SOE F Section networks

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These are the networks, also known as circuits, (or réseaux to their French participants) established in France by F Section of the British Special Operations Executive during the Second World War. See also SOE F Section timeline.

Contents

[edit] Acrobat

  • Harry Rée - worked with Acrobat before taking charge of Stockbroker
  • Diana Hope Rowden - courier
  • Jean Simon - organiser following Starr's arrest
  • John Ashford Renshaw Starr - organiser
  • John Cuthbert Young - wireless operator

[edit] Archdeacon

A network which was meant to be established by Frank Pickersgill and John Kenneth Macalister, who were both captured in June 1943 immediately upon arrival in France. The network became an operation run by the Germans.

Joseph Placke, an assistant in the wireless section at 84 Avenue Foch, impersonated Pickersgill, and Macalister's captured radio and codes were used to transmit false messages to London, arranging parachute drops of supplies, which of course fell into German hands. The fake operation continued until May 1944 and resulted in the capture of a sabotage instructor and six other agents sent to join the network.

[edit] Asymptote

[edit] Author

  • Harry Peulevé

[edit] Autogiro

A network which was organised in the Paris area by Pierre de Vomécourt, but which had been destroyed by the spring of 1942.

[edit] Bricklayer

[edit] Carter

  • Charles Henri Lucien - organiser

[edit] Chestnut

[edit] Clergyman

[edit] Detective

[edit] Digger

  • Peter Lake

[edit] Diplomat

  • Maurice Dupont

[edit] Ditcher

  • Guy D'Artois - organiser

Lt. Jean Renaud-Dandicolle, M.C. Captured and killed on Saturday 10 June 1944, aged 47

[edit] Donkeyman

A network organised following the collapse of Autogiro and built on the remnants of Carte. It had small groups over the whole of France.

[edit] Farmer

A network which was organised in the Lille area by Michael Trotobas.

  • Arthur Staggs - wireless operator
  • Michael Trotobas - organiser

[edit] Farrier

An operation to organise aircraft landings and the reception of agents sent by such means.

[edit] Fireman

  • Patricia (Paddy) Maureen O'Sullivan - wireless operator

[edit] Freelance

[edit] Headmaster

  • Sonya Esmee Florence Butt - courier
  • Sydney Hudson - organiser

[edit] Heckler

[edit] Historian

[edit] Inventor

A sub-circuit of the Prosper network.

  • Marcel Clech - wireless operator
  • Sidney Jones - organiser and arms instructor
  • Vera Eugenie Leigh - courier

[edit] Japonica

[edit] Jockey

A network in the south-east

[edit] Juggler

A sub-circuit of Prosper, operating from Châlons-sur-Marne, east of Paris. It also had headquarters in the rue Cambon, near the Place de la Concorde

  • Gustave Cohen - wireless operator
  • Sonia Olschanezky - courier, administrator
  • Jacques Weil - second in command
  • Jean Worms - organiser

Also known as Robin.

[edit] Labourer

  • Odette Victoria Wilen

[edit] Marksman

[edit] Minister

  • Yvonne Fontaine

[edit] Monk

[edit] Musician

A network in eastern Picardy.

[edit] Permit

  • Ginette Marie Helene Jullian

[edit] Phono

[edit] Physician

Also known as Prosper.

[edit] Plane

  • Henri Paul Le Chêne - organiser
  • Marie-Thérèse Le Chêne - courier
  • Pierre Louis Le Chêne - radio operator

[edit] Prosper

[edit] Robin

An unofficial name for Juggler.

[edit] Saint

[edit] Salesman

Jean-Claude Guiet, French-American, wireless operator aka Virgile Bob Maloubier

[edit] Scholar

  • Yvonne Jeanne Therese de Vibraye Baseden - wireless operator

[edit] Scientist

A network in the area of Bordeaux.

  • Claude de Baissac - organiser
  • Lise Marie Jeanette de Baissac - courier
  • Mary Katherine Herbert
  • Phyllis Ada Latour - wireless operator
  • Harry Peulevé

[edit] Silversmith

  • Madeleine Lavigne

[edit] Spindle

A network based in Montpellier.

[edit] Spiritualist

  • Henri Diacono - wireless operator
  • René Dumont-Guillemet - organiser

[edit] Stationer

A network with activities in the south and center of France, from Chateauroux to the foothills of the Pyrenees.

  • Jacqueline Mary Francoise Josephine Nearne - courier
  • Maurice Southgate - organiser
  • Pearl Witherington - courier, organiser following Southgate's arrest

[edit] Stockbroker

[edit] Ventriloquist

  • Muriel Tamara Byck - wireless operator
  • Blanche Charlet - courier
  • Brian Julian Stonehouse - wireless operator
  • Pierre de Vomécourt - organiser

[edit] Wheelwright

A network in the area of Toulouse.

[edit] Wizard

[edit] Wrestler

A network with activities in the Valençay-Issoudun-Chateauroux triangle.

[edit] 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).

Image:SOE (F) Networks in France June 1943.jpg

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.