "Rose"

Wrestler (May 1944 to September 1944)

Pearl Witherington, organiser, code name "Marie" and "Pauline"
Henri Cornioley

Map of networks as of June 1943

The map below shows the major SOE F Section networks which existed in France in June 1943, based on the map published in Rita Kramer's book "Flames in the Field" (Michael Joseph Ltd, 1995).

Note: The map does not show the correct location of the original Autogiro network, which operated in the Paris area and did not exist after the spring of 1942. However the network was later revived by Francis Suttill, organiser of Prosper.

Operations

Asymptote

Operation Asymptote was mounted in February 1944, while the Operational Instructions were quite clear, the disguised objective was to rescue two agents Émile Bollaert and Pierre Brossolette who had been captured on 2 February 1944 while trying to leave Brittany by boat. F. F. E. Yeo-Thomas (alias Shelley, alias Asymptote alias Cheval) and Maurice Lostrie (alias Trieur) were dropped on the night of 24 February 1944 by a RAF Halifax of 161 Squadron on DZ (Drop-zone) Sarrall, 16 km NE of Montluçon, Allier. Yeo-Thomas was captured by the Gestapo on 21 March 1944. Brossolette died while trying to escape the next day.