How to Read an SOE Personnel Assessment
A guide to interpreting the psychological and professional evaluations used by the Special Operations Executive (SOE) to vet candidates for clandestine warfare during the Second World War.
Month: September 2026
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Maurice Buckmaster: Head of SOE F Section
Colonel Maurice Buckmaster was the leader of the non-Gaullist French section (F Section) of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) from 1941 to 1945. He was responsible for the recruitment, training, and deployment of hundreds of agents into occupied France to conduct sabotage and intelligence gathering.
Using AIR Records to Research SOE Flights
A guide to utilizing Royal Air Force (RAF) archival records, specifically the AIR 27 series, to trace the clandestine flights used by the Special Operations Executive (SOE) to deploy agents and supplies during the Second World War.
Virginia Hall: SOE Agent and Resistance Organizer
Virginia Hall was an American operative who served with the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) and the American Office of Strategic Services (OSS) in occupied France. Known as ‘The Limping Lady,’ she organized resistance networks and conducted espionage despite the challenges of a prosthetic limb.
Czechoslovak Agents Trained for Operation Anthropoid
Jozef Gabčík and Jan Kubiš were Czechoslovak agents trained by the Special Operations Executive (SOE) to assassinate Reinhard Heydrich. Their mission, Operation Anthropoid, represents one of the most significant government-organized targeted killings of a high-ranking Nazi official during World War II.
Parachute Operations of Force 136
Force 136 was the Far Eastern branch of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) that utilized parachute insertions to deploy agents behind Japanese lines in Southeast Asia. These operatives worked in small, isolated teams to organize local resistance and sabotage enemy infrastructure during World War II.
SOE Ranks and Roles Explained
The Special Operations Executive (SOE) employed a diverse array of personnel, from military officers to civilian specialists, to conduct irregular warfare. Roles were defined by operational function—such as sabotage, espionage, and reconnaissance—rather than traditional military hierarchy alone.
Acrobat Circuit: SOE Operations in the Jura
The Acrobat Circuit was a Special Operations Executive (SOE) network operating in the Jura region of France during the Second World War, focusing on sabotage and coordination with local resistance movements.
SOE Preliminary Training Schools Explained
The Preliminary School was the first stage of a four-part training process for Special Operations Executive (SOE) agents, designed to assess a candidate’s character and potential in total secrecy before they progressed to paramilitary training.
SOE and the Home Army: British Support for Polish Resistance
The Polish Section of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) provided critical training, equipment, and personnel to the Polish Home Army (Armia Krajowa) between 1940 and 1945, most notably through the deployment of the elite Cichociemni paratroopers.