Maurice Buckmaster

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Colonel Maurice James Buckmaster OBE (11 January 1902 - 17 April 1992, Forest Row Sussex; heart failure) was the leader of the French section of Special Operations Executive.

Maurice Buckmaster was born on 11 January 1902 at Ravenhill, Brereton, Staffordshire, England. He was educated at Eton College but his studies ended when his father went bankrupt. He left school and first became a reporter for French paper Le Matin, later became a banker and eventually a senior manager with the French branch of Ford Motor Company.

When the World War II started, Buckmaster returned to Britain. He joined the British Expeditionary Force and fought in France until the retreat to Dunkirk.

On March 17, 1941, Buckmaster was appointed the Information Officer of the French section of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) and in September he was made its head. His job was to form an organization to supply and train French Resistance members in occupied France and to gather intelligence. He personally took part in the agent training. He had a habit of giving his agents a personal gift before they departed for their missions.

After the war, Buckmaster wrote two memoirs, Special Employed (1952) and They Fought Alone (1958).