Secret Agent

Britain was needing help in the early days of WWII. They put together the SOE and made do with what they could find to get the job done. Brave men and women worked not only as spies but to get the equipment needed together for the spies to be successful. This book tells the story of the individuals who worked to get things going. Hard for us in this day and age to realize what the beginning was like.

Military necessity is the mother of invention and the Special Operations Executive (SOE), dedicated to intelligence gathering, sabotage, subversion and the creation and support of armed resistance movements in German- (and later Japanese) occupied countries, was brought into being by Churchill in July 1940, when there seemed little way of carrying the war to Germany, after the Fall of France, other than by bombing, which was notoriously imprecise.

However, just as debate rages regarding the efficacy of the strategic bombing offensive, historians dispute whether the resources applied to SOE might have made a greater contribution to ultimate victory if applied to more conventional warfare. There is even a case for saying that by assisting communists, in places such as Malaya, SOE actually damaged British interests in the longer term. Either way, the role of SOE is a subject that merits attention from anyone interested in the Second World War and its aftermath, or simply interested in spying.

Since the death, in 2012, of M.R.D. Foot, himself an intelligence officer and SOE’s official historian, David Stafford has become the greatest expert on the organization. Foot’s ‘SOE. An Outline History of the Special Operations Executive 1940-1946’, with an introduction by Stafford, still represents the best introduction to the subject but ‘Secret Agent. The True Story of the Special Operations Executive’, a new edition of the book which Stafford originally published in 2000, to accompany the BBC2 series of the same title, offers a very readable overview, which not only shows a complete mastery of the literature but incorporates extensive quotations from many of those actively involved in SOE activities.

I express my gratitude to Net galley for providing me a copy for reading and reviewing of this fantastic treasure trove of information on SOE (Special Operations Executive) brought into force by the then England Prime Minister Winston Churchill in 1940, the main aims of SOE is to intent on sabotage and subversion behind enemy lines, to spark revolt, and undermine Hitler's Europe from within, prevent enemy reinforcements reaching the beachhead by road, rail and air, the disruption of enemy signals communications in and behind the battle area, attacks on enemy air personnel and aircraft, the disorganisation of enemy rear services by the spreading of rumours and counter-sabotage.

After explaining in detail about the initiation of SOE from the scratch, the author David Stafford narration of events one by one is super fast and it was like watching a war documentary. The book is full of stories which concentrates mostly on the agents of SOE's activities in occupied Europe.

The agents of SOE were trained in shooting, unarmed combat, handling explosives, wireless-transmission, camouflage and more, they been taught how to face interrogation if get caught.

Not only sending agents for sabotaging they took much care in the dress also, one person who worked in the dress department tells about the alterations needed for German and British dress the seams, the enormous difference between the side seams, the shape of the cuffs, the difference in position of the button hole on the under collar. They also forged documents, money and made new notes to appear as used one.

At the beginning sending of agents into German occupied country was not easy as they were not airdropped, they have to been transported in small boats and ships. As the success rate of SOE increased the expected importance was given.

SOE peaked in size at the time of the D-Day landings when some 10,000 men and 3000 women worked for it around the globe. Of these half the men and perhaps a hundred of the women had also served as secret agents behind enemy lines or in neutral countries.

Some of the activities of SOE's are given much importance such as taking over of one Italian and one German ship in neutral territory, agents of SOE (Knut Haukelid, Fredrick Kayser, Kasper Idland, Hans Storhaug and Brig Stromsheim) coup at the heavy water plant in southern Norway there by delaying progress in German research on the atomic bomb, the operation in destroying the via duct in Gorgopotamos and adventures of the secret agent Pierre Lalande and worth mentioning.

The author has pointed out the mistakes done by SOE in sending messages which were intersected by the Germans and one full chapter is about the worst mistake of SOE, Englandspiel the name coined by the Germans.

The book is full of heroism, I recommend this to the world war II buffs and also the number of pages is under 300 and can be finished in one sitting.

This non-fiction book reads like fiction. The actions that the SOE agents did during the second world war sound like something straight out of a James Bond novel/film. I knew of some of their exploits from previous readings focused on france mainly. This book details what the SOE did in France, Eastern Europe, and Scandinavia. Excellent read and has made me want to read much more on the subject.

Secret Agent was great...it was exactly my kind of book. A history book but written in an engaging way that can draw in even those readers who don't usually go for non-fiction reads. The people that took on the challenge the British government gave them were innovators and heroes. This part of history needs to be studied and known.

Secret Agent combines all the excitement of a Spy novel with the truth of a well researched documentary. There is plenty of information to satisfy those looking for the details of everything that Special Operations Executive was during World War Two but it never fails to move along at a pace that is often electrifying.

The personal details alongside the facts and the context of the times and places are what really bring this book alive and without losing historical integrity it gives you all the facts, from SOE's early struggles to be established, to be taken seriously as an organisation to some of the daring missions that their operatives undertook.

In all an excellent read, both for those seeking to gain an insight to the organisation as well as those who love the real life adventure of SOE.