Timeline of SOE French Section facts for kids

The SOE F Section timeline tells the story of important events for Section F of the Special Operations Executive. The Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a secret British group during World War II. Its job was to spy, cause damage (sabotage), and gather information in countries taken over by the Axis powers. SOE agents worked with local resistance groups. They supplied these groups with weapons and gear dropped by parachutes from England. Section F was in charge of many SOE actions in France, which was occupied by Nazi Germany.

SOE F Section sent about 470 agents to France from 1941 to 1944. Around 40 of these agents were women. The Valençay SOE Memorial lists 91 men and 13 women agents who died during the war. This includes those killed, executed, or who died in prison camps. SOE agents in France worked in teams called networks. Each network usually had a leader, a messenger (courier), and a radio operator.

How the SOE Began (1940)

Creating a Secret Organization

• June 19

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill suggested creating a group. This group would "coordinate all action by way of subversion and sabotage against the enemy overseas." Germany's army was taking over many European countries, including France. France was split into two parts: an occupied zone and a "Free Zone" (Vichy France).

• July 22

The Special Operations Executive (SOE) was officially created. Hugh Dalton, the Minister of Economic Warfare, was put in charge. Dalton said Churchill told him to "set Europe ablaze." This meant causing a lot of trouble for the Germans.

Early Missions and Agents (1941)

First Agents Arrive

• April

Vera Atkins joined SOE. She became the intelligence officer for Section F. Born in Romania, she was a very important person in SOE.

• May

Giliana Balmaceda was the first female SOE agent sent to occupied France. She was from Chile. She legally traveled to Vichy France. There, she collected documents like ration cards. SOE could then fake these for its secret agents.

• May 5

Radio operator Georges Bégué was the first male SOE F section agent in France. He was also the first to arrive by parachute. He landed in the Indre area. He set up radio contact and met other agents who came after him.

First Weapons Drop and Networks

• June 13

The first time weapons were dropped by air to the French Resistance happened. Georges Bégue and Pierre de Vomécourt arranged it. Two containers of supplies were parachuted near Limoges. The Vomécourt brothers started the first two SOE networks in France. They were called Autogiro and Ventriloquist.

• August 23

American Virginia Hall left England for Vichy France as an SOE agent. She pretended to be a reporter for The New York Post. The United States was not yet at war with Germany. This meant Americans could travel to and from France. Hall was the first female SOE agent to live and work in France for a long time.

Growing the SOE F Section

• September

Maurice Buckmaster became the head of SOE F Section. At this time, Section F had eight staff members. This number grew to 24 the next year. Nicolas Bodington became Buckmaster's assistant.

• September 4

The first secret landing of a Westland Lysander airplane for SOE happened. It landed on a farm field in the Indre area. The Lysander planes carried agents and reports between England and France. Sixty-three Lysander flights landed during the war. They brought 102 agents into France and took 129 agents out. Some agents also arrived or left by Lockheed Hudson plane. Most arrived by parachute.

• September 6/7

SOE agents Benjamin Cowburn, Michael Trotobas, Victor Gerson, George Langelaan, Jean du Puy, and André Bloch parachuted into France at night. They landed near Châteauroux. They were met by Bégué, Max Hymans, and a local farmer. Cowburn, Trotobas, and Gerson became important SOE agents.

• September 19/20

SOE agent Francis Basin arrived in France by a secret boat. He started operations in Cannes on the French Riviera. He met a group called Carte. It was led by an artist named André Girard. Girard claimed to have organized a large group of people resisting German control. Basin's reports about Carte gave SOE hope. They thought Carte could lead a big resistance movement against the Germans.

Challenges and Arrests

• October 20

In what was called the "mousetrap," Vichy Police found a secret house in Marseilles. It was called the Villa des Bois. About 10 SOE agents who visited the Villa were arrested.

• October 24

As part of the "mousetrap," Georges Bégué was arrested in Marseilles. In a separate event, Michael Trotabas was arrested in Chateauroux during a routine document check. These arrests left Virginia Hall in Lyon as almost the only SOE agent still free in Vichy France. She had no radio operator to talk to SOE headquarters.

• November 17

In Paris, Nazi spy catcher Sergeant Hugo Bleicher led German police in arresting members of a French-Polish resistance group called Interallié. Among those arrested was Mathilde Carré, known as "the Cat." Carré agreed to work for Bleicher for money and freedom. She helped him arrest more group members. Interallié was destroyed.

• December 26

Pierre de Vomécourt's radio operator had been arrested. He had no way to talk to SOE headquarters in London. In Paris, he met Mathilde Carré. He didn't know she was secretly working for the Germans. She told him she could get a radio. The Germans controlled this radio. They started sending, receiving, and reading Vomécourt's messages.

Expanding Operations and Major Setbacks (1942)

Evaluating Resistance Groups

• January 9/10

Peter Churchill arrived by submarine at Miramar on the French Riviera. He was there to check out the Carte network. Carte's leader, André Girard, claimed his group could, with SOE help, carry out sabotage and guerrilla warfare. He also said they could eventually have an army of 300,000 men to fight German control. Helping Carte became F Section's main goal in 1942.

• February 26/27

Pierre de Vomécourt and Mathilde Carré left France by Royal Navy motor torpedo boat to return to England. De Vomécourt had realized she was a German agent. He convinced her to go to England with him. She got her German handlers' approval for the trip. They thought she would learn a lot about SOE and report back to them. Instead, Carré was kept in prison in England for the rest of the war.

• April 25

Pierre de Vomécourt was arrested by Hugo Bleicher in Paris. He had parachuted back into France on April 1. Vomécourt convinced the Germans to treat him and his followers as prisoners of war, not spies. He spent the rest of the war imprisoned in Colditz Castle. His arrest and the destruction of his Autogiro network left SOE without any active networks in France. Virginia Hall, however, remained active in Lyon.

New Agents and Escapes

• July 1/2

English painter Brian Stonehouse, a radio operator, parachuted into occupied France near Tours. Stonehouse was captured in October 1942 with messenger Blanche Charlet. He spent the rest of the war in German prisons, including Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp. Charlet later escaped and was sent back to England.

• July 15

Eleven SOE agents, including Michael Trotobas and Georges Bégué, escaped from a French prison in the Dordogne area. They went to Lyon, where Virginia Hall helped them cross into Spain and return to England.

• July 29/30

SOE F Section's second-in-command, Nicolas Bodington, landed on the French Riviera by secret boat. With him were Carte's second-in-command, Henri Frager, and messenger Yvonne Rudellat. Bodington's job was to see if Carte was a good resistance group and what help it needed from SOE. Ruddelat later worked with the Prosper network as a messenger and saboteur.

Claude de Baissac parachuted with Harry Peulevé near Nimes. Peulevé broke his leg because he jumped from too low. Despite a sprained ankle, de Baissac continued his mission. He set up the Scientist Network. He also gathered information in Bordeaux. After partly recovering, Peulevé, still limping, walked across the Pyrenees mountains to Spain. He returned to England in November.

Key Network Development

• August 27/28

John Starr arrived by parachute near Valence in Vichy France for his first mission. Peter Churchill arrived by parachute near Montpellier for his third mission. His job was to work with Carte. His network was called Spindle. Both were highly respected agents.

• September 12

Nicolas Bodington returned to England from the French Riviera. He gave a good report on the Carte network. He said it had potential as a resistance group. SOE started planning to give a lot of help to Carte. This included money, weapons, and supplies.

• September 17/18

Michael Trotobas parachuted back into France, landing near Montargis. Trotobas went to Lille. There, he organized the Farmer network and led many sabotage missions.

• September 25

Andrée Borrel and Lise de Baissac arrived by parachute at night near Mer. A parachute jump the night before was stopped because the signals were wrong. They were the first female SOE agents to parachute into France. Borrel went to Paris to become a key person in the Prosper network. De Baissac went to Poitiers. Working mostly alone, she supported several agents and networks.

• October 1/2

Francis Suttill arrived by parachute near Vendôme. He went to Paris to set up the Prosper (also called Physician) network. SOE highly regarded Suttill. Prosper was meant to replace the now inactive Autogiro network. It became the most important SOE network in northern France. Andrée Borrel was Suttill's messenger, and his radio operator was Gilbert Norman.

Increased Danger and Arrests

• November

Poor security caused problems for the Carte network. While traveling by train to Paris, André Marsac's briefcase was stolen by a German agent. The briefcase had the names and personal details of over 200 Carte supporters. The Germans continued to watch Carte but did not immediately arrest those on the list.

• November 3/4

George Starr and Odette Sansom arrived secretly by boat at night near Cannes on the Mediterranean coast of France. The boat returning to England carried John Starr out of France after his first mission. He took reports collected by Peter Churchill with him. George Starr would set up a network in southwestern France. Sansom would become Churchill's messenger.

• November 8

Allied forces invaded French colonies in North Africa. Because of this, the Germans and Italians invaded and occupied the previously free Vichy France. The German occupation made life much more dangerous for SOE agents in former Vichy France. However, most of Prosper's operations were in northern, already occupied France.

• November 13

Phillipe de Vomécourt was arrested by French police near Limoges. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

• December 7/12

Claude de Baissac organized the Scientist network in Bordeaux. Its main goal was to gather information and carry out sabotage against the submarine base there. De Baissac's planned sabotage was stopped. This happened because British commandos, without knowing about de Baissac's plans, simultaneously carried out Operation Frankton against the submarine base. Frankton was only partly successful. German security increased afterward, making sabotage by de Baissac impossible.

• December 29/30

Jack Agazarian parachuted into France to join the Prosper Network as a second radio operator. His wife Francine, a messenger, later joined him. They were one of only a few married couples working for SOE. Even though they both worked for Prosper, they had different jobs.

Major Losses and German Counter-Attacks (1943)

Network Problems and Betrayals

• January 2

The Carte network had many internal arguments. It finally split into groups led by André Girard and Henri Frager. Peter Churchill, who connected Carte with SOE, preferred Frager.

• January 22

Henri Déricourt, a pilot, parachuted into France. He went to Paris to work as the air movements officer for Prosper and other networks. Based in Paris, Déricourt arranged Lysander plane landings at secret airfields. Before World War II, Déricourt was friends with SOE Deputy Director Nicolas Bodington. He also knew Karl Boemelburg, who became the German Sicherheitsdienst (the SD, the SS security service) director in Paris.

The Fall of Carte and Prosper

• March 23/24

Peter Churchill and Henri Frager of Carte returned to England for meetings with SOE. They left by Lysander plane from near Compiègne. On the flight into France, Francis Cammaerts arrived to take Churchill's place. He was driven to Paris.

• March 25

The Germans began destroying Carte. André Marsac was arrested in Paris, followed by more arrests. Francis Cammaerts, who had just arrived, was shocked by Carte's poor security. He left Paris for Annecy.

• April 16

One day after Peter Churchill returned to France, he and his messenger, Odette Sansom, were arrested by Hugo Bleicher in Saint-Jorioz near Annecy. Bleicher found their location from arrested Carte members André Marsac and Roger Bardet. The Carte network, in which SOE had placed so much hope, was destroyed. Francis Suttill's Prosper network became SOE's main effort to encourage resistance. Prosper was based in Paris. Churchill and Sansom both survived the war in concentration camps.

• April 18

With contacts from the ruined Interallié, Autogiro, and Carte networks, Prosper had grown fast. It now covered a huge area. However, in a first sign of worry, Prosper leader Francis Suttill sent a report to SOE. He said he did not trust former Carte official Henri Frager, who was now linked with Prosper.

• April 22

The destruction of the Prosper network began. The German SD arrested sisters Germaine and Madeleine Tambour in Paris. Both had been connected with Carte and Prosper. Francis Suttill tried to bribe the Germans for their release, but failed. Both sisters were later executed. Their apartment was a safe house and a place to pass messages for SOE agents. A few days before the arrest, Benjamin Cowburn told Suttill that too many people were going in and out of the apartment.

Deepening Crisis for SOE

• May 20/21

Francis Suttill returned to France after a week of meetings with SOE in London. He told SOE that he believed the Germans had secretly joined the Prosper network. This was because of the large number of arrests happening. His mood was described as "tired," a "sign of nerves," and angry about what he saw as SOE headquarters' failures.

• June 15/16

Noor Inayat Khan, Diana Rowden, and Cecily Lefort arrived by plane north-east of Angers. Henri Déricourt met them. Inayat Khan would work with the Prosper network in Paris. Jack Agazarian left on the return flight to England. Suttill had accused Agazarian of being careless.

• June 19/20

Canadian SOE agents Frank Pickersgill and John Kenneth Macalister had parachuted into France a few days earlier. Yvonne Rudelatt and Pierra Culioli met them. They were supposed to drive them to Paris. However, the two Canadians were captured by the Germans in Dhuizon. After a car chase, Rudelatt and Culioli were wounded and captured.

• June 23

Andrée Borrel and Gilbert Norman, two of the three main people in the Prosper network, were arrested by the Germans in Paris. Later that same day, their leader Francis Suttill was arrested in a small hotel in Paris. Only Borrel and Norman likely knew his location.

In London temporarily, Jack Agazarian told SOE that Suttill believed Henri Déricourt's air movements operation had poor security. This was the first of many reports from SOE agents worried about Déricourt. Some called him a "traitor." But it was unclear to SOE in London if that accusation was about Déricourt (code named "Gilbert") or Suttill's radio operator, Gilbert Norman.

German "Radio Games" and More Arrests

• July 7

A radio message, supposedly from Gilbert Norman in Paris, confirmed that Suttill had been arrested. However, the message did not have a special security check. This check was put into all messages by operators to confirm their identity and that they were not broadcasting under force. Instead of questioning the message, SOE commander Buckmaster replied, "You have forgotten your security check. Be more careful." The message had actually been sent to SOE by the Germans.

Buckmaster's mistake allowed the Germans to play "funkspiel" (radio games) with Norman's radio. They received messages from SOE and sent false messages to SOE. They played this game for the next few months with great success.

• July 18

John Starr was wounded and captured by German Sicherheitsdienst (SD) in Dijon. He was tortured before being moved to Paris to SD headquarters at 84 Avenue Foch.

• July 22/23

Nicolas Bodington and Jack Agazarian landed in France on a Lockheed Hudson airplane. They were there to investigate what happened to the Prosper network. SOE in London knew Suttill had been arrested. But they believed his radio operator Gilbert Norman was still free. In reality, Norman was imprisoned. The Germans were using his radio to trick the SOE.

• July 30

In Paris, Bodington and Agazarian contacted Gilbert Norman to arrange a meeting. The Germans, who controlled Norman's radio, told Bodington to meet Norman at an apartment near the Gare Saint-Lazare. However, instead of Bodington, Agazarian went to the apartment and was arrested by the Germans. Why Bodington did not go has been debated. Bodington's friend and double agent Henri Déricourt may have warned Bodington not to go. Agazarian was later executed.

• August 2

SOE agent and famous Grand Prix motor racing driver William Grover-Williams was arrested by the Gestapo. He would later be executed.

• August 17/18

Nicolas Bodington, Claude de Baissac, and Lise de Baissac returned to England via Lysander. Claude de Baissac's Scientist network in Bordeaux, which had connections from the Pyrenees to Paris, had been destroyed. The Prosper Network was also destroyed.

More Arrests and Executions

• September 15

Cecily Lefort was arrested by Gestapo in Montélimar.

• September 18

Harry Peulevé, Yolande Beekman and Harry Despaigne arrived by Lysander near Angers.

• October 13

Noor Inayat Khan, the last remaining SOE radio operator in the Paris area, was arrested. She was apparently betrayed by another woman to the Germans for money. The Germans also found her codes and security checks. They used her radio to trick SOE. This led to the arrest of more SOE agents and the recovery of weapons. Inayat Khan was imprisoned at 84 Avenue Foch, the SD (German counter-intelligence) headquarters in Paris.

• October 30

Vera Leigh was arrested at a café in Paris. She was taken to Fresnes prison.

• November 18

Diana Rowden and John Young were arrested at Clairvaux-les-Lacs.

• November 19

Diana Rowden was taken to 84 Avenue Foch. She was questioned for two weeks before being moved to Fresnes prison.

• November 25

Noor Inyat Khan, John Starr, and Colonel Léon Faye escaped from 84 Avenue Foch. But they were quickly caught nearby.

• November 26

Noor Inyat Khan and Leon Faye were sent to Germany. They refused to promise not to try to escape again. John Starr took the promise.

• November 27

Michael Trotobas was killed in a gunfight with German soldiers in Lille.

The Final Year of War (1944)

Escapes and Continued Captures

• January 3

In a jailbreak from Elysses prison, Philippe de Vomécourt and 52 other resistance fighters escaped. Vomécourt made his way to Spain and then to England. Later in 1944, he returned to France. There, he led several sabotage operations.

• January 13

Yolande Beekman and Gustave Bieler were arrested at the Café Moulin Brulé in Paris.

• February 28/29

SOE agents Madeleine Damerment, France Antelme, and Lionel Lee took off from RAF Tempsford airfield. They parachuted into a field near Chartres early the next morning. They were arrested by waiting Gestapo. The Germans knew they were coming. This was because of the radio machines they had captured when they destroyed the Prosper network. These three were among 19 SOE agents captured upon arrival in France and executed. At least 167 French helpers of the Prosper network were sent to Germany.

• March 2-3

Eileen Nearne landed near Les Lagneys, Indre.

• March 21

Harry Peulevé and Louis Bertheau were arrested in Brive-la-Gaillarde.

D-Day and More Losses

• April

Maurice Southgate was arrested.

• April 5

Lilian Rolfe was dropped near Orléans. She was to work with the "Historian" network run by George Wilkinson.

• April 29

John Hind Farmer and Nancy Wake of the "Freelance" network parachuted into Auvergne. They were to connect London with the local Maquis (resistance fighters).

• May 13

Vera Leigh, Andrée Borrel, Odette Sansom, Diana Rowden, Yolande Beekman, Eliane Plewman, and Madeleine Damerment were taken from Fresnes prison to 84 Avenue Foch. There, Sonya Olschanezky joined them. They were all then moved to the civil prison at Karlsruhe in Germany.

• May 24

1st Lt. Lee G. Johnson was captured by the Gestapo in Paris. He stayed there until September 1944. From there, he was moved to Stalag Luft I in Germany. He stayed there until its liberation in April 1945.

• June 6

The D-Day landings happened in Normandy. This was a major invasion by Allied forces.

• July

Eileen Nearne was arrested.

• July 2

Henri Frager was arrested by Abwehr sergeant Hugo Bleicher. This happened at a meeting arranged by Roger Bardet.

• July 6

Diana Rowden, Vera Leigh, Sonya Olschanezky, and Andrée Borrel were sent to the Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp in France. They were injected with a poison and their bodies were burned. Their arrival at the camp was seen by Brian Stonehouse.

Christine Granville arrived by parachute in France. She joined the Jockey network led by Francis Cammaerts.

• July 31

Lilian Rolfe was arrested in Nargis and taken to Fresnes prison.

• August

Lilian Rolfe was sent to Ravensbrück concentration camp.

John Starr was sent to Sachsenhausen concentration camp.

• August 8

Many SOE agents, including Harry Peulevé, Maurice Southgate, and Henri Frager, were sent to Neue Bremm transit camp.

• August 16

These agents arrived at Buchenwald concentration camp.

• August 17

SOE Agent Christine Granville bribed the Gestapo. She got SOE Agents Francis Cammaerts and Xan Fielding released from prison. They had been arrested earlier in August and were going to be executed. Granville's brave act was later shown in the TV series Wish Me Luck.

• August 25

General von Choltitz, the German Military Commander in Paris, officially signed an Act of Surrender. This was to the French government, though some German strongholds remained.

• August 27

John Kenneth Macalister, Frank Pickersgill, and Roméo Sabourin were sent to Buchenwald concentration camp.

End of the War and SOE's Close

• September 6

Gilbert Norman was executed at Mauthausen concentration camp.

• September 13

Yolande Beekman, Madeleine Damerment, Noor Inayat Khan, and Eliane Plewman were executed. Each was shot once in the head, and their bodies were burned at Dachau concentration camp.

• September 14

Many agents, including Robert Benoist, Frank Pickersgill, and John Macalister, were executed at Buchenwald concentration camp.

• October 5

Denis Barrett, Henri Frager, Pierre Mulsant, and George Alfred Wilkinson were executed at Buchenwald concentration camp.

The Final Months (1945)

• February 5

Lilian Rolfe was executed and her body burned at Ravensbrück concentration camp.

• February 17

John Starr was sent to Mauthausen concentration camp.

• February

Violette Szabo was taken from her cell in Ravensbrück concentration camp and shot in the back of the neck.

• March 29

Jack Agazarian was executed at Flossenbürg concentration camp. Just before his execution, Agazarian tapped out a message in Morse code on his cell wall to his wife. A Danish prisoner received the message and later delivered it to SOE and Agazarian's wife.

• April 11

Harry Peulevé escaped from Schönebeck concentration camp.

• April 29

Brian Stonehouse was freed from Dachau concentration camp by American troops.

• May 4

Peter Churchill was freed in Austria by American troops.

• May 7

Nazi Germany surrendered to the Allies.

After the War (1946)

• January 15

SOE was officially closed down.

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