Colin Gubbins
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Major General Sir Colin McVean Gubbins KCMG, DSO, MC (1896-1976) was the prime mover of the SOE (Special Operations Executive) in the Second World War. He was also responsible for setting up the secret Auxiliary Units in the event of Operation Sealion, the Nazi invasion of the United Kingdom. Colin McVean Gubbins was educated at Cheltenham College. He commanded 24th Guards Brigade during the Norwegian Campaign. In the book Virtual History (1997), British historians Andrew Roberts and Niall Ferguson called Gubbins "one of the war's unsung heroes."
His star cryptographer at SOE was Leo Marks, whose book Between Silk and Cyanide (1998) contains a detailed portrait of Gubbins and his work, as Marks knew it. At one point (p. 222), Marks describes Gubbins:
| “ | Described by Tommy [Marks' closest friend] as 'a real Highland toughie, bloody brilliant, should be the next CD', he was short enough to make me feel average, with a moustache which was as clipped as his delivery and eyes which didn't mirror his soul or any other such trivia. The general's eyes reflected the crossed swords on his shoulders, warning all comers not to cross them with him. It was a shock to realize they were focused on me. | ” |
Sir Colin's father, John Harington Gubbins (1852-1929), served with distinction as a scholar-diplomat in Japan for 30 years.
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- Peter Wilkinson and Joan Bright Astley, Gubbins and SOE, London, Leo Cooper, 1993, ISBN 0-85052-556-X.
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